Terratotes From Green-Kits Eco Product Review

Green-kits are made by Eco-Logics, Inc., a Virginia-based company committed to providing earth friendly products of all kinds. Most known for providing ready-made green cleaning kits, they also sell a nice range of sustainable reusable cloth bags that I was sent to test.

The video below (if you’re an RSS reader you can click here to see it) shows the cool bags I was sent, with a special surprise for me at the end!

Featured in the video are the TerraSack Botanical 4-Pack ($32), the Cotton Produce Bag “Produce” ($6), the original signature Terratote ($15), and finally the Personalized Reusable Lunch Bag ($8).

They have a massive variety of reusable grocery bags in all shapes and sizes and different patterns and sale packages so take a look.

Act2 GreenSmart Messenger Bag Review

Finding alternative green materials to the most commonly used synthetic materials out there is often a challenge. I was delighted to be sent a Act2 GreenSmart horizontal messenger bag. The bad also comes in a vertical version and in Storm Blue.

I’ve put together a quick video of the bag so you can see all it’s features. If you can’t see the video please click here.

It features front and back zipped pockets, magnetic snaps on the front, three smaller inside pockets, two large inside pockets, with the second one divided into two and padded for your laptop. Using 30 16 ounce PET (plastic) drink bottles as the material, this is the easiest plastic to recycle (symbol 1).

The bag is great, certainly large enough to contain everything, er, a messenger bag should contain. It’s stylish (my wife loved the colour!), strong in my tests, and it certainly looks like it’s durable and tough enough for day to day use.

My only slight concern is the price. At around $70 - $75 it’s not the cheapest bag out there, but looking at ones of similar style, build and quality (as far as I could tell) it is only about $10 more than comparable “non-green” laptop messenger bags that I could find. Of course you can get bags for $30, as you can for $300, so although it may seem expensive it’s a matter of getting what you pay for, and in this case I think that’s a lot.

Made by Act2 GreenSmart they are available from a few places including agreenplace4u for about $74.99. The vertical version is $69.99.

The Great Bag Reusable Shopping Bag Review

The Great Bag is another addition to our reusable comparison chart. And what an addition it is.

More expensive than some other reusable shopping bags at $19.99, The Great Bag proves to be worth the price. Made from 100% quilters quality cotton (which apparently has a higher thread count and increased durability - I’m not sure if it’s organic though), the bag is strong enough to carry up to 40 lbs. The 18″ handles make the bag easy to carry over the shoulder.

What the picture won’t tell you is how soft the cotton is. It feels high quality and it is, hand made in the USA. A nice feature are the three hooks is has, made to fit in US grocery stores bag holders to make it easier to fill up. At 13″ high, 11″ wide and 7″ deep it still folds up neatly but can carry a lot of shopping.

There are a variety of bags designs available and being handmade look great. They’re available from The Great Bag.

To compare bags, check out the other bags in our reusable comparison chart.

Upgrade Your Old Computer

Being a bit of a computer geek, I love to upgrade my computer as much as possible before buying a new one. Not only is it satisfying to see a slow computer whizz along with some new RAM, it’s also much cheaper and avoids the tricky problem of disposing with the old computer.

There are plenty of other good reasons to upgrade your current computer. Some facts from the lovethe1yourewith campaign (how to upgrade your computer instead of buying a new one):
- The energy required to produce a new computer is enough to run a computer for 10 years
- The energy saved by extending the life of your computer by a year could run it for 2 years
- Help put a stop to the 220 million tons of e-Waste generated annually in the USA

The website has some easy videos to show you how to add more RAM, manage process, refresh your operating system and replace your laptop battery. Not for beginners but you should be able to find someone who can do it for you if you’re not comfortable. They have a nice fun video too (embedded below).

The Best Bag Reusable Shopping Bag Eco Product Review

The Best Bag is another reusable shopping bag, made by Performance Packaging. Made from rip-stop polyester, the bags are another addition to our chart of reusable shopping bags.

The bag is available in a few different colors, is machine washable and carries a five year guarante. Along with carrying a lot of shopping too (ho ho)! It can be folded up just like you would fold anything, but also it has an internal attached pouch that it can be folded into. Just follow their simple how to fold guide.

The bags are only currently available for bulk orders online, though you can pick them up from a few selected grocery stores. You can also get your logo printed on the side, which would be good for corporate gifts. They have a Best Bag Blog too.

ReJAVAnate Reusable Bag Eco Product Review

We’ve tested a lot of reusable shopping bags on Life Goggles and there is a huge variety in the style and type. You can see them all on our Reusable Bag Comparison Chart, and the latest bag we have proves that there is always something new.

ReJAVAnate take burlap from coffee roasters that would be otherwise sent to landfill (about 800,000 tons go every year), and make them into reusable shopping bags.

They work with a company called The ARC, who help over 140,000 individuals with developmental disabilities to find employment, to hand make the bags, and then they sell them to individuals and organizations who “want to make a statement about reducing paper and plastic bag consumption”.

The bag I received was lined and pretty large at 15″ by 15″. It’s very sturdy, I’m not sure what weight it can hold but was my choice for drink bottle and cans as it seemed one of the strongest bags I’ve used. It arrives in an old Vans shoe box, with a proud stamp on the inside that said “Shamelessly shipped in reused packaging”. I like it!

They have a variety of bags, medium and large, plain or with different logos, and lined or unlined ranging from $9 to $11. You can buy them online at ReJAVAnate.