Earthwise Bag Company, Inc. is on a mission to save the environment – one plastic bag at a time.

Avid athletes and outdoorsmen, Earthwise founders Stan and Steve were disturbed to find a growing number of plastic bags draped from the trees lining California’s jogging trails, streams, and parks. They soon discovered a shocking statistic: US consumers use an estimated 100 billion plastic shopping bags per year – 99% of which are never recycled. They knew they had to change this statistic, and the only way was to offer an alternative that wasn’t just environmentally friendly, but offered other real and attractive benefits to consumers and businesses alike.

Their solution: the Earthwise shopping bag, a durable, practical, inexpensive, and of course, environmentally-friendly alternative to the plastic and paper bags found at local grocers, retail shops, and department stores.

Earthwise’s full line of grocery bags and wine totes combine functionality and aesthetics, offering a great reusable bag at a very affordable price. They can also be fully customized by businesses, with a variety of colors to choose from and the option to display personal initials, a graphic, or even a company logo. The best part is, these reusable bags are made from non-woven polypropylene, a fabric that is lightweight yet durable – not to mention recyclable and reusable, resistant to corrosion, hypoallergenic, non-toxic, washable, and water-repellent.

The Facts

The average American household uses approximately 900 plastic bags per year – adding up to a whopping 100 billion plastic shopping bags used in households across the country annually. (WSJ, EPA)

Worldwide, between 500 billion and one trillion plastic bags are consumed each year. (WSJ, EPA)

In 1986, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranked the 20 chemicals whose production generates the most hazardous waste. Five of the top six were chemicals commonly used by the plastic industry.

Paper bags are recycled at a higher rate than plastic, but at the expense of our most valuable and dwindling resource – trees. (EPA)

Plastic bags are dangerous to marine and terrestrial animals, pollute the landscape, and take between 20 and 1,000 years to fully break down. (Nolan-ITU Report)

Cities estimate the costs of plastic bag cleanup and recycling to be millions of dollars each year. (San Francisco - $8.5M per year)

Why Earthwise?

Earthwise bags are designed with both the consumer and the retailer in mind, offering real, valuable, and tangible benefits. And the added bonus? They maintain and protect the environment. Earthwise believes that we are all responsible for maintaining and fostering a clean, healthy environment. Reusable bags help reduce waste and pollution from plastic and paper bags, and promote earth conscious alternatives. It is for this reason that we all must Choose to Reuse.™

This idea has already struck a chord, with national grocery chains such as Kroger, Albertsons, Stop & Shop, Pathmark, and Shoprite recently joining the numerous regional wine, retail, food, and drug stores in the US already using Earthwise bags. Shipments of the Earthwise bags continue to increase due to growing customer demand across the country.
A case in point: Earthwise’s initial opportunity with a large retailer was with the California division of Albertson’s. This was supposed to begin as a 90-day trial with 25,000 reusable bags across 25 California and Nevada locations. Within a month, the bags were selling so well that Albertson’s put in an “all stores buy” – totaling more than half a million reusable bags for all 470 stores. The test proved that consumers in all demographics accepted and supported the idea of bringing your own bags to the market.

Benefits for Retailers

Earthwise bags not only save the environment, they save valuable dollars for your business.
Cost Savings. Rising fuel costs have sent plastic bag costs through the roof, forcing retailers to search for alternatives. Earthwise reusable bags can make a huge financial impact with even a minimal acceptance rate.

Each time a consumer returns with a reusable bag, there is an average cost savings of 1-3/4 cents for each plastic bag, and between 5 and 8 cents for each paper bag. This translates into a cost savings of anywhere from 10 cents to $1 per transaction!

Plastic bags, on average, can be packed with only about three items. Because they are so thin, double bagging is often required to hold a decent amount of groceries, which ultimately creates more waste and more cost.

Just one Earthwise bag can hold more than three plastic bags’ worth of groceries – roughly 40 lbs each!

Revenue Opportunities. Earthwise bags create a new source of revenue for your store. What was once a cost center can now be a significant profit center.

Environmental Awareness. Earthwise bags improve your store’s image by demonstrating your dedication to being environmentally conscious.

Brand Recognition. All bags can be customized with your store logo – and because they’re reusable, they act as free mobile billboards anywhere consumers carry them outside the store walls.

Benefits for Consumers

Earthwise bags are great for carrying just about anything – and using them is an environmentally responsible thing to do. Earthwise bags offer:

Durability. Earthwise bags are sturdier than disposable bags.

Convenience. cut down on trips to the car after shopping by fitting more items into a single Earthwise bag.

Multiple uses. Use your Earthwise bag at the gym, the beach, as a lunch tote – just about anything you can think of! They even make a great gift.

Safety. Earthwise bags are washable, non-toxic, and hypoallergenic.

Protection. Be “earthwise” – and help protect our environment.