The No1. thing you need to improve your Bulk Food Shopping Experience

Bulk food shopping is growing daily as the preferred way to shop. We see Bulk Food shops popping up everywhere; they sell anything from grains and wholefoods to herbs and chocolates. Many can even sell you soap-berries and natural washing detergents in Bulk. Even the supermarkets are growing space in their stores for Bulk Food shopping. Eco shoppers recognise that bulk foods meet their needs for less packaging, more efficiency and fresher food.

Bulk Food shoppers are sending a clear message of protest to over packaged goods in our supermarket, but are we really saving on packaging if we are still throwing away paper bags and plastic bags that we have scooped our grains into at the Bulk Food Store? I could see that it was going to take one more step to truly turn our back on packaging. A Reusable Bulk Food Bag to scoop our produce into seemed the only clear answer for me.

Last year I identified the missing link in the bulk food shopping experience. If the purpose was to save on packaging, why was I still throwing away paper bags or plastic bags when I got home? In recent months it is safe to say we have hit a recycling crisis as recycling only works when there’s a market for it, unfortunately the market cannot keep up with the amounts we recycle. After months of research I discovered some disturbing facts about single use PAPER bags as well. I had found the next missing link in our war on waste and I set out to solve our next Waste problem!

After 18 month of research including designing a fabric that did not exist, I have invented My Last Bag. This Hemp bag fills the gap that I experienced when I shopped at my local Bulk Food Stores.

My Last Bag ensures that Bulk Food shopping is a True Zero Waste Shopping experience. No plastic or paper bags to throw away at all!!

But what is wrong with paper bags you may ask?

Surely paper is far better than all the plastic packaging out there. We can recycle the paper bags, we can even compost them, so how is this new trend in any form harmful for the environment?!

Here are a few short facts on paper bags;

• It takes almost 4 times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as a plastic bag
• The manufacturing of paper bags requires 20 times as much water as a plastic bag
• Paper bags require more energy to be recycled versus plastic bags
• Paper bags are heavier than plastic bags ~ therefore creating additional waste, waste management and recycling costs
• Paper bags that do end up in landfill take up 7 times more space than plastic bags
• It takes 7 trucks to transport 2 million paper bags versus 1 truck to transport 2 million plastic bags
• And lets not forget the trees…

Single use paper bags traditionally used in Bulk Food Shopping are NOT an environmentally friendly or sustainable option and this has been my inspiration for developing My Last Bag’s Bulk Food Bags.

Next time you shop in your Bulk Food Store take note of how many paper bags you still actually throw away at home. Multiply this by 52 to see how many bags you could be saving per year by using a Reusable Bulk Food Bag.

Bulk Food Shopping is clearly a trend on the rise, shops like the Source, Naked Foods and Scoop can easily be found these days. We see mothers, fathers and students proudly shopping in Bulk with a feeling that we are doing something to make this world a better place. Let’s all take that one Extra Step. The name My Last Bag says it all, are you ready to make it your Last Bag?

When shopping with our Bulk Food Bag’s you truly can go to the Bulk Food or Health food store with a clear conscience and come home ‘Zero Waste’!