You, our loyal Bulletin Bag clients, have increasingly searched for eco-friendly products that compliment your reusable bag efforts, and many of you turned to water bottles. Well, we’ve been listening to your requests, and we are very proud to announce the launch of Bulletin Bottle [.com]!
We know your time is at a premium, and in this economy your marketing dollars need to stretch as far as possible. We have filled Bulletin Bottle with quality products that won’t break your budget. Rest assured that we only include products that have been tested and are safe for you and your audience--and that are manufactured by factories that value social compliance as much as you do.
We are very excited about our new division, and can’t wait to hear your thoughts! As always, if you have any questions or feedback, or if you’d like for us to offer some suggestions for your upcoming project, please don't hesitate to let us know. We are here to help you!
A few weeks ago, we received an email from someone who was directed to our site by Googling “reusable bag cleaning tips” (a great bit of reading, by the way!). She was desperate to get honey out of a nonwoven polypropylene bag. She told us what she had tried, but despite her best efforts, the bag was still sticky.
We put our heads together and suggested that she try soaking the bag in a sink filled with warm, soapy water, and then gently scrubbing at it with a sponge or dish brush. We asked her to check in and let us know if it worked, not really expecting to hear anything.
The other day, we received this message:
You superstar!! It worked! I soaked the bag in a mild non-biological laundry detergent solution for 30 mins and then scrubbed it with a brush and dried it outdoors. Bag is like new and no residue of honey. Thank you so much!!
Which reminds us…we’re kind of experts in this! So, do you have a sticky, stubborn mess in the bottom of a reusable bag? Put us to the test! Let us know what the bag is made of and what the mess is (if you know), as well as what you’ve tried. We’ll post suggestions below.
In an effort to get half of its shoppers to use reusable bags, Wilton Go Green has set up kiosks to distribute free bags to shoppers.
Two thousand reusable grocery bags will be given away over the next several weeks from kiosks spread around the Connecticut town. The bags are adorned with a town image and designs by young Wilton artists, who won a recycling and conservation contest.
The program is also working in tandem with the town’s library to hand out bags and is distributing window stickers to put on car windows to remind shoppers to bring their bags into the stores from the car. Grocery chain Stop and Shop recently supported the Wilton Go Green initiative by giving away over 10,000 bags on Earth Day.
Wilton Go Green was partially underwritten by a $2,500 town grant as part of ongoing discussions on the subject of whether to ban plastic bags. For more information, visit www.wiltongogreen.org.
Earth Day is April 22, and it’s not unusual for retailers to offer special incentives to encourage their customers to think about the environment. As usual, we love to hear about reusable grocery bags as vehicles for these promotions!
Here are a few Earth Day-related promos that have hit our radar.
Chicago: Big Bowl restaurants are handing out free “Earth Matters” grocery totes on April 22 with every takeout order. Every time you reuse the bag to pick up food, receive $0.50 off for the life of the reusable bag.
Texas: H-E-B is giving away 250,000 custom printed reusable shopping bags on Saturday, April 16, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Customers who bring in five or more plastic bags for recycling will receive a coupon for one free reusable H-E-B shopping bag. Last year, H-E-B and its customers recycled 3.87 million pounds of plastic bags across the state!
Nationwide: Target is giving away 1 million bags chain-wide, starting April 17. You must make a purchase to receive a free reusable shopping bag. We love that their printed reusable bags are made from 100% recyclable Tyvek
Other countries are getting in on the Earth Day reusable bag movement as well:
China: Wal-Mart China has launched a month long “Wal-Mart Earth Month” in six cities in China. Wal--mart in Xiamen will provide consumers with 40,000 reusable bags for free.
Some supermarket chains, including Kroger and Safeway, believe that modest per-reusable-bag rebates at checkout have done little to remind customers to bring reusable grocery bags.
Kroger Co., the nation's largest supermarket chain, had stopped (in many regions) giving 3- to 5-cent rebates or fuel discounts for each reusable bag. Company officials say they’re focusing more on promotions and educational efforts, as they found no significant difference between reusable shopping bag use in markets with rebates and those without them.
Kroger also is now sending shoppers coupons for reusable bags, holding bag design contests and giveaways, and putting out containers for recycling plastic bags.
Safeway Inc. also has been phasing out cash rebates. Instead, the chain is offering targeted discounts. For example, shoppers who use Safeway's "Bright Green" reusable bags get 10 percent off Safeway's line of environmentally geared household products.
Some governments, however, have found other ways to encourage reusable grocer bag use.
San Francisco in 2007 banned plastic bags and was followed by more than a dozen other cities and counties. Washington, D.C., last year began taxing shoppers 5 cents per disposable bag. Disposable bag use fell by 80 percent in some stores, officials say. Several states are considering bans or fees on disposable bags. Countries from Ireland to China have also restricted plastic bag use.
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In an effort to get half of its shoppers to use 
Earth Day is April 22, and it’s not unusual for retailers to offer special incentives to encourage their customers to think about the environment. As usual, we love to hear about 
