Tag Archive for 'canvas bags'

Eco-Shark Jump! Trashed Canvas Bags & Eco-Cookies Mean What Exactly?

jackson published on October 13, 2009 in food and zeitgeist. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

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“Jump the Shark” is a phrase I’m very fond of. It references an episode of Happy Days where the Fonz literally jumps a shark on water skis. For many people, the Fonz jumping the shark signaled the moment when Happy Days went from being a cool show, to uh… not being a cool show.

So to say that something has “jumped the shark” means that it was once cool, but that it has now done something to marginalize itself, and is risking becoming kitsch.

That said, I’d like to share two things I saw recently:

For the first time ever, I saw a canvas bag had been used exactly like a plastic bag would be. Someone had filled a canvas tote bag with trash and chucked it into a trash can in NY. I saw it and had to stop and take a picture. I thought: I should grab that! A quick wash and it would be right as rain. But something about it gave me pause. Like finding a pair of pants on a park bench in the dead of Winter. There’s reason someone took off those pants and discarded them. You probably simultaneously know and don’t know why there are there, so to take them requires a certain daring-do, and a high tolerance for “potential-poo.”

picture-31(Filled with poo? Or rich, glittery treasure? I guess we’ll never know)

Secondly, I was standing in JFK waiting to buy a sandwich when a package caught my eye. At first I thought it was fabric softener. Turns out it was a box of cookies! And not just any cookies, ECO-COOKIES! Yum!

picture-41(Wind turbines, Earths, Suns and Priuses! Yum!)

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Thanks Heaven Scent! You made me laugh.

I don’t know how these two events go hand in hand, but it seems like “green” has reached a tipping point. Not that it’s going to recede or fade away, but it’s reached a level of ubiquitousness that indicates that as a society we are ready for the next step. Now that we know that we can use commerce, commercialism, and capitalism to fight its own excesses, we are ready for something a bit more strenuous.

I guess a step up from buying eco-cookies is MAKING your own eco-cookies.

Trends are everwhere, and so much fun to try to pick out.

Bags For the People: ‘Sweatshop’ DIY Canvas Bag Making Party. July 18th, 1 – 6PM, 303 Grand St. BK, NY

jackson published on July 8, 2009 in build, celebrity and zeitgeist. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

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Just got a link from SuperForester Severine about Bags For the People, who are throwing a free DIY canvas bag-sewing soiree called “Sweatshop” on July 18th from 1 to 6PM @ 303 Grand in Brooklyn, NY

Sayeth the BFTP site:

“Bags for the People is a non-profit organization that provides people with a sustainable alternative to plastic bags.

Bags for the People began with three friends who worked at the Union Square Farmers Market in New York City. These three friends, Megan Talley, Glenn Robinson, and Kelly Martin, wanted to make a positive impact on the exorbitant use of plastic bags that they witnessed each and every market.

In an effort to curb plastic bag usage, Megan, Glenn, and Kelly, began making re-usable bags from recycled clothing and fabric that were to be given out for free at the market.

Why free?

Our bags are free so no one is excluded from actively participating in this simple lifestyle change. We want our bags to be a truly positive experience that will create dialogue and instill environmentally conscious thought while cutting back on plastic bag usage. Furthermore, for us, it is about our environment and making positive change, not making money.”

Wait, wait… Let me get this straight… You make the bags out of recycled materials, teach others how to make the bags on their own, AND you give away the bags you make? About making positive change, not making money?

What do we call this amazing new America we’ve suddenly found ourselves in?
A place where people willingly (and thrillingly) choose idea-sharing over profit?

World 2.0

I don’t know when exactly it began (it was wayyyy before Obama,) but here it is.

I love this newly undiscovered planet.

Here’s the Bags For The People site.
And the 303 Grand site.

Thank you, Sevvy for the tippy tip tip!