Monday, April 21, 2008
Contributed Photo
This is the design for the bags that the Alternative Energy Society is going to hand out on campus on Thursday and Friday of next week.
Bright red reusable bags may become the latest fashion accessory on campus this week.
Members of the KU Alternative Energy Society will distribute 755 bags for free Thursday and Friday on Wescoe Beach as part of their celebration of Earth Week.
The bags for the Reusable Bag Program were produced by the California-based company 1 Bag At A Time. They will be equipped with the logos of four local businesses that helped finance the project.
James Roberts, Overland Park senior and co-chairman of AES, said the bags would act as a coupon at each of the stores that advertised on them.
That way, Roberts said, the bags helped support local businesses while also reducing the negative environmental impact of traditional plastic bags.
“Instead of wasting plastic bags, you remember this bag because you have a reason to take it,” he said. “It inspires people to think about where they’re shopping and what they’re shopping with.”
Local businesses advertising on the bags are the Arizona Trading Company, 736 Massachusetts St., Liberty Hall, 642 Massachusetts St., Local Burger, 714 Vermont St., and White Chocolate, 1005 Massachusetts St.
Amy Harris, Overland Park senior and co-chairwoman of AES, said though the specifics were not official, each business would offer a different incentive to shop with the reusable bags.
“It’s cool to get a discount at places you usually go to anyway,” Harris said. “We want to make this a tradition - something you can see on campus as well as in the community.”
Roberts said the aspect of the program that supported local businesses was a unique twist on the movement for reusable bags.
“I did a lot of asking around, and nobody else is doing it, really,” he said. “Everybody’s really excited about it. They say it’s a totally new angle.”
The bags used for the Reusable Bag Program also required less petroleum to produce and lasted longer than plastic, paper or canvas grocery bags.
According to 1 Bag At A Time, the reusable polypropylene bags contain less than one-tenth the plastic of traditional plastic bags and last for more than 100 trips to the grocery store.
Though the Reusable Bag Program was in its early stages and was somewhat limited in scope, Roberts said he planned to propose the project to campus dining halls, bookstores and departments to help make it a fixture on campus.
— Edited by Jessica Sain-Baird
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