"Give hot young baggers another reason to stare!” That’s the kind of humor the three ladies of BlueAvocado – Melissa Nathan, Amy George and Paige Davis – bring to their business. That witty nod to the ever-helpful grocery store bagger is on one of their “reminder tags” – hang it from your rearview, clip it to your key chain – but don’t get into the checkout line only to realize you’ve left your reusable shopping bags in the car. BlueAvocado would like to supply the shopping bag you turn to – totally green, socially mindful and frankly, fun. “We’re hawking bags!” laughs co-founder Melissa Nathan.
Not since we were first posed with the dilemma “paper or plastic” have we so pondered where to stuff our produce. And yet the trend to use reusable bags is, for the most part, a good thing. We all know the mantra “reduce, reuse, recycle,” but old habits can be hard to shake. Wouldn’t it be nice if our carbon footprints were wearing Christian Louboutin red-soled shoes? Reusable bags have been sold at parochial school fundraisers. Others have pink ribbons promoting breast cancer prevention. One even professes to have been a plastic bag in a former life. So while the idea is not completely new, you’ve got to get people to happily buy in. Enter BlueAvocado.
This is more than just a story about three women who got together to come up with yet another alternative to the reusable shopping bag. As Melissa Nathan explains it, BlueAvocado is hoping to grab the interest of those who haven’t started their “green journey,” to “take that first step in a way that is impactful and joyful and fun but ultimately makes it happen.” And to think it all started with a trip to the grocery store.
“I’m in Whole Foods,” says Nathan, “with my sister Paige.” Her sister, Paige Davis, had just moved to Austin from San Francisco, the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags, “and I just had this moment of fear, like, ‘if they ban plastic bags what do I do? My life is a little dependant on plastic bags!’” There is a teasing twinkle in her eye as she says, “When I shop, I use 15-20 (plastic bags) a week. I use them for diapers, the dog …” And so then, the idea started to take root.
BlueAvocado dubs itself a lifestyle product company with a pretty simple mission to “Do Good and Get it Done.” Eventually Nathan, George and Davis hope to have a number of products available, all products that will lighten our carbon footprint. As the ladies of BlueAvocado put it, they want to make “the planet billions of pounds lighter.” Their first product is called the “gro-pak.” It’s a “collapsible reusable grocery bag system.” The bags nest within each other. Some are insulated for hot and cold products; some are mesh bags for fruits and veggies. They’re made from recycled-materials, and frankly, they’re cute. Davis says, “It’s really just taking a first step … not guilt or ‘should do’ … but empowering and fun.”
So this writer decided: “Why not take the bags for a test drive?” “Have Fun!” read the note from BlueAvocado’s PR maven Karen Frost, when I picked up the bags. Not something you hear often when heading to the grocery store, but why not? The gro-pak she lent me was brown with a mod teal blue and white circle accent fabric. There are six bags in all: a carryall, two roomy blue-print bags tucked inside and a couple of mesh produce bags. The bags themselves are made primarily of recycled materials. There is also a bonus bag, called the “pod,” which I have to admit may be my favorite. All folded up, it’s no bigger than a hardboiled egg; I tossed it in my purse and used it when running into the pharmacy or bookstore. But first things first; off to the neighborhood HEB for the week’s family-of-four ‘big shop.’ Sauntering in with the gro-pak tossed neatly over my shoulder I actually was feelin’ pretty good – I said ‘sauntering’ didn’t I? By the time I headed to the checkout I couldn’t wait to whip out the bags. I handed the “gro-pak” to the aforementioned “hunky bagger,” (who in this case did happen to be kind of cute) and waited for his reaction. Matt the bagger didn’t blink, but did comment, “all kinds of surprises,” as he reached inside the brown tote to find the blue nesting bags. Surprisingly (to me, not to the ladies of BlueAvocado) the bags stood up while we stuffed. The checkout clerk said simply, “How fun!” Fun indeed, but the real deal is that I avoided using at least 15 plastic bags. I asked “Matt the bag guy” what he thought. He seemed to think the bagging experience was a positive one – thought his wife would like the “gro-pak” – even said the colors reminded him of his own home interior design.
Reality check here: As Nathan says, “at the end of the day it is just a grocery bag.” Fun aside, the women are expecting this bag to carry more than Cheerios and canned tuna. It’s hauling a hefty mission. “The key to the blueprint for our company,” explains George, “was to start a business from scratch, be green and be socially mindful.” To that end, BlueAvocado is donating 1% of their sales to Kiva.org, “a website and international organization that provides micro-loans to entrepreneurs.” They have already made about 15 loans to women entrepreneurs, including a seamstress starting a company in Uganda. “It’s kind of a pay-it-forward idea,” says Nathan, “how many lives can we touch, and what accountability can you take just by buying a simple ‘pod’?”
Yes, even the simple “pod” saves three bags every time you use it. If you use it once a week, that’s 12 plastic bags avoided in a month, 24 in two months, 48 in four months. You get the point, and that’s if you use the “pod” just once a week. The women of BlueAvocado say to put enviro-guilt aside and just do it. They’ve even got a place on their website to debunk the excuses – biodegradable options for picking up the puppy-poop that those plastic bags were so good for. Or for those of us who already have a menagerie of reusable bags, there are thoughts on how to reuse or recycle those. Davis calls it a “closed loop cycle.” The ladies say, “it’s not about being militant, it’s about being mindful.” In the end maybe it is more than “just a grocery bag.”