ChicoBag - Review

With Earth Day coming up, there is a lot of focus on reducing, reusing and recycling. I have challenged myself to do much better at reducing the amount of plastic used by our family and brought into our home, namely in the form of grocery bags. I have a ton of reusable bags, but my husband absolutely refuses to use them (he thinks it makes the cashiers mad, haha!) I just plain forget. I keep them in the van. I get to the store. Corral the kids. Get in the store. And then remember the bags.

I was so excited when I discovered ChicoBags. There is so much to love about these bags, particularly the one I received to review. I was lucky enough to receive the Vita Contemporary Agave Flower bag and it blew my expectations out of the water.

 

I actually got excited about using my reusable bags again after receiving the ChicoBag and getting a ton of compliments on it while I was shopping.

The opened size was much bigger than I anticipated.

 

And, the closed size, much smaller!

The amount the bag can hold is incredible. I have started using this bag for lightweight items (bread, hamburger and hot dog buns, tortilla shells, chips, etc...)

ChicoBag's Vita line (and many others) can hold up to 40 pounds! I have had many cheaper cloth bags rip on me mid-parking lot, but not the Vita bag! To test this out, I loaded this bag up with library books for my kiddos without a hitch!

One of my favorite aspects of ChicoBag's is that they have a small pouch (depending on the line you purchase from, the pouch is either sewn into the seam of the bag, or doubles as a pocket) that the bag fits right into. Inserting and removing the bag is incredibly easy.

The bags are machine washable (be sure to wash on cold and air dry!) 

It would be crazy of me not to mention the awesome colors and prints in all the bags, but specifically the Contemporary Collection. 

Finally, there is a carabiner attached to the bag so you can always have the bags handy.

The only thing I didn't like, the material of the bags made the shoulder bag slip off my shoulder a lot. When the two straps were touching, it would make one slip. One would stay on my shoulder, but I'd lose the second. I'm curious if the Sling rePETe line would have this problem since there is only one strap, and considering how cross body bags lay on your shoulder.

This one little "con" didn't stop me from using the bag. I honestly have received so many compliments on the bag. Cashiers talk about how they've never seen one so small, so pretty, so convenient, etc.... And all I can say is, "Right?!"

In summary, I've used a lot of reusable bags, and have always had a lot of complaints, ranging from cheap material, too small, too big (so that you overload it and then can't carry it), and on and on.... ChicoBag removes all these complaints. You can tell that a lot of thought went into the design and production of ChicoBags.

If you are interested in purchasing your own fashionable reusable bag, the amazing folks at ChicoBag have offered a generous 25% discount with the code cbbcda25 (please note, this discount is only good for the Fashion Category bags). This code is good through April 30, 2012.

Do you have reusable bags sitting around that aren't getting used?  ChicoBag has an incredible Repurposing Program where you can send in your unused or torn up bags and ChicoBag will find a new home for them, or a new purpose by making the bags into totes, handbags, rugs, and more!

You can find ChicoBag on the following Social Networks:
ChicoBag (on Facebook)
ChicoBag (on Twitter)

Disclaimer: I received for review a Vita Contemporary Agave Flower Ba. All opinions are honest and my own.