Sackaroos Swell...

By: Denise Neil
The Wichita Eagle
Published on: October 27, 2008

The Wichita Eagle Story Link

Taking my own bags to the grocery store -- and cutting back on the exponential growth of my plastic bag collection -- is a concept I've always liked.

In theory.

But in reality, it never seems to happen. I get in a hurry and I forget to put the reusable bags in the car. Or I put them in the car but forget to take them into the store.

When I feel guilty, I remind myself of the hardships I would suffer without my kitchen drawer stuffed full of grocery bags, which I reuse for cat-box-scooping, for picking up after the pooch, for toting things to work, for sending stuff to preschool.

It took something very, very pretty to make me change.

It's called a Sackaroos, and last week, the inventors -- one of whom lives in Wichita -- sent me one to try.

Paula Casey, a local attorney, and her KU college friend came up with the Sackaroos idea together.

The bags are manufactured in Georgia (it was important to the pair to keep the production in the United States) and are sold via the Sackaroos Web site, www.sackaroosreusablebags.com.

The bag is an attractive fold-over with a decorative pocket on the outside, perfect for toting keys, cell phone and wallet. Flip it open, and tucked inside are four handled white nylon mesh bags, each one big enough to hold the contents of two plastic grocery store bags.

I took the Sackaroos for a fairly successful test drive at Wal-Mart last week. The 15 items I bought -- including a larger platter -- fit nicely inside one of the mesh bags.

The only downside was that the cashier seemed a little freaked out by this hiccup in her routine. She reluctantly let go of the plastic bag when I told her I had my own.

She then seemed unsure how to load items into my nylon bag, and I ended up doing most of the loading myself.

Casey says 14 mesh bags will fit inside one Sackaroos, meaning it would work even on a stocking-up shopping trip. I'm afraid, however, that dealing with 14 nonstandard bags would have caused my poor cashier's head to explode all over my pretty new Sackaroos.

I'm sure, with a little more practice, we will both get used to the reusable bag movement. Though, I am a little concerned about what success might mean for my cat box issues.

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Stylish Sacks

By: Cindy Hoedel
Kansas City Star
Published on: August 3, 2008

More shoppers are going BYOB (bring your own bag) at supermarkets, drugstores and hardware stores.  It's good for the environment, but it can be a crime against style if you're schlepping a mishmash of string, cloth and nylon sacks when you enter a store.

So we love chic Sackaroos, a handsome slim pouch with reusable bags tucked inside and a pocket for your wallet, keys and whatnot on the side.

The Wichita-based company was founded by Sue Gum Burnett and Paula Casey, who were roommates at the University of Kansas in the 1970s.  Burnett now lives in Georgia and Casey lives in Wichita.

The bags are manufactured in Canton, Ga., from fabric milled in the United States.  Each canvas pouch comes with four net bags but can hold up to a dozen (extra bags are sold separately).  The company also sells fine-mesh bags to use in the produce section instead of clear plastic bags.

Recently the company added pouches in colorful graphic designs in addition to the original khaki.  Currently the bag are available only online at www.sackaroosreusablebags.com.

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Sackaroo and go

By: Laura Thomas
San Francisco Chronicle
Published on: April 23, 2008

San Francisco Chronicle Story Link

Oh no. Not another portable, reusable, environmentally correct shopping bag.

Ah yes, but this one, unlike many others, is made in America.

When former college roommates Paula Casey and Sue Burnett had the idea for a "shopping bag system" that would serve the needs of the suburban SUV set, they also wanted to make sure it could be made in the United States. "I feel really comfortable doing that," Casey said, "when we have people here who need jobs."

Wichita, Kan., attorney Casey was visiting Burnett, a retired schoolteacher in Atlanta, in August when the pair discovered they had been thinking along the same lines about a bag for your basic car-driving, supermarket-shopping Midwesterner.

"We don't just go into (a store) and come out with one bag," she said. "We come out with 25 bags of groceries."

In fact, Burnett had already designed one and made one. With a few tweaks, they had the prototype for the Sackaroo.

"After 33 years, we were still thinking alike,"

The canvas bag (shown above) has two pouches that can each carry up to 12 mesh shopping bags capable of holding 25 pounds each. It also has an outer pocket for wallet, keys and other items.

The Sackaroo is sold online for $19.95 or as a set with four mesh bags for $39.95. The mesh bags are $8 each. Soon the site will feature a glove-compartment version called the Joey ($6.95), which can hold up to four mesh bags.

One of the most innovative features anywhere will be a vegetable bag that can be used in the store ($4.50). The 11-by-16-inch bag is intended to do away with plastic vegetable bags.

"You take all your vegetables up to the check stand and the checker will take them out, weigh them and put them back in," Casey said.

At least in the Midwest, the checkers do, and with a smile.

See www.sackaroosreusablebags.com.

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A-list Accessory
Reusable Shopping Totes/Bags Make for a Happier Earth (Day)

RUNWAY DAILY
Published on: April 22, 2008

RUNWAY DAILY Story Link

Personally I just adore all our Envirosax and have provided numerous options in my speedy-savvy-stylin' if they aren't what you see yourself toting. They do come in an array of more masculine prints, as well. Come on now, R.D. Hub does NOT want to carry bright pink flowers during our weekend trips to the Farmer's Market. Envirosax are especially user-friendly as they fold up super tiny and are pretty close to weightless...with sooooo little room in my purse they are perfect while being such a big investment in the Earth's future.

We also recently celebrated our 2nd Anniversary and sticking the traditional gift guide, it was a cotton giving year. My parents sent us some amazing reusable bags that will be just PERFECT for the bigger grocery store shopping days. The Sackaroos Starter System is just about to get some serious Whole Foods mileage over the next few years!

Please DO take a moment and think about how MANY bags you save by throwing a fold-up tote in your purse and using that on your shopping outings. Believe me, I'm not perfect and have been doing this for years and STILL forget to bring ours along all the time. Regardless, it's a great habit to get into and something that I hope to see become much more mainstream throughout the USA and over the coming years! Happy Earth Day!

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These plastic kitchen tools can be recycled

By ELIZABETH LEE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/17/08