YumSugar

Simple Tip: Keep Reusable Totes in Your Trunk

YumSugar — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 12:50:50 -0700

From drinking less bottled water to making more educated seafood choices, I've been all about adopting a greener lifestyle. But simple as it sounds, the one thing I could never quite nail down was bringing reusable totebags to the grocery store.

Every Sunday, without fail, I'd pull into my local Trader Joe's, and catch the "Don't forget to bring your reusable bags!" sign in the parking lot, only to realize that I'd left all of my totebags at home. After repeating this mistake too many times to count, I finally collected all of my market totes and put them in the trunk of my car. Now, I have an array of bag sizes that come in handy not just for my weekly groceries, but also for takeout, dinner party leftovers, and anything else you can imagine.

Where do you keep your reusable bags, so you don't forget them?

Trend Alert: Celebrity-Crafted Food Carryalls

YumSugar — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:00:00 -0700

These days, virtually every celebrity - from Lauren Conrad to Jessica Simpson - has his or her own womenswear, footwear, accessory, and fragrance line. But celebrity lunchbags and farmers market totebags? Lately we've seen the celebrity, fashion, and food worlds collide, with all sorts of celebrity-designed carryalls for everything from our groceries to our lunch.

PartySugar and I might have been on to something when we said that we prefer to carry our farmers market goodies in style. It seems others were thinking the exact same thing. First, Whole Foods announced Sheryl Crow would be custom-designing its latest green grocery bag. Then celebrity chef Mario Batali jumped on the design bandwagon, randomly unveiling his own line of sleek lunch bags. The latest? A collaboration between Jennie Garth and the Sierra Club.

While I'm a bigger fan of some of the designs than others, if this trend encourages shoppers to be more eco-friendly - wasting less resources on plastic and paper grocery bags and lunch bags - then it's for the better. What do you think of the trend? Would you buy Sheryl's, Mario's, or Jennie's bags?

Source, Source, Source, and Source

What's Your Favorite Farmers Market Tote?

YumSugar — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:45:13 -0700

In honor of this weekend's colossal Slow Food Nation event, PartySugar and I are celebrating sustainable living by using (and showing off!) our favorite farmers market totes. Now we want you to do the same! Snap a pic of you with your favorite reusable farmers market bag and send it to us. I'll feature all the submissions in an upcoming post.

After we've received all of the entries, we'll pick one lucky winner to get her very own YumSugar tote! I can't wait to see your favorite totes.

Don't Forget to Show Us Your Farmers Market Totebags!

YumSugar — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:00:19 -0700

Currently, I'm bringing back this navy blue Marc by Marc Jacobs tote that I bought last year. It's soft and flexible, yet able to hold everything I buy. I love the way it pokes fun at itself as well as designer labels in general.
To celebrate Slow Food, both PartySugar and I have taken pictures (she debuted hers earlier this week) with our beloved farmers market totes, and now we want you to do the same! Snap a pic of you with your favorite reusable farmers market bag and send it to us. You can use the Look Book feature on TeamSugar, post it in a blog, or on your own website. When everyone's submitted their photos (due date: Sept. 1), I'll do a giant post featuring everyone's pictures (and you don't have to cover your face, we're just shy!)

To be included in the roundup, notify me via email with "YumSugar Farmers Market Tote" in the subject line, or personal message me with the following information:

- Name you want me to use
- Where you're from
- What farmers market you shop at
- Details about your favorite totebag
- Link to your LookBook, blog post, or website or photo of you holding your favorite tote
- One short sentence on why you chose that tote

After we've received all of the submissions, we'll pick one lucky winner and send her her very own YumSugar tote! I can't wait to see your favorite totes.

Toastabag: Love It or Hate It?

YumSugar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:00:32 -0700

These little toaster bags quickly turn your toaster into a sandwich maker. While I think it's a creative concept, I'm also rather skeptical: How would a whole sandwich fit into a one-slice toaster? Wouldn't the melted cheese settle at the bottom of the bag? And, more importantly, couldn't this be a serious fire hazard? I'd love to hear your thoughts below. Have any of you ever tried a Toastabag?

Source

Show Us Your Farmers Market Totebags!

partysugar — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:15:02 -0700

The culinary world is gearing up for Slow Food Nation. The festival, which celebrates local, sustainable farm-to-table food, is in San Francisco over Labor Day weekend. Slow Food encourages people to purchase seasonal produce from farmers markets in an environmentally-friendly manner. That means toting the goods in a reusable bag rather than a disposable one. In my opinion, carrying a fabulous farmers market tote is just as glamorous as sporting a designer handbag. Currently, I'm obsessed with this large, bright-blue tote by Chronicle Books. The tote perfectly demonstrated the publisher's motto ("see things differently") because it folds up into a flat book when not being used.

To celebrate Slow Food, we've (YumSugar will share hers later this week) both taken pictures with our beloved farmers market totes. and now we want you to do the same! Snap a pic of you with your favorite reusable farmers market bag and send it to us. You can use the Look Book feature on TeamSugar, post it in a blog, or on your own website. When everyone's submitted their photos (due date: Sept. 1), I'll do a giant post featuring everyone's pictures (and you don't have to cover your face, we're just shy!)!

To be included in the roundup, notify me via email with "YumSugar Farmers Market Tote" in the subject line, or personal message me with the following information:

- Name you want me to use
- Where you're from
- What farmers market you shop at
- Details about your favorite totebag
- Link to your Look Book, blog post, or website OR photo of you holding your favorite tote
- One short sentence on why you chose that tote

After we've received all of the submissions, we'll pick one lucky winner and send her her very own YumSugar tote! I can't wait to see your favorite totes.

Yum's May Must Haves

partysugar — Thu, 01 May 2008 06:01:00 -0700

May is the unofficial start to my favorite time of year - Summer! To help you savor the magnificent month of May, I've rounded up a few things I'm currently obsessed with. Trust me, these items will make your life more enjoyable. To check out my must haves for May, click the "Start" button.

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An Inconveniently Convenient Bag

partysugar — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:01:31 -0700

I have always had a thing for fabulous handbags. Last year, when it became uncool to use environmentally unfriendly plastic and paper grocery bags, I suddenly started collecting reusable, canvas grocery bags. Last season I was obsessed with the I'm Not A Plastic Bag statement tote and this year I'm crazy about The Inconvenient Bag ($19.99) carryall.

Neither paper nor plastic, this large canvas tote - available in four different designs - is the size of a normal, brown grocery bag and can hold up to 45 pounds. The bags are made in LA from biodegradable cotton and non-toxic dyes. While it may not be as convenient as carrying groceries home in paper or plastic, toting my food in the inconvenient bag, makes me feel like I'm doing my part to help save the world.

If you don't have a reusable tote, I highly recommend this fun, fashionable, eco-friendly bag!

Whole Foods Bans Plastic Bags

YumSugar — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:27:31 -0800

Plastic bags seem to be the new public enemy number one. They have already been banned in San Francisco, Melbourne, Hong Kong, and several other cities. Not to mention that the entire country of China is going to start charging consumers for them. Having said all that, it should come as no surprise to hear that Whole Foods is eliminating plastic grocery bags from its stores. The chain is hoping to encourage folks to BYOB - Bring Your Own Bag - and will refund five cents for every brought bag that is used. Folks who don't bring their own bags will be able to use Whole Foods's 100 percent recycled and recyclable paper bags. It is hoping to be completely plastic bag free by Earth Day, April 22, 2008.

So what do you think of this plastic bag ban? Do you agree? Will you be bringing your own bag?

Carry Your Lunch in a Tote for the Cure

partysugar — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:15:17 -0700

With more and more people using canvas tote bags to transport goods home from the grocery store, it's only natural that this concept would carry over to brown paper bag lunches. Instead of packing your lunch in a paper or plastic baggie, pack it in a reusable tote, like the fashionable ones pictured at right.

Created by Lean Cuisine in partnership with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, these lunchbox bags are good for the environment and help fight breast cancer. For every purchase of one of the insulated $9.95 lunchboxes, Lean Cuisine will donate $5 to the cure. What a fabulously stylish way to promote awareness.