Rejavanate Bag Review

The kind folks at Rejavanate recently sent me two of their reusable bags; a lined one and an unlined one, to try out.

When I received the bags I knew that Rejavanate was a true Green company and not just one that throws the Green word around as a marketing gimmick.

How did I know this?

Because of the way the bags were packaged.

They were folded into quarters and placed into a very small box. On the side of the box was this sticker

When I removed the bags from the box I noticed they were different sizes and shapes. The lined bag was wider and shorter. The unlined bag was taller. These different shapes lent themselves nicely to different uses.

I gave the unlined bag to my friend to try out and review for me. She took her bag grocery shopping. On her first trip she used the unlined bag to carry all of her produce in. On her next shopping trip she used it for cans and was surprised at how sturdy it was. She did say that it did not work well for boxed items because the corner of the boxes poked through the burlap. (Good to know) She was able to mend her bag easily by pushing the burlap back through. (Another good thing to know)

I used the lined bag for non grocery purposes (like transporting blankets and snacks to my son’s soccer games). I found that the dimensions of the lined bag and the wider carrying straps lent themselves nicely to this type of use. I did find that the burlap material tended to be a little itchy but as long as you don’t hold it against your bare skin it is fine.

Aside from making reusable bags (which I strongly support) I was drawn to this company because of their story.

Rejavanate “takes burlap from coffee roasters, that would otherwise be sent to the landfill, and works with The ARC, an organization which serves individuals with developmental disabilities, to hand make the bags.”

As an avid coffee drinker I never stopped to really think about what drinking all that coffee might mean for our environment.

I knew that coffee was one of the top commodities but I never realized how much burlap was discarded because of it. According to Rejavanate, "800,000 tons of burlap is put into landfills every year."

I am so glad that Rejavanate has found a productive way to use that burlap.

My overall review of the Rejavanate bags is a positive one. I would highly recommend purchasing one (or two) of their bags. By doing so, you would not only be helping the environment (by keeping plastic bags, paper bags, and burlap out of the landfill) you would also be supporting a company that is environmentally and socially conscious.