Sunday, November 16

Act 2 Shoulder Bag Review and Giveaway

This giveaway is closed. Congratulations to LEWK

According to act 2-GreenSmart, “In the United States alone, 230 bottles per person go to the landfill per year. That’s enough crushed bottles to fill the Rose Bowl Stadium in California every two weeks.”


That is a lot of plastic bottles! Luckily act2 has found a great way to put those bottles to use. They convert them into high-quality durable fabric that they then use to make bags!

I was very excited when I was given the opportunity to try their Shoulder Pouch and Tote.



The first thing I noticed when I received my package from act2 was the package itself. My bags came folded in a small mailer and not a box! What a very eco-friendly way to ship.

When I removed my bags from the mailer, the fist thought I had was, “Wow. These are really sturdy and really nice looking.”

As much as I love to buy “green” products I am not always impressed with their look. That was not the case with these bags.

All the bags were pleasing to look at, well made, had lots of compartments, felt durable, and had very sturdy zippers (this is one of the features that I really like).

I gave the Tote to my friend to try out (I will post that review at a later date) while I tried the shoulder pouch. (Dimensions: 7” x 5.5” x 1.5”. Made from 10 16 oz plastic water bottles)


I live in an area where it rains, a lot. This pouch is perfect for that type of weather. I don’t have to worry about the rain ruining it (like I do with my current purse). Even though it looks small this pouch has plenty of room for all the day to day items that I "need".

The adjustable strip enabled me to set the pouch at a comfortable hanging level (another feature that I really like). I also really like the blue color and the feel of the fabric.

Before I received the bags I thought that the price was a little steep but once I saw the bags and felt how sturdy and well made they were I changed my mind.

These bags are well worth the price! (Both monetarily and environmentally!)

(For an even greater value, you can receive a 20% off discount on any purchase when you use the code: overcoffee.)

In addition to the 2 great bags I got to try out, act2 was kind enough to send me a 3rd bag to giveaway to my readers!

Here is your chance to try an act 2-GreenSmart product for yourself.

Shoulder Bag: Dimension: 9.5” x 8” x 2.5”. Uses 10 bottles saving the equivalent of 77 laptop hours. Retails for $44.99.

Here are the giveaway rules:

1. Click over to the act2 website and learn more about their products, how they are made, and how the company got started.

2. Come back here and leave a comment about what you learned (if your profile does not include an e-mail address then please leave me that too or e-mail it to me at overcoffee@rocketmail.com)

3. Only 1 entry per person please.

4. Check back on Wed the 26th (in the evening) to find out if you won.

Easy Peasy. Good Luck!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello friend,
I learned that there is an actual term for something I am trying to do..."close the loop". The practice of purchasing materials made from the diverted material from the waste stream.

Good luck to me!!

Anonymous said...

toothfairyerma_1@msn.com

Plastic bottles are not bio-degradable. Bottles are made from petroleum. This company sorts the bottles that can be used from recyling to make yarns from the process that includes sorting, flaking, chipping and baling and eventually make a yarn that can be used in making a fiber. Please enter me in you contest for a bag.

Thanks

Unknown said...

i never knew how they turned bottles into weavable threads. i would like to take my daughter to the site to show her how it works too.

thanks for visiting my blog!

jennyb said...

Wow! One bale of recycled PET bottles contains over 6000 bottles which is enough to process into 350 yards of finished fabric.

Anonymous said...

I was amazed to learn that they get all the bottles for the bags from Japan and then they are shipped (ocean freight) to Taiwan where it is then processed and spun into the fabric. The bags are sewn in China and then ocean shipped to Europe and North America. With all that traveling the carbon footprint is 1%. A virgin nylon bag produces twice the carbon footprint.
Great company looking forward to the new lunch bags they are working on.

ONE BILLION bottles a day are going into landfills, we need to get this under control!!!!!

lewk@cfl.rr.com

Anonymous said...

It's amazing that plastic bottles can be turned into fabric.
I watched a TV program showing this process recently. Very interesting and informative. Do we need to remember to remove the lids from bottles before recycling?

Anonymous said...

It just amazes me that so many bottles are used every day.

We need more companies like this to help reuse what can be.

I would definitely love to win one of these.

Nicole Feliciano said...

Wow, I'd love to have a laptop case that kept some plastic out of the landfills. Great contest. You can find me over at momtrends or at
capricornwriter (at) hotmail

Ami said...

These look like GREAT products. I learned that: "In the United States alone, 230 bottles per person go to landfill per year."

That's an amazing statistic and I hope we're able to decrease that number through education and recycling programs including the type of ingenuity that act2 has shown.

I hope I win, but if not, I might have to take advantage of that discount and buy a few gifts over there. Thanks for the info on a great company!

Unknown said...

One bale of is over 6000 (plastic) bottles, enough to process into 350 yards of finished fabric.

I always wondered how they converted this to fabric - the tutorial is very interesting

Heather said...

The thing I learned (that also made me shudder!) was the amount of bottles thrown into landfills in America each year are enough to fill the Rose Bowl Stadium in California every two weeks. Yikes.

Heather

http://fromgreytogreen.blogspot.com

http://runningfromthelittlepeople.blogspot.com

nanja said...

I found out that In the United States alone, 230 bottles per person go to a landfill every year That's a lot of bottles!

Phyllis Sommer said...

i learned that the process of making bottles into fabric is complicated! i also think i learned where i will be spending my birthday money...

Traveling Woman said...

The amount of information on this site is pretty amazing. I never would have thought someone could turn plastic bottles into fabric. We need more people looking into uses for this plastic. Kudos to these people. Pat

Anonymous said...

Holy Shiz! Enough bottles are consumed to fill the rose bowl stadium every two weeks? Yikes. 6000 bottles = 350 yards of Fabric? Awesome. Do you think I could find some of the yarn they make to knit with? One yard of fabric = 18 bottles? Excellent. now pick me to win!
XO

Jenn said...

I didn't realize how many plastic bottles were still hitting the landfills each year! HOLY MOLY!