“Only 12% of the world’s plastic is recycled”. That is what I heard last weekend while listening to the Sunday Edition on CBC radio. This means that the rest of the plastic is sitting in our landfills and flooding our oceans. Hearing that statistic was heartbreaking especially when there are alternatives to using plastic but the world we live in makes it challenging to find these alternatives and us them. BUT there are alternatives out there. Throughout our Green UP challenge we have been reducing our plastic waste with Gogo Bags.

 

Gogo Bags makes a number of different products all meant to reduce plastic waste around the house. Gogo Bags was founded by Anahita Shardini in Vancouver, BC and the company employs stay at home moms to help with production giving moms that need a little extra money while taking care of their little ones. You can buy them online  here or at  find them at these select stores across Canada.

We have been using the Gogo Bag snack sets to help pack lunches and their produce bags while grocery shopping. Both products have been essential  to reducing our plastic waste throughout the challenge .

*Please note that I was given product in exchange for my review. All reviews remain my own.

 

Reducing Plastic Waste with Gogo Bags

 

Produce Bags

About

The produce bags are handmade  and are a mesh material made of 95% polyester and 5% spandex.

What I love…

String

I love that they have a tie which allows you to close them. I often will cinch it shut and then tie it to make sure that it stays closed. Please note that some other brands that make reusable produce bags DO NOT have have a string to tie it close. Trust me… the last thing you want is apples rolling around our grocery cart.

Large

The bags don’t look like they can hold as much as they can but the bags have proven to  stretch big and are tough. They can hold a surprising amount of apples. Last time I was grocery shopping I filled it with 20 apples!!

What you need to know

They cinch at the top really well  with the string but if you don’t tie them shut it sometimes opens a little bit. I have had a few apples pop out this way .

Even though they are produce bags I have managed to use them for some bigger bulk items however they could not be used smaller  items like flour or oats because of the breathable holes in the bag.  I would love it if Gogo Bags would make a nice set of bulk bags.

Snack Sets by Gogo Bags

 

About the Snack Sets

Each snack set contains 1 sandwich bag and 1 smaller snack bag. I love that they are handmade in Vancouver, BC. Anahita Shahrvini handpicks each cotton printed fabric and then lines the bags with 100% unbleached cotton. They are meant to last 5 years . It should be noted that the one owl bag we got has a different waterproof outer layer than the rest of the bags. It is made of a certified food safe PUL farbric that makes it waterproof and easier to wipe.

 

What I love

 

Design

They have some really cute patterns that my daughters love.  My 3 year old has been into science and exploration so she got the space pattern and my almost 2 year old has been obsessed with Beesss aka birds and so loves her cute owl patterned bag.

Simple to use

They have a unique design and close by folding over the top. This simple design makes them easy to open and both my 22 month old  and 3 year old can get the snacks out without any help.

 

Do the Snack Bags Keep  Apples from Browning?

 

The snack bags claim to fame is that they  keep cut apples from browning.   I decided to do a little experiment. My intention was to take pictures every  3 hours this is what I actually did…

Gala Apples meet Gogo Bags Experiment

I cut the apples at 9:00 am, took some pictures  and then put them in the elephant Gogo Bag.  They were completely white on the inside with their red outer skin.

At 2:00 pm, during my youngest’s naptime, I took them out for observation. I tried one and it was still nice and crisp. They felt hard and were still mostly white. They did however change from completely white to light yellow with a few  brown lines on them .

At 6:30 pm they looked very similar .to how the apples looked at 2:15 pm but with a few more brown lines on them. They were a light yellow color with a few brown lines on them. I ate one at this point and while it was still crunchy it was a little softer on the outer layer.

Overall verdict?

The Gogo snack bags did a good job  keeping the apples fresh and crisp throughout the day and mostly white with a few brown lines on them.

 

Use them for..

The small snack bag

They are great for fruit, crackers, nuts, and dried fruit. They can fit a smaller apple that is cut up or half a large apple.

 

The sandwich bag

Great for prepared sandwiches. They also work well for fruit, crackers, nuts and dried fruit when you want to pack just a little bit more.

 

What You need to Know

The Snack Set bags  stay closed but do not completely  seal

While they do not completely seal like a zipper but they do fold over the top to close which prevents items from slipping out the side like a velcro bag that I have used in the past.  The fold over feature makes it easy to get the snacks out but some smaller items can spill out. The only time I found them to spill was when I put pumpkin seeds in them. They maybe were too thin and too small for the openings.

My  oldest daughter who is 3 has never spilled the items in her bag. My youngest who is almost two occasionally spills her bag. She is also the one who has taken those spill proof containers and found a way to stick her thumb in to make sure that the contents get all over the floor. It really is hard to avoid messes in my house these days….

Cleaning the Bags

I empty any crumbs and wipe the inside of the bags at the end of each day. For a full clean, I prefer to wash them in the washer and dryer after 3-5 days of using them. You can also put them in the dishwasher/hand wash and then hang them to dry.  I have found they take  about 12 hours to hang dry.

 

 

By Annika Mang

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