Things: Envirosax, Conveniently Green!

In case you haven't heard, I recently decided to dedicate this blog to people, places and things. For those of you that have been following the posts, I promise this will be the last time I go over this. For those of you that are new to reading this blog, here's a quick run down. Every Wednesday I will update this blog with a review of a person, place or thing. I'm open to suggestions, so if you have a certain someone that you think is worth knowing, or a favorite place, or a great item that you want me to share with the world, just let me know!

So, now that you've been reminded feel free to read on!

Envirosax

I'm sure by now you've all heard of this little thing called Global Warming. Well it turns out that this little thing is actually a big deal! Although it's taken a while, finally people are realizing that we all need to do our part to save our planet. 

Plastic bag littering our oceans

One thing that people do on a weekly (and sometimes daily!) basis is go grocery shopping. By now we are all familiar with the question "paper or plastic?" If you have a choice, go with paper. Yeah, you gotta kill some trees, but at least the bags can be recycled. The plastic bags at the grocery store are not made to be recycled and the majority of them end up littering our planet; hurting our environment as well as endangering the lives of countless animals.  So, when you go to the grocery store and you hear that question, "paper or plastic?" wouldn't it be great to be able to say "neither"? Well, now you can. 

Now it seems like almost any store you go into is selling their own reusable bags in an effort to eliminate this needless waste. Some grocery stores, such as Fred Meyer have even held promotionals; such as a 10cent discount for every reusable bag you used per visit. While I applaud their efforts, most of the time the reusable bags sold at these stores are cheaply made, inconvenient and dare I say ugly? 

I realize that vanity should not be high on the list when trying to save the planet, but let's face it, 9 times out of 10 we're gonna go with the cool looking item over the environmentally friendly one. Furthermore, most of these stores put their logo in big, bold letters all over these bags. I love the environment but I don't necessarily want to be a free walking advertisement for my local grocery store, but now I won't have to thanks to Envirosax!

Snapshot of Envirosax website. 

A few years ago my sister got me my first Envirosax. This was when when reusable bags were starting to come into the mainstream. I thought it was a cool idea, but I was living on campus and so I rarely ever went to the grocery store, and if I did I was buying only one or two items that I could just stick in my purse. It wasn't until she gave me a new Envirosax a few months ago that I really realized just how awesome these things are! Now that I'm home I've been doing my own grocery shopping and I would recommend the Envirosax to anyone, every time. 

My Envirosax after a trip to the grocery store!

So what makes the Envirosax so great? Three things. The first being its durability. One large Envirosax can hold up to 44lbs. That's considerably more than a plastic or paper bag at the grocery store. I've purchased reusable bags at the store and theirs tend to break at the seams when they have more than 10lbs of groceries stuffed in them.

Another plus is that the bags are washable. While they discourage machine washing, a simple hand washing will do the trick! 

The bags have also undergone testing to make sure they are being produced in the most environmentally friendly way possible. This is important to me, and I'm sure to you, because it seems pointless to have the manufacturing process cancel out any good that would come from using a reusable bag!

Size comparison. 

Convenience is crucial as well. I know in the past, although I had reusable bags, I hardly used them because I always either forgot them at home or left them in the car, only to remember them at the check out counter. Not anymore! The Envirosax can be rolled up and is small enough to fit in my purse so I can take it with me wherever I go. There are other reusable bags that are made to be rolled up, but they can oftentimes be a pain and don't fold up as neatly and as easily as they claim. Not the Envirosax, it takes no time at all to roll up and it's easy too. Here's a little picture step by step I took so you can visualize the effortlessness. 

Step 1: Lay bag out flat.

Step 2: Fold handles over.

Step 3: Roll bag up "hot dog" style.

Once you have a long roll...

Step 4: Roll bag up towards the ties on the bottom of the bag.

Step 5: Once all rolled up, just snap the ties around the bag.

Rolling the Envirosax up literally takes no time at all. 

Finally, style. Envirosax makes a large variety of bag styles and prints. There is something for everyone. I love the two I have because they are reusable bags but don't look like reusable bags!

Clearly I like red, but if you can't stand the color red, don't worry, you'll definitely find something that suites your needs and your style. 

On top of all this, Envirosax's are affordable. They range in prices, from the inexpensive $8.95 to the more pricey $39.95. Either way, you'll be able to find something in your price range while helping save the planet at the same time! 

For more information you can check out Envirosax's website www.envirosax.com. Until next time, happy shopping!

Song of the week: Little Boots--Earthquake (Phinz Remix)

The Unexpected

For those that don't know, film is my passion. I have always had a penitent for the arts and have always tried to be involved with the creative in anyway I can. This past spring I took an Independent Producer class at Clark University. Although I have made short films before, this class really was an eye opener.

Our professor encouraged us to each make a documentary. Not because it was an Independent Documentary Producer class but because in a college setting, making a documentary is a little "easier" than a short narrative film. While I enjoy documentaries, and I have made a few myself, I wanted to challenge myself with a narrative film.

Loving to write and having taken a playwrighting class in high school and a screenwriting class in college, I set out to write my own screenplay. The only problem was that I had no idea what kind of film I wanted to make! After much brainstorming I finally had an idea and I set to work.

With the script written, now it was time to cast the film, the only problem was that Clark is not exactly known for its great actors. Through auditions as well as some negotiation and persuasion I cast my 7 actors. Now came the hard part--scheduling and retention.

With 7 college students, it's hard to find a time when everyone can meet, and once you finally do find a time, it's usually only a 20 minute window of availability. As stated, I was under a time crunch, needing to film and edit my movie within a matter of two months, which seems like a long time for a 10 minute film, but when the actors can't meet and when the editing suites are only open a few hours everyday...it's not very long at all!

My actors were great, although acting isn't their passion they dove in head first and showed amazing dedication--willing to try anything for the sake of art.

I'm quite pleased with the end result. However, if I could go back and do it again I'd definitely film in HD, as well as use a boom mic in addition to lavalieres.  Although I've made films before, I'm especially pleased with The Unexpected and can't wait to finish the script I'm working on now so I can delve into filming again!