Clean Conscience Blog - Eco Friendly And Reusable Bags

Clean Conscience packs a clean and green lunch with the Lunch Packer Lunch Bags made from plastic water bottles.Consistent with Clean Conscience Goods’ mission, the Lunch Packer Lunch Bag is made using woven 100% post-consumer recycled plastic PET water bottles. Each bag uses approximately 3 plastic water bottles that were diverted from going into our landfills or polluting our precious oceans. Using a high-quality woven fabric, these lunch bags are washable and easily air dries. Unlike canvas lunch bags, Clean Conscience’s woven fabric have very little or no shrinking after washing. The Lunch Packer was designed not only to reduce litter from our lunches, but also to provide a means to repurpose our everyday trash to convert them into new and useful goods.
The Lunch Packer lunch bag is generously sized to fit school and office lunches. It folds easily when empty so it can be easily stored in a purse, backpack, or briefcase. It is designed just like a brown lunch bag, with double handles and a velcro closure on top. It comes in three great colors: signature clean green, berry pink, and forest green.Best of all, the Lunch Packer Lunch Bag is made in the USA and helps support our domestic factories and jobs. These bags are truly eco-friendly, both environmentally and economically. These lunch bags are the smarter, cleaner and greener choice!
The Lunch Packer retails for $16.00 and can be purchased online through http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.com.Clean Conscience is a trademark of AAH HAA! Inc., San Rafael, Marin, CA. Shop online at: http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.com
###Clean Conscience stands for smart, clean and green products. We offer functional, eco-friendly, smart and earth-friendly reusable bags, grocery bags, shopping bags, lunch bags, shoe bags, totes and laundry sacks. Our products are made using re-purposed and recycled PETE plastic soda or water bottles, recycled cotton or a blend of both. We offer a variey of reusable bags that is ideal for carrying your grocery, produce, lunch, books, laundry, shoes, toddler or baby gear, and travel items. Clean Conscience reusable bags are also ideal for printing your custom logo for promotions, tradeshows, conferences, or fundraising events.
Clean Conscience reusable bags are truly green and eco-friendly. Using only recycled materials, we help clean our environment. Made in the USA, we help support our domestic jobs and factories to help feed our economy. Clean Conscience reusable bags give consumers a better choice and help make a difference for America!http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Are reusable bags a health risk?  They are if you don't wash them.  In June 2010,  a recent study was published titled “Assessment of the Potential for Cross Contamination of Food Products by Reusable Bags” conducted by Charles P. Gerba and David Williams and Ryan Sinclair, in partnership with the University of Arizona’s Dept. of Soil, Water and Environmental Science and the School of Public Health of Loma Linda University.  Prior to this report, in May 2009, a similar study was conducted by the Environment and Plastics Industry Council of Canada, published a study titled “A Microbiological Study of Reusable Bags and ‘First or Single-use’ Plastic Bags”.  The purpose of both studies is mainly to show proof of bacterial growth in reusable bags that are used for grocery shopping and whether or not reusable bags could pose a health risk.
Of concern was determining whether reusable grocery bags carry the risk of becoming a breeding ground for bacteria that could cross-contaminate food that is packed and carried home.  There was no doubt that in both cases, there was laboratory proof that the eco-friendly reusable cotton bags tested showed bacterial growth in many instances.  Some of the glaring findings showed that reusable bags used in food grocery shopping had become active microbial habitats and breeding ground for bacteria such as yeast and mold. Raw food or meat drippings that stay in bags that were left uncleaned are definitely unsafe.  As for your eco-friendly lunch bag, those definitely need to be washed regularly.
This doesn’t mean we have to go back to plastic bags!  Common sense dictates that anything that touches food has to be cleaned by simple washing, just like any other item that you use in the kitchen. We, at Clean Conscience have focused on this issue since we introduced our reusable shopping bags.  We have always informed our customers of the importance of washing bags regularly.  One of the biggest advantage to Clean Conscience reusable bags is that our fabric does not shrink.  Cotton canvas grocery bags, while very eco-friendly, unless is pre-shrunk, will shrink significantly since this is a natural character of cotton.  Our reusable bags are washable, durable, keeps its shape longer and air dries easily.  Durability and washability are important features to look for in an eco-friendly bag whether it’s a shopping bag, grocery bag, lunch bag, or logo-printed promotional bag.   Eco-friendly reusable shopping bags are a must-have in every household, you just need to make sure you wash it regularly, just like your kitchen towels.Shop our wide selection of eco-friendly and washable reusable bags.


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Packing for a day trip, cruise, summer camp, or a weekend getaway?  Don't leave home without our Pebble Beach reusable day bags.  A favorite of all ages, these reusable day bags are chic, colorful and fun.  Made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic water bottles, they help divert about 5 PET water bottles from ending up in our landfills.  You will love the fun colors with polka dot ribbon trims  that come in pink berry with brown/pink trim, clean green with turquoise/green trim, lilac with pink/lilac trim and forest green with fuschia/yellow trim.  These eco bags are generously sized to take along shopping, lug your book, sunblock, cosmetics, hat, shoes, beach gear, or your kid's stuff.  Built with an inside pocket for your keys or smartphone.  This environmentally friendly eco tote bag is made with a woven recycled fabric that washes easily,  and air dries fast with little or no shrinking, unlike regular canvas bags that shrinks after washing.  Best of all, these bags did not travel far to get here since they are made in the USA.

Buy Pebble Beach Day Tote now!http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Reducing plastic waste and pollution is just one of the goals of Clean Conscience eco-friendly reusable bags.  Our high-quality green bags are made using woven 100% post-consumer recycled plastic PET bottles.  These environmentally smart tote bags help divert plastic bottle waste from going into landfills or littering parks and beaches that eventually pollutes our oceans, and harming sea life.  Best of all, Clean Conscience reusable bags are made in the USA, using our domestic factories, materials and labor.  Less transportation fuel used means lower carbon footprint and more working dollars to help our green jobs and feed our economy.  Our reusable bags come in many styles:  reusable shopping bags, reusable grocery bags, lunch bags, shoe bags and custom logo-printed bags for promotional use.  Clean Conscience bags help make a difference in America!

Shop our STORE now!http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

We love celebrating the 4th of July!  Everyone thinks of having a good time with family, friends, pets and all.  Most of all, I enjoy seeing the celebration for America. This is a day when people in small towns have a parade, community bbq, festivals, and carnivals aimed at celebrating our country's independence.  It gives a sense of togetherness and happiness for even the basic things we often overlook....our flag, town parades, picnics, hot dogs, hamburgers, and my favorite, the all-American apple pie.

When I started designing Clean Conscience reusable bags, it was mainly to raise awareness for helping clean and green America.  In coming up for a reusable bag logo that depicted my emotions, I asked myself, what are the things that comes to mind when I think of America.  For me they are: Coke, hot dogs, baseball and apple pie.  Since the design was for a bag's logo, only one stood out:  the apple pie.  So that brought on some design charettes between my partner and I to come up with an  "I'm Made In America" logo reusable shopping bag that became our first signature bag.

We continue to sell this bag online and we constantly receive acknowledgment from our customers.  We thank you for patronizing our Made in America eco shopping bag - they help keep America clean, supports our green jobs and feeds our economy.

Go to Clean Conscience Store to purchase this 4-pc reusable bag set.http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Our Summer Sale is now going on.  Take advantage of 40% OFF promotion until June 30, 2010.  Clean Conscience eco reusable bags are made in the USA using woven 100% recycled plastic PETE bottles.  Choose from large size reusable shopping bags for department store trips, lunch bags, golf shoe bags, recycled cotton canvas grocery bags and many more styles.

Enter code:  GREENEZ at checkout.
Click this link to shop now:  Clean Conscience Goods.com
Valid until June 30, 2010 or while supplies last.



http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

If you have not gotten a card or gift because you procrastinated, short on time, or just forgetful, don't fret.  Father's Day is tomorrow, and granted it will be too late to send anything by mail, you can still do one thing that will make Dad happy.  CALL!  You won't have an excuse on this one since it seems that 99% of people walk around with a cell phone, and I am almost sure you are one of them.  And make sure you dial that number, speak and have a conversation.  No texting or emailing unless a phone a line is not available where you are.

The Dad in our household always says that Father's Day is not viewed as important as Mother's Day, judging from the fact that reservations for brunch has to be made weeks or sometimes months ahead of time, as well as paying dearly for flowers that seem be a "standard" Mom's day gift.  I particularly have a rule at home not to give me flowers for this very reason, but I will not pass up a brunch with the family.  My mother -in-law who is now in a senior home and cannot really get out, deserves to get the flowers.
Anyway, going back to Father's Day...yes, it seems that all these holidays have been concocted by the greeting card companies to keep their business going year-round.  Well, I still have to say, taking a day to acknowledge and appreciate what we have in life, like our Moms and Dads who love us, is a worthwhile purpose.  And one doesn't have to spend money to get the job done, either.  You can make a home-made card, send a letter, make breakfast, wash the car, call, or give Mom or Dad twenty big hugs and kisses and tell them how much you love them..... now that is priceless.
Clean Conscience has a number of green and eco-friendly gift items that are perfect for Moms and Dads, if it is within your budget.  Check our our chic day totes that Mom could use for when Dad takes her out for a weekend drive, or for their cruise trip this summer.  For Dad, we have eco-friendly golf shoe bags, a book tote, and lunch bags. These were all made with 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles - so they will be helping clean-up our landfills.  Even better, our summer sale is going on right now with a 40% OFF deal!.http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

It's summertime and we make greening EZ with our eco tote bags made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.  Choose from our wide selection of chic reusable shopping bags, lunch bags, shoe bags and laundry bags.

Our Pebble Beach  eco totes (shown above) are ideal for ladies golf days, bridal party gifting or for lugging Mommy and child gear.  Shop soon and save a bundle!

Go to Clean Conscience store.http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Below, we reference the latest Amended Bill Text as of May 28, 2010.
Original text can be viewed at this link:  BILL NUMBER:  AB 1998 AMENDED

As always, Clean Conscience has various selections of reusable carryout shopping bags that fits everyone's needs and styles.  All you need to do is have a few in at home, car or office and you will never be without one. Clean Conscience reusable shopping bags are the smarter bag of choice since they are made with 100% post-consumer plastic bottles, produced in the USA, functionally designed for shopping, and made with fabric that has minimal shrinkage after washing.  
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BILL NUMBER: AB 1998 AMENDED
BILL TEXT

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2010

INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Brownley
(Principal coauthor: Senator Leno)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Chesbro, DeB Leon, Evans,
Feuer, Hill, Bonnie Lowenthal, Nava, Ruskin, Skinner, Torlakson, and
Yamada)
(Coauthors: Senators DeSaulnier , Hancock, Liu,
Lowenthal, and Pavley)

FEBRUARY 17, 2010

An act to amend Section 42257 of, and to add Chapter 5.3
(commencing with Section 42280) to Part 3 of Division 30 of, the
Public An act to add Chapter 5.3 (commencing with
Section 42280) to, an d to repeal Chapter 5.1 (commencing
with Section 42250) of, Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public
Resources Code, relating to solid waste.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1998, as amended, Brownley. Solid waste: single-use carryout
bags.
Existing law requires an operator of a store, as defined, to
establish an at-store recycling program that provides to customers
the opportunity to return clean plastic carryout bags to that store.
This requirement is repealed on January 1, 2013.
This bill would repeal those at-store recycling program
requirements on January 1, 2012 2011 ,
and would instead, on and after January 1, 2012, prohibit a
store certain types of stores , as defined, from
providing a single-use carryout bag to a customer. The bill
would, on and after July 1, 2013, prohibit convenience food stores,
foodmarts, and certain specified stores from providing a single-use
carryout bag to a customer. The bill would require a store, on and
after July 1, 2013, to only provide reusable bags, as defined, or to
make available for sale recycled paper bags at a reasonable cost, but
not less than $0.05. The bill would exempt the sale of certain
specified bags from the above prohibition and restriction. The bill
would, beginning January 1, 2013, require a reusable bag manufacturer
to obtain a biennial certification from the Department of Resources
Recycling and Recovery by submitting a certification fee and
a certification that its reusable bag meets specified
requirements. The bill would specify administrative civil penalties
for a person who violates the above requirements. The bill would
require the department to deposit the certification fees into the
Reusable Bag Account, which would be established by the bill in the
Integrated Waste Management Fund, and to deposit the
penalties and fines collected into the Penalty Subaccount, which
would be established by the bill in the account. The bill would
provide that moneys in the account and the subaccount would be
expended by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to
implement the above requirements.
The bill would require the department, on or before January 1,
2015, to submit to the Legislature a report regarding the
effectiveness of the bill's provisions and recommendations to further
encourage the use of reusable bags. The requirement for submitting
the report would become inoperative on January 1, 2019.

This bill would preempt local regulations on the use and sales of
reusable bags, single-use carryout bags, recycled paper bags, or
other specified bags at stores, as defined.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
*****VIEW FULL TEXT******
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Check out our Father's Day and Graduation green gifts and enjoy a 25% off Dads and Grads discount.  Eco-friendly and truly green travel or shoe bags, lunch bags, book bags, reusable grocery bags and laundry bags, all made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. And, shipping is only $5.99 with no minimum purchase required.  Shop soon!

  http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

2010 DigiCom Film and Video Festival - Best of The FestDid You Know? was one of the "Best of the Fest" films showcased at the Palm Springs Unified School District 2010 DigiCom Film and Video Festival.
Created by: Students in Liz Salazar's class at Desert Springs Middle School and Kathleen Pape's class at James Workman Middle School.


Did You Know? from Lee Grafton on Vimeo.

This video includes Clean Conscience Goods Green 101 website content.  

Clean Conscience stands for smart, clean and green products.  Our mission is to green America - environmentally and economically.  Our eco friendly reusable bags and totes are made from recycled materials, which help conserve our resources and reduce the polluting trash that goes into America's landfills.  Using domestically sourced materials and labor, we lower our carbon footprint and help support our local factories and our economy. Our green living products include reusable bags and home goods made from 100% post-consumer recycled PETE plastic bottles, recycled cotton or organic cotton.  Clean Conscience offers a wide selection of reusable cloth shopping bags, canvas grocery bags, fabric totes, eco friendly lunch bags, produce bags, table linens, reusable napkins and bags that can be personalized and printed with your logo.  Proudly made in the USA.Clean Conscience™ is a trademark of AAH HAA! Inc., a proud small home-grown business based in San Rafael, Marin County, California.  All rights reserved.http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

It's been a long WHILE and we truly missed this blog. Spring has come and (almost) gone and we are excited to welcome summer!   Business has picked up in the spring as a number of trade shows and events needed some logo printed promo bags.  What was interesting, as well, was that we had to compete in pricing with a number of promo bag suppliers who were half the price of Clean Conscience bags,  but we were pleased to say that our reusable logo printed bags were still the bag of choice.  When our clients realize that we use 100% post-consumer recycled plastic water bottles, which happens to be a big polluter of our environment, coupled with our reusable bags being made in the USA, the choice comes easily.  Naturally, our local factories that make the fabric, sew the bags, and print the beautiful logos were all ecstatic, to say the least.http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Green egg-dyeing tips here:http://www.longislandpress.com/2010/03/31/green-egg-dying-eco-friendly-ways-to-dye-your-eggs/http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

This was a day worth writing about!


Cabin fever!  Winter has really dragged us down and we can't wait to have sun and warmer weather.  But who are we to complain here in the San Francisco Bay Area, when we see storms hitting the eastern states.  A really boring friday got us motivated to go outside despite the dreary weather. So off we packed up a lunch and thought we could just drive to Fort Cronkite. Sure enough, Mother Nature never seems to let us down.  The weather was just right, no sun - but not very cold.  So we were able to enjoy a light walk on the beach and watched a few (bored) people like us get out of hybernation, and even a few surfers to keep a few eyes entertained.

We were pleasantly surprised that the beach area was reasonably clean - we found a handful of what else? ... plastic debris, a plastic fork and some plastic bags floating around.  I guess the "keep our environment trash-free" awareness and messaging has worked in some parts.  How can it not when there is have a huge recycling bin greeting beachgoers at the onset.









Few as these trash may be, they account for a number of injuries of sea mammals.  Since plastic does not photodegrade, they end up in our oceans where animals could mistake them for food or they get trapped in nets and unable to feed themselves. 
With that thought in mind, we headed on to The Marine Mammal Center, which is a hospital for injured sea lions and seals that were rescued along the pacific coast all the way to Monterey/Carmel. We were introduced to Sgt. Nevis ( named after the Sgt. that brought him to the center).  Sgt. Nevis is a California adult male sea lion weighing 358+ lbs.  He was rescued on Dec. 5, 2009 from Stingray's Beach near Sacramento - he had a gunshot wound to the face that damaged his nasal bones and skull.  His prognosis is guarded because of the severity of the damage to the nasal area. Really heartbreaking!




The hospital was quite busy with another 7 sea lions under medical care, none of them were as serious as Sgt. Nevin, though, and hopefully they will all be released back into the ocean soon.



Since there was not enough sun today, the solar panels were definitely hard at work at The Marine Mammal Center. 

We should keep this place as a treasured secret so it doesn't get too crowded... but we are not selfish.  If you are ever wandering around San Francisco, this is a not-to-miss place to visit.http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Eco-Friendly Recycled Canvas Grocery Bags - 4-Pc. Set


HEY MARINITES - GET YOUR ECO REUSABLE SHOPPING BAGS READY!

You may need to get yourself a well-made reusable grocery bag because paper and plastic bags may not be offered by stores anymore come Earth Day.  Marin County has launched a campaign to ban single-use bags in retail outlets starting April 2010.  It just makes a lot of sense to bring your own eco-friendly bag when you go to the store, so get a few so you'll always have them at home or in your car.  Plastic bags are very harmful to our environment, they are made from petroleum, they take centuries before they decompose and a huge percentage of these bags are made overseas, creating an even higher carbon footprint.


Get yourself a well-made cloth shopping bag.  Our best-seller are these affordably priced recycled cotton canvas shopping bags  We have custom-designed these reuseabe bags specially for packing boxy groceries (like your cereal and cookies) and for deli or restaurant take-outs. The Take-Out Reusable Grocery Bags comes in a 4-Pc Set for $22.00. Our Clean Conscience bags are made from recycled materials and made domestically using our trash and our labor.

For a limited time we are offering a 15% discount - just enter MARIN-611 as your Coupon code at checkout.  So get yours soon and start doing your share!  Shop at:   http://www.cleanconsciencegoods.com/.






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Join Green Sangha in a 3-day Rethinking Plastics 201 Conference in San Rafael, Marin County.  Learn more about how plastics have plagued our lifestyles and our environment, and what you can do about it.

Thursday, Jan 21, 7:00-9:30 pm. Symposium: Awakening the Dreamer: an introduction to the challenges and opportunities of our age. Led by the Pachamama Alliance. Environmental Classroom, Marin Sanitary Service, 535 Jacoby Street, San Rafael, CA. Donation requested (all donations over $10 will receive a copy of the newly released Sustainable World Sourcebook published by Vinit Allen).


Friday, Jan 22, 7:30-9 pm. Public lecture: Rethinking Plastics, Rethinking Our Lives. Sponsored by Whole Foods Market, San Rafael. Free.


Saturday, Jan 23, 10 am – 5 pm. Workshop: Ending the Plague of Plastic Pollution. Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership, 555 Northgate Drive, San Rafael. Fee: $50.



Read more about the conference here at:
http://greensangha.org/rethinking-plastics-201/http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

I'm A Green Shopper Reusable Canvas Shopping Bag

Marin County is taking a stand on banning the use of single use plastic and paper bags at stores.   Supervisors Susan Adams and Charles McGlashan are among those proposing this ban when they recently launched the campaign to ban retailers and stores from giving out plastic and paper bags to shoppers.  In November 2008, Fairfax voters approved to ban the use of plastic bags at restaurants and retail stores and became the first municipality to enforce this ban. 

If you live in Marin, you've got to get in with the program. Get your durable and well-made reusable grocery bag ready and start being a greener shopper!  Check out our Clean Conscience selection of reusable eco shopping bags that's made for every shopper in mind.  Visit our website and find out why "all bags are not created equal".

http://cleanconsciencegoods.com/products/allhttp://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

As we ended 2009 last year, we are proud to say that we were able to divert at least 20,000 post-consumer plastic bottles that would have gone into the waste stream - by repurposing recycled plastic bottle fabric into our beautiful reusable bags. A number of lucky people received greener presents as we merrily packed holiday presents with our eco lunch bags, reusable shopping bags, shoe bags and even eco-friendly laundry bags.  And these bags were all designed, sourced and sewn in the USA - so thank you for all who helped support our local jobs and factories.


At Clean Conscience, we continue to create smarter, cleaner and greener products to help make it easy for you to make smart sustainable choices.



Thank you and Happy New Year!http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

25% OFF


Enter HOLIDAY2009 at checkout.
For a flat rate of $3.99 we ship Priority Mail
HURRY-SHOP NOW
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Casual Shopping Totes, Golf Shoe Bags for him/her, Laundry Saks,
Canvas Shopping Bags, etc.
http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com

Cheers to all for a very happy holiday season!
from
The Clean Conscience Clean and Green Team
http://www.CleanConscienceGoods.Blogspot.com