Chico Makes Carrying Groceries a Snap

Living on the second floor and having two kids with me when I’m grocery shopping, it’s always a pain to carry groceries into the house. I learned long ago that cloth grocery bags can hold much more than plastic or paper bags, but I’ll admit that I’m awful about remembering to put them in the car. After receiving a Chico Sling rePETE, I know that I have found the perfect solution to my grocery dilemma!

Sling rePETE Keeps Hands Free

When I’m walking up the stairs, I have to hang on to Bubba’s hand to make sure he doesn’t run off, wanting to stay outside while I have ice cream melting in my bags. On top of that, I have to open two doors, lead him up the stairs when he’d rather run through the hallway, then unlock our door.

Before I used my Chico bag the first time, that meant overloading one hand (because when everything goes through the parking lot and up two flights of stairs, the number of trips is much more important than weight) and setting them all down at least once. This ungraceful ballet led to times when I would go to the store one day at a time just to ease the load or waiting until we’re living off rice and canned tuna before heading to the store, hoping to delay the misery.

The first time I used the Sling rePETE bag, I was able to sling it over my shoulder and my hands were free for everything else! I was in heaven!

Reduce the Number of Bags You Carry

Have you ever looked at what is put in each grocery bag when you go to the store? Because the plastic is so thin, the baggers have to be careful that they don’t overload them and they have to make sure anything heavy is double-bagged to make sure it doesn’t lead to an avalanche of groceries when the side or bottom of the bag rips out.

The first time I used my bag, I allowed the bagger to use plastic bags because I wanted to see how my Chico reusable bag compared. I was easily able to put the contents of three plastic bags into one Sling rePETE. Yes, it made the bag heavy, but remember, I’m all about fewer trips, even if it means ripping off my arm under the weight of my parcels.

As I picked up the bag, I was a bit worried that the bag wouldn’t carry the weight without ripping. The material Chico uses is made from recycled plastic bottles and feels thin, and thin, at first thought, equates weak. It’s not weak at all! I have carried at least four 2 liter bottles in my bag many times and the bag shows no signs of wear.

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Reduce Your Footprint

Because of having to take our garbage downstairs and through the parking lot, I have started to find ways to reduce the amount of trash we have to bag and take to the dumpster. I will admit, it started because I hate having to take out the garbage, but over time, I started to realize that if every family our size had that much garbage, that’s a lot of garbage going to a landfill somewhere!

BC (before Chico), the floor of my kitchen was covered with plastic bags waiting to be emptied and collected when I got home. After Chico, I have a few bags on the floor, and rather than throwing them away, I empty them and put them in my purse, ready to go to the car for the next trip.  The only drawback to this is I no longer have plastic bags on hand if I have to do a quick pick-up or want to throw something in a bag for Mack to take to a friend’s house, but it’s well worth it!

Far Better than Store Reusable Bags

While I loved the green canvas bags I bought at the grocery store, there was no easy way to tote them. Even when they were all neatly placed inside of one bag, the straps flopped all over the place. They looked messy and they were one more thing to remember to carry to the car and then into the store.

Chico bags tuck neatly inside themselves, creating a compact bundle that I can throw in my purse. They go into my purse as soon as I empty them, and when I go to the car, I put them in the storage compartment, ready for my next planned or unplanned trip to the store. They’re compact enough that I even put one or two of them in the dashboard storage area, ready for quick trips to get staples. There’s no reason to not have them with me!

Win a Chico Starter Pack!

Chico was kind enough to send me a second Sling rePETE for a lucky reader, but I really want to sweeten the pot a bit! I’m going to give away the Sling rePETE as well as two of the Original Chico bags to get you started on a greener and more efficient shopping routine!

This giveaway will be open until July 1st, 2012 at 11:59pm. It is open to US residents, 18 and over.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was given a Sling rePETE bag in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own and not influenced by the receipt of merchandise.