Mother’s Day Gift Idea – Joey Totes review and giveaway

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Under typical circumstances I go to the grocery store once a week and I always end up with a full cart. I’ve never tried the reusable bags before, I’ve always used plastic bags and reused those at home when possible. At $0.99 – $1.99 or more per bag the cost to get enough reusable bags to hold my typical order wouldn’t be cheap. And then there’s the actual bags. They’re bulky and they’d need a place to be stored and I’d have to remember them when I went shopping. So yeah. It wasn’t until this review that I used a reusable bag.

From the website –
“This is how Joey Totes started: I am sure you have seen those $.99 reusable bags being sold in the grocery. We had many ourselves, but we were constantly leaving them behind as we walked out the door. Chris commented that we needed something that could stash in my purse or that he could easily hold in one hand. The more we thought through the problem, the more things we realized what we needed our bags to do:

1. We needed more than one or two bags to carry our stuff, otherwise we went home with more plastic bags.
2. We needed a large bag that we could carry on our shoulder and one or two small bags that we could hand carry
3. We needed the set of bags to easily stow into one small unit
4. I wanted the bags to be washable
5. I wanted bags that I wouldn’t feel awkward using in the mall as well as in the grocery
6. And we definitely wanted a bag that would last!

Chris and Kate

I received a Joey Totes set for this review – one large and two small totes. The totes are called Joeys and feature the company’s kangaroo emblem. The totes are made of a material called ripstop nylon, a material used for things including weatherproof clothing, hot air balloons and parachutes. It’s deceiving material – it’s thin but it’s really strong. Each of the reusable bags is reinforced with double-folded handles that are strong enough to carry 40 lbs. and will last for years.

I had to make a quick trip to the grocery store. That means I wasn’t buying everything, just some essentials and things for my post-surgical diet. I decided to bring one of the Joey Totes and put it through it’s paces. I bought a little more than I went to the store for, something not previously unheard of around here. Now I always bag my own things because I like it a certain way (cold with cold, etc). For this trip I decided to bag half of my order in plastic and the other half in the Joey tote.

Here’s the half of the order, bagged in plastic. There were six full plastic bags.

Let me give you a better look at what was in those six bags. It consists of a bottle of juice, six cans, some boxes and some lighter items.

FYI – One of the things I hate the most about plastic bags is that I can’t always get them separated on the holder and then they won’t open. Leaving a wasted unused plastic bag. I end up with at least one or two of these each shopping trip. This week it was one.

FYI – The other thing I hate about plastic bags is that they always seem to get holes or rip.

After unbagging the six bags I discovered that four of them couldnt’ be reused due to holes and tears. What a waste.

Here’s the other half of the order. It’s in one large Joey Tote.

Look at what I had in there. The bag was surprisingly strong. I didn’t feel like the bottom of the bag was ripping and all of my items would fall out. That one bag held a five pound bag of potatoes, four bottles of water, some cans, some jars of baby food, some cold stuff and a big box of Ice Pops. And just so you know, there was still plenty of room for more.

Here’s the tote after I emptied it. There’s no waste, making them environmentally and individually responsible. If I shop with just Joey Totes I would save appoximately ten bags a week, which is more than five hundred bags in one year! Another note of interest about Joey Totes. Unlike a plastic or paper bag that you’d need to throw away if something leaks, you can just toss the tote into the washing machine and wash it on gentle if something you’ve bought leaks. How practical!

Here’s a picture of the tote in the pouch. The pouch is sewn into the inside seam so all you have to do is pull it into the pouch. It fits in there easily, with no effort. The totes are versatile, in that you can fit from one to as many as  four of them in one pouch. Once in the pouch they take up such little room that they could be put into my purse to be used the next time, making them unforgettable.

After shopping with one Joey Tote I was sold. It’s small enough I can keep it in my purse and use it anywhere. If you shop at a store like Aldi’s or pick up food from Angel Food Ministries then you can see the value of these bags immediately. These could be used for other things as well, like holding flea market or garage sale finds. They’d also be great to take along when traveling. I really like these. I think they’d make a terrific Mother’s Day gift as well as a great housewarming gift.

SPECIAL SAVINGS

For those of you that have the urge to shop right now, the folks at Joey Totes are graciously offering my readers a 10% discount on all purchases made through the end of May. Use code valsviews (case sensitive) when checking out.

GIVEAWAY

The winner will receive a new set (1 big and 2 small) of Joey Totes, value $20.

HOW TO ENTER

Leave a comment on this post telling me what you currently use when you go grocery shopping – paper, plastic or reusable.

BONUS ENTRIES

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1 – Visit HereAndThere.US (my Mom) and leave a comment on any post (except a giveaway post) there. Then return here and leave a comment on this post telling me one thing you read or learned on my Mom’s blog. (That’s two comments you need to leave for this bonus entry, one there and one here.) Unlimited entries for this method of entry.

Leave an additional comment for each entry you qualify for. You must have completed the first entry according to the instructions to be eligible for any bonus entries.

THE SMALL PRINT

US addresses only please. This contest will end Saturday 05/09/09 at 11:59 pm est. Only comments containing all of the requested information will be eligible for entry. The winner will be selected randomly. The winner must contact me within 2 days to confirm they wish to receive the prize. Good luck to everyone!

THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED.