For the sake of our planet, and, in particular, its marine life to which they pose a particular threat, I hope that thin plastic shopping bags become rare. For now, though, they’re still everywhere. Even though I try to avoid them, I still end up bringing some home with groceries and impromptu stops at the drugstore, and one shows up every week wrapped around the Sunday paper.
Given that we’re stuck with them for now, reusing them seems like the best thing to do. And, when you have a 48 pound dog and an 18 month-old child, you have some uses for plastic bags.
Until recently we’ve stuffed them messily in drawers. But then I found this handy piece of gear at a great shop in Chelsea called Les Toiles du Soleil. It’s simple: a tube of fabric that hangs from a hook or a door knob, gathered into a small opening at the bottom and closed with a drawstring at the top. You just stuff the plastic bags in the top and pull them from the bottom.
The real genius of this gadget, though, is that it looks great. It comes in many of Les Toiles du Soleil’s beautiful striped fabrics, so you won’t want to stuff it in a drawer. It’s there on your coat rack or doorknob, cheerfully reminding you to grab a bag or two when you head out to the market or for a walk in the park.
This plastic bag holder is $32 at Les Toiles du Soleil, located at 261 W 19th Street (at 8th Avenue) in New York, and online at www.lestoilesdusoleilnyc.com. (They have no online shop, but all of their fabrics and most of their products are depicted online, and they accept telephone orders.) For another post about Les Toiles du Soleil, see A Sunny New Bedcover for Julia’s Room.
