DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

Once we began using my growing collection of tech-conference tote bags as earth-friendly grocery sacks, I realized that the good folks down the road at O’Reilly could promote the effort by using real reusable bags instead of the inexpensive cotton/canvas totes that are the current conference standard.

I found a strong candidate at reusablebags.com: the Earth-tote is a $20 nylon sack that mimics the form factor of traditional foldable paper grocery bags. It has a lifetime guarantee! Which means, among other things, that the handles won’t pull off if you try to carry more than a few kilograms of food. Double one of these superbags, and you could carry home a stockboy to put your groceries away for you.

The Earth-tote is made from 600 denier coated Cordura nylon, which is actually a stronger fabric than the body of my old Aerostich Roadcrafter motorcycle suit. So, not only can you carry your organic produce home without poking yet-another paper-or-plastic finger in the eye of Mother Nature, you can drop your groceries on the highway at 65 mph without so much as bruising a single locally-grown Fuji apple.

Wait, you don’t drive to the grocery store, do you?!?!?!

In a fit of late-night eco-angst, I sent a thoroughly unsolicited email to one of the conference guys at O’Reilly suggesting that future conference attendees would be better rewarded with a dedicated, lifetime-guaranteed, truly reusable shopping bag, which no doubt would look fabulous with the O’Reilly logo stamped on the side. I was surprised to receive a thoughtful reply a couple days later: my suggestion has been passed along.

I’ll find out in October if it got any traction. The conference team gives away books like there’s a fire in the storeroom, so I surely hope they’ve found a way to justify spending 0.71% of everyone’s Web 2.0 Conference admission fee on an Earth-tote.