Who could have possibly imagined with the creation of the plastic shopping bag, introduced to the U.S. back in 1977, that consumers would actually embrace an improvement upon the concept? Certainly not Dick Cheney. The evolution of personalized shopping bags continues at a refreshing pace. While some members of the family find the cloth shopping bag ideal for such things as fossil and artifact gathering, others use this latest green development for its original intent: taking care of grocery store business.

Regardless, cheap plastic bags are receiving some competition, thanks to a growing awareness of the multitudes of problems associated with that wasteful plastic concept. As plastic continues to permeate our very existence, people are searching for relief. It’s rather ironic that it would come in the form of a bag.

What was once the paper vs plastic revolution is now the customized shopping bag revolution, in an assortment of styles, colors, and statements. Reusable shopping bags continue to evolve as new markets present themselves. Additionally, cloth shopping bags and personalized shopping bags might very well claim to be environmentally friendly shopping bags.

More and more we’re seeing the bag for life, as they’re known in some circles, carrying some sort of environmental message imprinted on them. These messages are often nature related and come in the form of plants and animals.

Sustainable fashion is a relatively new concept in the fashion industry whose intent is to combine social responsibility with environmentalism. The product is created with those two considerations in mind, with a watchful eye on the impact it has on society throughout its lifespan. It’s chic wording for recycle.

Enter the concept of advertising fashion through the use of recyclable bags. Only the fashion industry could create cloth shopping bags, label them “I’m Not A Plastic Bag”, develop enough demand to sell out on the big release date, and top it off by making it the online shopping bags sensation to the tune of $400.00. Each.

Of course no designer bag collection is complete without a variety of bag sizes. From the ultra-hip woven coffee bag to the custom gift tote, small shopping bags compete in popularity with any custom bag imaginable. So do large shopping bags. There are reusable bags to recycle aluminum cans as well as for recycling glass. There are bags with compartments for carrying those stainless steel water bottles and reusable bags for recycling your yard clippings. Moving down the list are the sexy fish net reusable produce bags and the earthy farmer’s market bag.

The shopping bag collection would not be complete without a multitude of imprinted shopping bags. These range from your initials to your pet’s name to political or environmental statements.

Sometimes by finding ourselves in the right place at the right time we score one of those great looking reusable shopping bags for free. Some grocery stores offer promotions encouraging the use of those reuseable bags. By bringing in a certain number of plastic bags they will complement you one of their personalized shopping bags, offering up a free lesson in sustainability education.

It’s not a bad way to go.