Eco-Outfitting Your Purse or Bag: On-the-go Items that Are Good for the Environment

Living in an eco-friendly way in this on-the-go world we call America can seem daunting. Reading the frightening, doomsday-esque articles on climate change can be frustrating - it's hard to know where to begin when faced with so many options and so much to do.

The answer's in the bag: with some simple planning, your purse or backpack can become an eco-haven and you can dramatically reduce your impact on the environment. By outfitting your everyday bag with these four small, eco-friendly items, you will lessen your eco-impact in the big picture.

The great thing about being eco-friendly is that a lot of things you can do for the environment are free, because they're not consumer-based. Four of the five items here you likely already own - or if you don't, you can buy it used! Why? Because all of them are reusable - a major tenet in the environmental philosophy. These tips are cheap and easy!

The first step in outfitting your purse for an eco-friendly life of errand running, is to get a big purse. You'll be needing a good size purse; not one of those rinky-dink handbags. A big, honkin bag, be it hobo or Berkin, it doesn't matter. Preferably, you'll rifle through your closet to use a bag you already own instead of going out and buying a new bag.

Got it? Good. Let's get started.

Eco-Bag Item Number One: One of the most important things to include in your new eco-friendly purse is a reusable shopping bag. We've heard the nightmares about the 100 billion plastic bags Americans throw away each year and the 1,000 years it takes for them to break down. Avoid being part of the plastic bag problem by carrying a reusable tote. You don't need to go to Whole Foods and buy a fancy, fashionable reusable tote; go back to your rifled-through closet and drag out a tote that was a free gift with purchase at the makeup counter, or that you got when you bought six books at Barnes and Noble's big sale. Use that!

You'll use this reusable bag for all those impromptu purchases like the milk and bread you picked up on your way home from work and the chips and salsa you're picking up for the Friday night poker party. Now that there's a reusable bag in your purse, every time the cashier starts stuffing your new goods in an evil plastic bag, you'll have an alternative. Check with your supermarket, too, to see if they offer a five-cent discount for each bag of your own that you bring in.

Eco-Bag Item Number Two: The second thing to put in your eco-friendly purse is a reusable thirst-quenching receptacle. Also known as the reusable water bottle, mug, glass, tumbler, mason jar or coffee cup. Did you know that you can drink water from anything that can HOLD water, and not just plastic water bottles? It's true! I recommend a lightweight bottle, like a Nalgene bottle, but again, whatever you have on hand and don't mind carrying around is fine with me, and even finer for the environment - Americans drink 9 billion gallons of water from 1.5 million tons of plastic bottles each year, which take up to 47 million barrels of crude oil to make. And, 80 percent of those bottles are not recycled.

If you're a coffee drinker, you might want to consider using a stainless-steel to-go coffee container which you can then use at Starbucks instead of a disposable, and nonrecyclable (the waxed lining renders it unrecyclable) cup.

Eco-Bag Item Number Three: The third eco-friendly item for your new on-the-go purse is a small handtowel or washcloth. This handtowel or washcloth will replace napkins and paper towels when you go to a restaurant or use a public restroom. The idea is to reduce waste whenever possible. Why use several paper napkins once and throw them away? Why use paper to dry our hands? Paper, though it seems a superior choice, is often times as energy-intensive to produce as plastic, so it's not getting a free ride from the environment. The handtowel will also lessen your energy use, by replacing the option of electric driers in some restrooms.

Eco-Bag Item Number Four: Wrap up a set of silverware. Hear me out now - this may seem a little weird! Take a washcloth or pretty cloth napkin and wrap some silverware -real silver, not plastic, mind you - and tuck it into a compartment in your purse. When you're on the go and get hungry and stop for a bite to eat, and there's only plastic silverware available, you're prepared. Whip out your silverware (and don't forget your handtowel in lieu of napkins!) and have a real fine-dining experience. When you're done eating, simply wrap the used silverware into the cloth napkin again and tuck it into its compartment. You can wash it or change it out when you get home. The environment will thank you for taking this extra step.

Eco-Bag Item Number Five: Go to divacup.com or lunapads.com and order a reusable form of menstrual protection. Whenever you're caught off guard by your early period, you'll be ready for action with one of these endearing forms of feminine hygiene. Used by our foremothers for generations before the introduction of the disposable tampon, these are safe and reliable eco-friendly alternatives. With the average woman throwing 400 pounds of waste in America's landfills during her reproductive life, this is a step the environment will thank you for! Buying a reusable feminine hygiene product will cost some money up front (from $20-$40), but they also last up for years and therefore save you money in the long run.

The key to all of these tips is to replace disposable products with your own personalized reusable ones. Sure, your bag might be a tad heavier than it was before, but in the long run your eco-footprint will be much lighter.