Sustainability
tl;dr - our bags are recyclable, most reusable bags are not
Reusable & Recyclable
Most households would have quite a few reusable bags in their shopping bag arsenal. But guess what: many reusable bags are not recyclable!
This is where we come in, Oh Frig bags are both reusable and 100% recyclable!
Oh Frig bags are made from Dupont™ Tyvek® material*. This means that our bags are durable, light weight, tear resistant, water resistant, breathable, and recyclable.
Our bags are purposefully designed to cater for a wide variety of uses that will not leave you feeling out of place.
Oh Frig bags can be your daily tote; or folded and carried around as a shopping bag. Its water-resistant qualities make it the perfect beach bag – or rain protection for handbags (or your perfectly coiffed hair)! Breathable qualities make it a good (and discreet) gym bag & most importantly; Oh Frig bags are stain resistant & washable – so go ahead and stuff it under the seat in front of you!
As an added bonus, all Oh Frig bags are packaged in an envelope pouch made of the same Tyvek® material.
So, there is less packaging & wastage involved in the shipping process, and you get an additional pouch! When not used to store your Oh Frig bag, use it to store cash, your passport or whatever you want!
Now for the more serious stuff. Recycling.
The recycling symbol that we are so used to seeing is a lot more complex than most are aware of. Specifically, for plastics, not all plastics can be recycled; and even for plastics that can be – it may come with long list of caveats that make it difficult to do so.
You may have noticed a number in the middle of recycling symbols found on most plastics. Below is a simple table that explains the differences.
So – why does this matter, how does it impact the environment, & what does this have to do with Oh Frig bags?
Very simply, Type 1 & 2 plastic resin are consistently recyclable: which means that in most countries, these can be thrown into commonly found recycling bins**. For all the other types of plastic resin, it depends on your location/municipality and often, you may have to find a specific recycling centre for the item. As a result, most reusable bags are discarded as general waste & end up contributing to the growing volume in landfills around the world.
The Tyvek material that Oh Frig bags are made of is High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and fall within the Type 2 plastic resin which is easily recyclable.
Most reusable shopping bags (think of those colourful bags that are sold at most grocers) are either made of non-woven Polypropylene (PP) or Nylon (a polyamide) and they fall into the Type 5 and Type 7 categories of plastic resin. Depending on where you stay, it might be difficult to find a centre that accepts these materials for recycling.
Specifically, in Singapore (the home of Oh Frig), our bags can be disposed in any recycling bin that accepts plastics. However, the more commonly found reusable Nylon bags cannot be recycled & have to be disposed of as general waste.
Having said that, if you do tire of your Oh Frig bag; give it a new lease of life! There are many online resources that guide you on how to make wallets, stuff sacks, passport covers, and many more items out of Tyvek®!
*DuPont™ and Tyvek® are trademarks or registered trademarks of DuPont or its affiliates.
**Please check with your local municipality for details of what can and cannot be disposed in curb side recycling bins.