Go Beyond Store Branded: Add a Little Style (and Strength) to Your Collection of Reusable Shopping Bags

I partnered with Nakturnal for this sponsored post.

All thoughts and opinions shared below are my own.

In my attempt to be a little more "Earth-friendly" (and to avoid the 10¢/bag charge), our family has been using reusable shopping bags. We have a rather large collection, most being the store-branded type, and of course, we never have the right branded one for the store we are shopping at. Why does it feel so awkward to bring a shopping bag from store XYZ into store ABC? I mean, one eco-friendly reusable shopping bag is as good as all other eco-friendly reusable shopping bags, right? Well, not entirely!

One obvious difference in reusable shopping bags is their appearance. Many, if not branded with a store-logo, come in a single solid color with no design/logo. It's not a bad thing to keep things simple, but sometimes a little flair is nice!

Decent bag, but there's that pesky store logo.

Another difference is the size. I think it's a great idea to have a variety of sizes of RSBs available. You probably won't need a "Super XL" heavy-duty grocery bag to carry a few t-shirts and pairs of leggings from your favorite department store. You also wouldn't want to bring a bunch of smaller (perfect for carrying a few of your favorite items from the makeup counter) bags with you to the grocery store when you are doing some serious shopping and would clearly need (at least) a few large reusable shopping bags.

Image is of various reusable shopping bags

Some recently used reusables (all different sizes) waiting to go back in the car!

The most important difference between reusable shopping bags is durability. Some are clearly not designed to hold what it is implied that they will hold. Handles tear from the sides of bags, bottoms rip open, and seams separate right down the side. I'm sure ours is not the only family that has been saddled with a few "reusable" bags that seem to barely get through the first use.

Since I have been using reusable shopping bags so often, it's important to me that my bags aren't so drab, can hold as much or as little as I need them to, and are strong and sturdy. I recently heard about an online company called Rockflowerpaper and, perhaps it's because sometimes the *littlest* things make me happy, but I went a little "gaga" over their Blu Bags.

Image of Dessert Succulent Blu Bag Reusable Shopping Bag from Rockflowerpaper website

I think all of the Blu Bags look pretty great, but since I currently have a soft spot for succulents, this "Desert Succulent" print is one of my favorites!

Blu Bags can hold up to 50 pounds, are machine washable, are available to purchase at a great price point, and the designs are far from boring. I also appreciate that for each item sold, the company donates to Ocean Conservancy to help protect the ocean from today's greatest global challenges.