The shopping bag to have now we no longer have plastic shopping bags

As single use plastic bags, thankfully, go the way of the dinosaurs, the geeky question is what to use instead. Clearly we need something that is small, easily carried, strong, and doesn’t look utterly awful. And I think I have it.

I’ve got a couple of UltraSil shopping bags – which I’m happily adding to my list of nifty gadgets. The bag scrunches up to the size of a kiwifruit and weighs virtually nothing (46g): So carrying it around with you just in case it’s needed is no chore at all. Yet, when opened out, the bag is bigger than the old single-use shopping bags and so much stronger (it’s been tested to 130kg). It also comes with wide, nicely-sized straps that make carrying it on your shoulder both easy and comfortable.

You can either just scrunch the bag up, or you can push it into the attached (so impossible to lose) tiny container. The container itself comes with an attachment so you can pair it up with a key-ring or carabiner. (The manufacturer’s website suggests that they come with a carabiner; all of mine are an older style and didn’t.)

As you’ll have gathered I think they’re a beautiful gadget. Oh, and they come from an Australian company.

Now I have to admit that these bags are not cheap (around $25) but on the other hand I’ve been using them for a couple of years and they’re not showing the slightest sign of wear. Being waterproof makes them easy to clean too.

The details, should you be interested, are on the manufacturer’s website.

(And, by the way, if you can think of a better thing to compare the size to than a kiwi-fruit, please let me know. I was going to say ‘a couple of film canisters’ but realised the younger half of the world would have no idea what I was on about.)