In 1999, the U.S. used 10 billion paper grocery bags, requiring 14 million trees to be cut down. Additionally, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually, costing retailers 4 billion dollars and using an estimated 12 million barrels of oil to produce. To create awareness around the issues of recycling, composting, and reuse, IDEO designed an inspirational series of shopping bags and systems that explored the properties of biodegradable polylactic resin (PLA). In conjunction, IDEO presented graphic visualizations of what municipal campaigns supporting the eco-friendly shopping bags could look like.

Compost In looking at existing composting infrastructure, IDEO began visualing ways to create a waste stream for bioplastics. The resulting bag designs encourage the return of all bags to the compost stream through community-based composting efforts.

Recycle To promote the establishment of pervasive curbside bag recycling, IDEO designed PLA and paper shopping bags that use clearly legible graphics and branding to educate the public on recycling. The PLA design is heartier than traditional plastic shopping bags, lessening the need for double bagging and being less prone to floating—the city of San Francisco alone spends 8.5 million dollars a year to clean up and dispose of wayward plastic shopping bags.

Reuse To encourage the reuse of shopping bags, IDEO designed a series of multi-use bags that enable shoppers to receive rewards from participating stores. By using PLA in different ways, the bags range in look and intent, from flexible enough to store in a pocket to stiff-sided and farmer's market-ready. One system comprised a keyring-friendly portable canister that could hold two, four, or six reusable nylon shopping bags. The canister can accomodate store logos as well as barcodes to enable shoppers to participate in store discount and reward programs.