BagPodz Review – Reusable Grocery Bags

Cut Back on Plastics Bags with BagPodz

With a reusable shopping bag you can stop using disposable single-use plastic bags, and thus the plastic pollution caused by them. By purchasing a reusable shopping bag you are making a small but important step with a positive environmental impact for you and the rest of the world.

In this product review from recycling.com, we share our experience with BagPodz reusable shopping bags.

• Reviewed by: Cara Dettmann and Pim Brouwer
• Disclosure: We were not sponsored by BagPodz, they provided us with product samples to test and review (thanks for that). In this review we share our own opinion about the bags.
• Photos: Please note that the color of the bags are more rich and saturated in real life.
  

Our personal experience with BagPodz

“The BagPodz are super practical. Keep them in your car so you won’t forget them.”
– Cara Dettmann

First experience

I have been testing out the 5 pack of yellow/orange BagPodz for the last month and will definitely continue to use them in the future. Before I say anything else though I will advise everyone to keep these in their car, so you will have them with you whenever you need them. I spent the first week being annoyed with myself for never having them with me.

But once I had them in the car and started using them I was very impressed and happy with them. The quality of the bags is beyond what I expected and the pod actually works, as you don’t accidentally end up pulling all of the bags out at once.

Final opinion

The size of the individual bags was perfect in my opinion, they were comfortable to carry and they couldn’t be packed so full that they were too heavy to carry. Although I never used all five bags shopping for one or two people I definitely don’t think that the pod had too many bags in it. The pod was very comfortable to take with me, and unlike some sleeping bags, the BagPodz bags were easy to fit back into the pod without major struggles.

Even though I also noticed that the bags were quite wrinkled after coming out of the pod, as soon as you put something in them they straightened out quite well. If you are someone who is bothered by the wrinkles then you can neatly fold your bags into small squares before putting them back in the pod, this will help a little.

“I am really impressed with the quality of the BagPodz.”
– Pim Brouwer

I have tried out the 5-pack of the BagPodz for a few weeks, so here is my personal experience with these bags. First of all, I have to say, I really like the shopping bags very much! The reusable bags come in a convenient pouch, so it is basically a bag with five small shopping bags inside it. You can also opt for the larger pouch that holds 10 bags, but for me, this version is a bit too bulky for my needs – so the 5-pack is ideal for me.

The pouch feels durable and comes with a sturdy zipper on top. It also contains a hook so you can hang the pouch at your shopping cart for instance. The end part of the pouch has a large opening, that you can close easily with a drawstring. Basically, the pouch has everything you need for convenient (grocery) shopping and usage.

The only downside of the pouch though is that the bags come out fairly wrinkled. You almost feel the urge to iron the bag first. But hey, it is just a shopping bag. Maybe for very fashionable people, this might be a concern for them.

Update: I have experienced that after using the bags for a while now, the wrinkles are gone. So you can leave your iron in the closet 😉

Multifunctional bags

I use the BagPodz for regular shopping and for bringing my lunch to work. In my few weeks of testing I never actually brought the pouch with me, I used it more as a storage place for the reusable bags. Normally reusable shopping bags are laying around everywhere in my house or car, but with BagPodz I had an actual place to store the bags away.

When I come home I stuff the bag inside the pouch for using it the next day. Also, my partner brings the bag with her when she goes shopping. Her experience is that the bags are a bit too small for grocery shopping. She rather likes to bring a larger sized grocery bag. But we think that these BagPodz are ideal for regular shopping or for bringing some items from home with you, like a reusable water bottle.

Ideal to bring on vacation too

On my trip to Greece I brought a couple of these bags with me. It is ideal to have them around when you go exploring. Normally you have to buy a plastic grocery bag at the local grocery stores, but the BagPodz bags are so small that you can easily fit it in your pocket or in your handbag. I do suggest put a few of the bags in your rental car or scooter, it helped me out a lot on my vacation!

Sturdy bags that are made to last a long time

The bags themselves also feel and look durable, just like the pouch. My first experience with the bags was that the textile feels like it will last for years. No need to worry about ripping or tearing the bags easily. The bags are also water repellent and machine washable. So they are made to last a long time I think.

I have to say that I find the bags quite small and the handle openings are small as well. This means that you can’t really carry the bags over your shoulder, but you need to hold them in your hands.

Plain red isn’t very exciting

I got the red bags, but there are multiple colors available, such as blue, orange and green. The downside is that the pouch only contains one color. So they might look a bit (too) basic for some people. It would be nice if you could also get a BagPodz product with multiple colors or with some more interesting patterns or designs.

Conclusion

Overall I do really like the reusable bags and the pouch where the bags are stored away in. I am really impressed with the quality of the BagPodz. The materials feel very durable and are super sturdy. So it is worth the relatively high price you pay for them.

The downside is that the bags might be a bit too small for some people and you can’t carry them over your shoulder, so you don’t have your hands-free when using these bags. The biggest pro for me is that the bags come in this pouch, so you can bring it along easily and you always have a place to store the bags in. I would definitely recommend BagPodz and I can advise you to go for the 5-pack BagPodz, rather than the more bulky 10-pack one.