It all started with a kayaking trip. Bibi Rogers and her son, Daniel, were on one of their weekly trips at Delray Beach when they came upon a clutter of plastic bags littering the water. Bibi was disgusted and appalled, and the sight stayed with her for the weeks and months that followed.

Despite being aware of the consequences of dumping plastic bags on the planet, however, Bibi found that more often than not, she would arrive at the grocery checkout without any plastic bags from home or her fashionable reusable canvas shopping bag, necessitating the use of another five or ten bags from the supermarket. That’s when it started to stick. She needed to do something.

Bibi came up with the idea of an eco-friendly plastic bag carrier that can easily be attached to a handbag, backpack, shopping bag or belt loop, and named it The Ridley after one of the world’s smallest, most endangered species of sea turtles. She then developed other applications for this basic idea and founded 4U2ReUSE in September 2007 with the goal of manufacturing her bags to help others to remember to reuse their plastic bags and reduce their environmental impact.

4U2ReUSE is a sustainable enterprise, in that we:

• Use organic fabrics or reused materials in all of our bags

• Use 100% of our materials—there is absolutely no waste

• Employ experienced sewers from Los Angeles to fabricate bags at a workshop that employs fair labor practices—we know the faces of our workers and provide them with the opportunity to make fair wages

• Store fabrics at our studio and place bulk fabric orders, hence decreasing the amount of shipping

• Use recycled, processed chlorine-free stationery for business cards, letterhead, and hangtags

• Ship orders in reused and recyclable materials

To us, success is in having positive environmental and social impacts and in continuing to educate others about how to live responsibly and sustainably.