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Moving forward for the Planet
Next Step are ¡the coolest bags on the market!
You can use the reusable Next Step bags for whatever you want: to buy fruits, vegetables, grains, pasta or flour in bulk, to carry your socks when you travel, to store those cumbersome cables, to wrap presents ... everything you can think of!
They are sturdy, capable of carrying oranges for the whole family’s juice or of being the snack bag of a 5-year-old child!
They are made of recycled materials (80% cotton and 20% polyester), so we avoid taking more resources from our planet, we take advantage of someone else’s waste, we avoid them ending up incinerated or in a landfill, and we reduce the use of water and energy needed for their production.
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You can choose between 3 packs of different colors and patterns.
Our packaging is as reduced as possible -to generate the minimum amount of waste- and made out of recycled cotton paper- which is also compostable! We reuse everything!
The cotton used in the Next Step bags is recovered from pre-consumer scraps that are usually discarded in textile factories. In order to reuse these fibers - which are shorter- they must be mixed with other more resistant materials such as, in our case, polyester. This polyester comes from post-consumer sources such as recycled PET bottles. Our bags are especially sturdy as they are made from a single piece of fabric, have overlock finishes and we’ve made sure the seams are double.
Next Step bags are produced in India (learn more in our Sustainability section), and the manufacturer has GOTS and OEKO-Tex certifications which, among others, guarantee social criteria such as no forced or child labor and fair and safe working conditions.
Our dyes are OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified, indicating that they do not contain pollutants or substances which are harmful to our health. In addition, our fabrics have been certified as free from Bisphenol A (BPA).
Why buy with Next Step bags?
According to Greenpeace, each Spaniard uses 144 plastic bags per year. Bags which are used an average of 15 minutes, which take about 500 years to decompose and of which only 7% are recycled. Let's do some quick math: 144 bags x 40 million citizens (over 15 years) = 5,760,000,000 bags used per year. Only in Spain.
We’ve recycled for years, but now the most logical, sustainable and cool thing to do is not to generate waste in the first place. Let's go beyond recycling, reduce our impact on the planet and our dependence on materials. Now, more than ever, we must be guided by the "Less is More" motto. More sustainable, more respectful, and more fun! (especially with the Next Step bags).
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It is estimated that in each shopping bag that a customer takes home, there are 3 bags of bulk products, mainly fruits and vegetables.
Can you imagine what this means for the planet? Luckily, society’s awareness is increasing. We no longer ignore the problem of plastic, microplastic and microfiber pollution and we are horrified when we hear of animals dying after ingesting plastics. The tendency is to reduce the use of plastic, especially in disposable objects. And the most committed consumers are already following a lifestyle that generates the least amount of waste, a zero-waste lifestyle.
While some companies and administrations are taking responsibility and action on the matter, consumers are the ones who can begin to take steps, right now. And from what the studies say, it seems we have the intention; 38% of Spaniards give priority to reusable packaging and 30% to minimally packaged products.
Plastic pollution is invading our planet, it’s evident and you have surely seen images of remote areas flooded with plastic waste from all over the world. But you don’t have to go so far to see the damage single-use plastics cause our planet. Look in the garbage container near your house, you will also find waste that someone did not bother selecting for recycling, or at the beach or the mountain where you enjoy your free time- surely you could spend the day picking plastics and other waste that you find abandoned.
It’s time to react, to move towards the next stage -for the planet and for our future. And one of the simplest actions you can do is to reduce the amount of waste you generate. And you can start with plastic bags.
Because a healthy planet means a better life for all of us since we all depend on nature.
Do you want to take a step towards a more sustainable future with us?
Next Step and Sustainability
Our Planet can’t support the large amount of waste we generate, and the uncontrolled use of natural and finite resources are leaving us without a future. Next Step is a project that encourages a reduction of the resources we extract from the earth and of the waste we generate - bringing us closer to a circular economy and a zero waste lifestyle.
Using recycled materials, we reduce the waste that would end up in landfills or incinerated, and huge amounts of water and electricity that would be needed to create virgin fabrics.
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By converting someone’s trash into our raw material, we take advantage of the Earth's limited resources. By recycling waste polyester from plastic bottles, we reduce our dependence on oil. By reusing textile waste, we save a large amount of energy and water, farmland is preserved, and CO2 emissions are much lower than those of conventional production.
Our dyes are OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified, indicating that they do not contain pollutants or substances which are harmful to our health. In addition, our fabrics have been certified as free from Bisphenol A (BPA).
Our packaging is made of recycled cotton so it is also compostable! We have also made sure that the bags get to us in plastic-free packaging.
Producing the bags in India is the most sustainable option we have found which suits our needs - and we have searched for a long year! Much of the organic cotton we have seen has been "around the world" during its production stages; grown in the USA, spun in Turkey, woven in Portugal and dyed in Spain, for example. Other suppliers of recycled or sustainable materials could not offer us the perfect material for our bags or in the quantities we needed.
We want to support social initiatives whenever possible and that’s why our flyers and cards are made in a company that offers job opportunities to people with mental disabilities or at risk of social exclusion. As we told you in ‘Our Bags’, our manufacturer is GOTS and OEKO-Tex certified which guarantees social criteria such as no forced or child labor or discrimination, freedom of association and fair, safe and hygienic working conditions.
An important part of the environmental impact of a product is in its use. That’s why we suggest you wash your Next Step bags only when necessary, at low temperature and air dry them. You will save energy and, in addition, they will stay as-new for longer. Do not forget that, by the mere fact of using our bags instead of disposable plastic ones, you’re already reducing your environmental impact considerably.
We want this project to be sustainable in all its steps, but as a friend says "sustainability is a continuous process and progress is made step by step". So, we’re in the continuous search for better materials and processes to reduce our impact throughout the life cycle of our products. And open to all kinds of (constructive) criticism and suggestions.
About Us
Companions, sisters, cousins, workers, students, sporty, travelers, dreamers, realists, utopian, responsible, spontaneous, protective, vulnerable .... Just like everyone, right?
And just like everyone, worried about how we’re leaving this Planet in which we have the privilege of living. But we are hopeful that, if we put ourselves to it, we can remedy the damage we’ve done. We are confident that there is a sustainable future, and we will go for it.
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So, tired of finding single-use plastics everywhere, we (Yolanda and Jenny) have gotten together with the aim of doing our bit for a more sustainable future. Mixing our experiences in activism and entrepreneurship and our common concern for the environment, we are willing to continue learning along the way.
We want to offer an alternative to plastic bags which is not only practical but also beautiful and sustainable.
And of course, many friends and family accompany us on this encouraging, helping and supporting us. Among them Gemma (IG < @disnotwork) who has designed our image and developed the website, Haydee- who makes sure the texts make sense, Alberto- who took the first photos, Xavi Padrós- the final photos, Jon and Pepe - as experts in sustainable materials, and of course to all the crowdfunding patrons who have given us the push to set this up.
Contact
C/ Mallorca 272, 2º 1ª. 08037 Barcelona (Catalunya, Spain)
info@nextstepbags.com T. + 34 93 215 71 86
