EcoSacs
Founded: 1989 by Gary Miller
Sector: Canvas bags
Business Status: No longer trading
Location: Carbondale, Colorado
Status 1991:
''At the Circle Supermarket in Carbondale, Colorado, Gary Miller a 55-year-old checker has asked the question "paper or plastic" thousands of times. Reading about the non-biodegradability of plastic and the fact that paper bags cost the lives of many trees, and remembering that most European shoppers
use their own string bags, Miller created samples of the Eco Sac. This reinforced cotton canvas bag with handles, not unlike a carry-all bag marketed
by the big L.L. Bean Company. The first 100 Eco Sacs Miller made sold for $13 at his supermarket. Utilizing production economies, he was able to sell the
following batches for under $10. His company then placed an order for 100 pieces for each of the chain''s 37 stores. The ''inventor'' next hopes to convince his employer''s parent company, the giant 1,200-store Korger Co., to carry his Eco Sacs nationally'' (Berle, 1991, p101-102)[1].
Status 2010:
The following information is taken from an article published in the Aspen Daily News in 2008 by D. Frey[2]. ''Miller''s business didn''t last, but the idea did. Miller''s Eco Sacs took off in the Roaring Fork Valley, made national headlines, and although they faded from the marketplace even as loyal customers wore theirs to shreds, they helped spark the idea of bringing your own bag to the grocery market. "Literally, Gary''s idea, although it was so simple, it was one of the first in the country," said John Bell, who was manager of Carbondale''s Circle Super grocery at the time. As the idea gains currency again, Miller said he feels a rush of pride, but doesn''t accept too much credit. "I may have been the originator, but that''s 20 years ago now," said Miller, 73. "I don''t know that I can take much credit for it whatsoever." At the time, though, it seemed like a radical concept.
In the months leading up to the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, Miller figured it was time to take the reduce-reuse-recycle mantra seriously. He had never
considered himself much of an environmentalist, he said, but the amount of waste going out of his checkout line bothered him. A retired college administrator and professor, Miller took a job at what was Circle Super (before the name changed to City Market) to earn some extra retirement money. "I became a grocery store checker," he said, "and every person that came through the line, the question was, ''Paper or plastic? Paper or plastic? Paper or plastic?'' I said, ''You know, there''s another alternative. There has to be. Whatever happened to the canvas sacks?" Nobody showed up in line with canvas grocery bags back then, Miller said, so he set out to give them the option. Buying canvas from a Denver supplier and using a Grand Junction woman to sew them, he created the Eco Sac, a sturdy canvas bag with two handles, reinforced stitching, a double-thick top, a reinforced bottom and a green logo on the side. "The Eco Sac was a no-brainer, really," he said. The idea of a reusable grocery bag wasn''t much in vogue at the time. So when the popular, folksy radio host Paul Harvey got word of it, he told listeners about a Carbondale grocery clerk with a great idea for saving plastic bags. That sparked Miller''s flirtation with fame.
Not everyone was sold on the idea, though. Miller pitched his Eco Sacs to Wal-Mart. No luck. He suggested that Blockbuster use them for videos. He recommended that McDonald''s use them for Happy Meals. Despite a nice letter from the wife of McDonald''s founder, Ray Kroc, he couldn''t drum up any interest. His own bosses were interested, though. Miller was not only selling them in a little stand set up inside the Carbondale Circle Super, the parent company, Kroger, became intrigued, too. They flew Miller to Atlanta to meet with the company''s Southeast brass about selling his Eco Sacs there. "It just got the corporate culture thinking." Even Mitsubishi contacted Miller from Japan offering to join his endeavour. It was a good run for a few years. Miller figures he sold thousands of the bags in local groceries, through a few distributors around the country, and to people who sent him checks in the mail. "I wish I could have quit having to work," he said.
Miller had trouble keeping up with the demand, though, and others in the tiny operation didn''t share his zeal. The bags weren''t cheap, but he still wasn''t making any money. Selling each bag for about $10, Miller soon saw competitors coming in with cheaper quality bags ... and much bigger production operations. "I came at one right time, and then it petered out a little bit, and now it''s kind of another right time," he said. For years after, shoppers wore their Eco Sacs ragged ... Miller gives the credit to other forces raising concerns about the environment. "It''s Al Gore. It''s global warming. It''s everything the world has gone through since I came up with the idea," he said. Still, Miller admitted, "I''d like to think I was the guy who got it started"''.
Sources:
[1] Berle, G. (1991) The Green Entrepreneur: Business Opportunities That Can Save the Earth and Make You Money. United States: Liberty Hall
Press.
[2] Frey, D. (2008) Did G''wood man''s bag start a new movement? [online].
Sector: Canvas bags
Business Status: No longer trading
Location: Carbondale, Colorado
Status 1991:
''At the Circle Supermarket in Carbondale, Colorado, Gary Miller a 55-year-old checker has asked the question "paper or plastic" thousands of times. Reading about the non-biodegradability of plastic and the fact that paper bags cost the lives of many trees, and remembering that most European shoppers
use their own string bags, Miller created samples of the Eco Sac. This reinforced cotton canvas bag with handles, not unlike a carry-all bag marketed
by the big L.L. Bean Company. The first 100 Eco Sacs Miller made sold for $13 at his supermarket. Utilizing production economies, he was able to sell the
following batches for under $10. His company then placed an order for 100 pieces for each of the chain''s 37 stores. The ''inventor'' next hopes to convince his employer''s parent company, the giant 1,200-store Korger Co., to carry his Eco Sacs nationally'' (Berle, 1991, p101-102)[1].
Status 2010:
The following information is taken from an article published in the Aspen Daily News in 2008 by D. Frey[2]. ''Miller''s business didn''t last, but the idea did. Miller''s Eco Sacs took off in the Roaring Fork Valley, made national headlines, and although they faded from the marketplace even as loyal customers wore theirs to shreds, they helped spark the idea of bringing your own bag to the grocery market. "Literally, Gary''s idea, although it was so simple, it was one of the first in the country," said John Bell, who was manager of Carbondale''s Circle Super grocery at the time. As the idea gains currency again, Miller said he feels a rush of pride, but doesn''t accept too much credit. "I may have been the originator, but that''s 20 years ago now," said Miller, 73. "I don''t know that I can take much credit for it whatsoever." At the time, though, it seemed like a radical concept.
In the months leading up to the 20th anniversary of Earth Day, Miller figured it was time to take the reduce-reuse-recycle mantra seriously. He had never
considered himself much of an environmentalist, he said, but the amount of waste going out of his checkout line bothered him. A retired college administrator and professor, Miller took a job at what was Circle Super (before the name changed to City Market) to earn some extra retirement money. "I became a grocery store checker," he said, "and every person that came through the line, the question was, ''Paper or plastic? Paper or plastic? Paper or plastic?'' I said, ''You know, there''s another alternative. There has to be. Whatever happened to the canvas sacks?" Nobody showed up in line with canvas grocery bags back then, Miller said, so he set out to give them the option. Buying canvas from a Denver supplier and using a Grand Junction woman to sew them, he created the Eco Sac, a sturdy canvas bag with two handles, reinforced stitching, a double-thick top, a reinforced bottom and a green logo on the side. "The Eco Sac was a no-brainer, really," he said. The idea of a reusable grocery bag wasn''t much in vogue at the time. So when the popular, folksy radio host Paul Harvey got word of it, he told listeners about a Carbondale grocery clerk with a great idea for saving plastic bags. That sparked Miller''s flirtation with fame.
Not everyone was sold on the idea, though. Miller pitched his Eco Sacs to Wal-Mart. No luck. He suggested that Blockbuster use them for videos. He recommended that McDonald''s use them for Happy Meals. Despite a nice letter from the wife of McDonald''s founder, Ray Kroc, he couldn''t drum up any interest. His own bosses were interested, though. Miller was not only selling them in a little stand set up inside the Carbondale Circle Super, the parent company, Kroger, became intrigued, too. They flew Miller to Atlanta to meet with the company''s Southeast brass about selling his Eco Sacs there. "It just got the corporate culture thinking." Even Mitsubishi contacted Miller from Japan offering to join his endeavour. It was a good run for a few years. Miller figures he sold thousands of the bags in local groceries, through a few distributors around the country, and to people who sent him checks in the mail. "I wish I could have quit having to work," he said.
Miller had trouble keeping up with the demand, though, and others in the tiny operation didn''t share his zeal. The bags weren''t cheap, but he still wasn''t making any money. Selling each bag for about $10, Miller soon saw competitors coming in with cheaper quality bags ... and much bigger production operations. "I came at one right time, and then it petered out a little bit, and now it''s kind of another right time," he said. For years after, shoppers wore their Eco Sacs ragged ... Miller gives the credit to other forces raising concerns about the environment. "It''s Al Gore. It''s global warming. It''s everything the world has gone through since I came up with the idea," he said. Still, Miller admitted, "I''d like to think I was the guy who got it started"''.
Sources:
[1] Berle, G. (1991) The Green Entrepreneur: Business Opportunities That Can Save the Earth and Make You Money. United States: Liberty Hall
Press.
[2] Frey, D. (2008) Did G''wood man''s bag start a new movement? [online].