Polythene-free grocery shopping with ‘Cally Reusable Bags’

By Fathima Riznaz Hafi

At a time when Sri Lankan consumers are trying to figure out ways to curb polythene usage, more so following the garbage dump catastrophe, Vraie Cally Balthazaar offers a much-welcome solution. She brings us ‘Cally Reusable Bags’ – the gateway to polythene-free grocery shopping! 

It’s a 10-piece bag set that includes seven drawstring produce bags in two sizes, one printed storage bag, and two large tote bags. The produce bags are great to carry vegetable and fruit. They are also easy to carry and store grain in (rice, dhal, mung beans, kadala). You can even carry sugar in these bags. 

Though the larger supermarkets have started providing eco-friendly bags to carry our goods, small plastic bags are still being used to hold fruits, vegetables, grains and other items that need to be weighed. Vraie’s little drawstring bags remove the necessity for these plastic bags. 

The ideal replacement – they serve the same purpose as the plastic bags but are not thrown out after use, only to be the non-biodegradable menace that fills our oceans and garbage dumps – instead they can be stored to be used again and again.

“All you need to do is pack your goods into the bags, and weigh them like you normally would. This eliminates the use of polythene entirely. To help carry the produce bags back home, we’ve added on two large totes. Finally when you’re done unpacking all the bags, you just need to fold them and place them back into our printed storage bag for when you shop again,” says Vraie.

“The storage bag features local vegetables and fruits. The bags are lightweight and convenient to carry. They are made out of raw cotton fabric, which at the end of their use, won’t harm the environment. By purchasing bulk products like grain, you’re also taking back home less packeted items (as packaging is often just thrown out),” she added.

Vraie launched the product just a little over a month ago, on 15 August. Asked what had inspired her to start a business of this sort, she said: “Ever since the Meethotamulla incident, I’ve really had to re-think how we managed our own waste at home. I worked on a small easy to carry bag for use at home at first but did the prototype in a synthetic fabric – and then realised that it would eventually have a negative impact on the environment as well in the long run, despite it being an alternative to polythene and being reusable. 

“So I took some time to really think about what would work. It’s evident that Sri Lanka needs alternatives to polythene. And I wanted to make something that I felt would make a big impact even though the product itself, is a fairly simple one. I had to wait it out a bit till I could find the time and money to start up, and am happy I did.” 

“The bags are machine-stitched at a factory. We offer a standard 10-piece set and retail at Rs. 1,850 if being directly purchased from us. We’ve kept the bags affordable simply because we want it to be accessible. We have also been very fortunate to have a few retailers step forward to stock our product. Cash on delivery (islandwide) is available,” she says.

The packaging is also worth mentioning – as it has no polythene or plastic. In addition, it’s very attractive thereby making it a giftable product. “As consumers we need to realise that our duty isn’t only in disposing of our garbage correctly but also being conscious of how we purchase. This helps us minimise our waste as well,” she noted.