We rock Japan’s new wearable grocery bag for sustainable, stylish shopping

Carry your groceries through the mighty power of your own core!

Single-use plastics are a controversial topic, with many people now wanting to limit their plastic use wherever possible. A popular target for plastic reduction is grocery bags, and while Japan has successfully lowered the usage of plastic bags in stores, many customers simply choose to buy their own bulk load of bags instead.

So, how to tackle this pernicious, plasticky problem? Some people bring their own grocery bags for their trips to the store, but our Japanese-language reporter Hirazi pointed out that many men aren’t in the habit of carrying bags. Thankfully, he found an alternative in the form of the 1,900 yen (US$18.20) Outdoor Hunt Apron, available in two sizes (small and medium-large) and two colors, khaki and black.

▼ Hirazi is 178 centimetres (five feet and ten inches) tall, so he picked a medium-large size.

At that price, and considering the average price for a plastic single-use bag in Japan is 3 yen, this apron is worth 634 individual plastic bags and will actually pay for itself for every hypothetical bag after that! And it certainly should last that long, according to Hirazi. The material is crisp to the touch and should age beautifully.

▼ Get a look at all those pockets!

This apron is densely populated with deep pockets in which you can store as many groceries as you might like…well, within reason, anyway. It’s more common in Japan to walk to the grocery store and top-up groceries with small visits throughout the week, and the apron should be more than capable of carrying a small load.

▼ The pockets are satisfyingly deep.

So, it was time for Hirazi to go try his grocery apron out in the field. First of all, he wanted to check how fashionable he looked in it — this was the main reason he chose an apron over an eco tote bag, after all.

Yeah, that’s a look, all right. Where have we seen that fashionable overall style before? On the walkways of Alexander McQueen? Perhaps on the streets of London, Milan, Paris?

▼ Oh, no, he just looks like a clerk in a home improvement store.

Don’t despair, fashionistas. This is nothing a cool leather jacket and a pair of flashy shades can’t fix.

▼ Cool and environmentally conscious!

Off Hanzi went to his local Seiyu supermarket. He decided to just buy his ordinary groceries, rather than flashy products for the sake of a spicy article. SoraNews24 is a place of journalistic integrity! So here is what Hanzi bought, and ultimately had to squirrel away in his apron like an animal storing food for the winter.

• A…plastic bottle of water
• One kilogram (35.27 ounces) bag of brown rice
• Cup of instant soup
• Caramel and whipped cream sweet bread
• Yogurt
• Three cans of tuna
• Tofu
• One tangerine
• Bottle of dish soap
• One small packaged bento meal

Now, to fit it all into his apron.

Ultimately, Hanzi managed to get everything into the apron pockets...except the small packaged bento meal. And to be honest, he could have fit that into the pockets as well — but the plastic lids for those bento boxes are notoriously precarious, and hirazi didn’t really feel like picking out bits of rice from the insides of his pockets for the next few months. He chose to carry it home by hand instead.

So far, Hanzi’s verdict was that the apron was a fine substitution for an eco tote bag…so long as you don’t overdo it. The biggest flaw was honestly how difficult it was to walk with so many heavy groceries weighing down the front of the apron. Dejected at how he couldn’t give the apron a sterling recommendation, Hanzi began to remove groceries from the pockets. Then he noticed something!

▼ The apron has a gigantic pocket on its back!

He placed the kilogram bag of rice into the back pocket and was surprised by how well it balanced the apron out. In fact, he assumed you might even be able to carry a five-kilogram bag back there! The power of the human torso is truly incredible.

If you’re also in the habit of small and frequent grocery trips, consider purchasing an Outdoor Hunt Apron of your own! Or an eco tote bag. You could just buy an eco tote bag.

Related: Workman Plus – Outdoor Hunt Apron
Images © SoraNews24
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