A woman models a Shaka Love handbag as a stylish alternative to plastic bags

Shaka Love Handbags vs. Plastic Handbags

January 31, 2025

Did you know we use hundreds of billions of plastic bags each year? Because of all that waste, many places around the world have started banning plastic bags or making people pay for them.

It can be challenging to make good choices when you're shopping. You're thinking about your health, the environment, and how everything affects the climate.

Let's just focus on and compare Shaka Love Tote Bags with plastic bags. We'll take a look at each and see which one is the better option.

Shaka Love Totes vs. Plastic

If you're not a fan of plastic, Shaka Love handbags are a great option. They're seen as a more eco-friendly choice and generally better for the environment than plastic bags because they can break down naturally and can also be recycled, which is great.

Making bags sustainable comes down to us and the choices we make. It's about saying no to single-use bags whenever possible, and when we do buy a handbag, picking ones made from sustainable and fair-trade materials.

When we think about how long things take to break down, it's pretty clear that plastic takes way longer than other materials. But honestly, it's not just about how quickly something breaks down. It's also about how long that material is useful after it's made into something. Plastic, even though it can stick around for years without breaking down in nature, is sensitive to heat. It can melt or get messed up even in pretty normal temperatures, which makes it useless as a bag pretty quickly.

That's not the case with cotton canvas, especially those made from organic materials, which are much tougher. They can handle the heat and stay strong even when you load them up.

One of the big problems with plastic bags is that they stretch out easily. Once a plastic bag stretches, it just stays stretched. Cotton canvas bags, however, can handle things like books, notepads, etc…without losing their shape. Over time, all that stretching makes plastic bags sag and weaken at the bottom.

And, while you can easily fix a tear in a canvas handbag with a simple stitch, you can't really repair a stretched-out plastic handbag. This makes Shaka Love handbags a more sustainable choice overall and cheaper in the long run because they're so much more durable than plastic.

When You're Thinking About Getting a Bag…

Always consider how well-made it is. How many times can you actually use it before it falls apart? And ideally, you want a bag that can be composted at the end of its life without causing pollution.

Speaking of that, our 100% cotton canvas handbags are designed to be super versatile and tough. They're built to last, with a natural beige eco-friendly canvas pouch, a zipper on the front, and a stylish beige twisted-rope strap.

Each natural handbag measuring about 9 inches long, 5 3/4 inches wide, and 3 3/4 inches thick, is perfect for carrying those little essentials – keys, your phone, some mints, lip balm, notepad, etc… The strap drop length is about 22 inches, making it comfortable to wear. You can use these little, lightweight bags for just about anything, and you’ll know you’re doing it in style and sustainably.