The Nature Bag Khmu/Lao Poverty Reduction Project was given global protection by the U.S. Trademark and Copyright Office in October for exclusive use of the term “JungleBag®.” After a review and public comment process that took more than 18 months, we were permitted to register the mark for our exclusive use in connection with all-purpose bags and carrying devices.

“With piracy of various forms rampant in today’s instantly interconnected world community, this gives us a powerful tool to use against those who would steal our intellectual property or attempt to counterfeit the craftsmanship of the Khmu bag makers,” said Bounsou Keoamphone, co-founder & Managing Director of the Project.


Vivian Ramirez
Volunteer

There's no doubt about it: if you're a patriot, you should feel great about recycling.

Think about it. Recycling saves trillions of kilowatts of energy every year. It conserves our natural resources. It makes our country's air, water and soil cleaner by limiting pollution, and it stimulates our economy by creating new jobs.

Politicians and pundits from both the Left and the Right strongly agree that we should decrease our dependence on foreign oil. So recycling makes you a true patriot who's doing something to make the people and economy of our great nation cleaner, healthier, richer and stronger!

I can see some folks in my mind's eye (not you, of course!) with a slight sneer of disbelief on their faces. So allow me to share some basic statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency and other reputable sources that back up my argument.

Be a Patriot: Save Energy!

In 2003, the energy savings from recycling 54 billion aluminum cans exceeded the energy equivalent of 15 million barrels of crude oil, or the amount of gas the U.S. uses in one day.

Another way to look at it: recycling 1 can = 3 hours of TV, so in 2003 the U.S. saved enough energy by recycling cans to run 162 billion hours of TV, or about 25 hours of TV for every man, woman and child on Earth.

The Center for Ecological Technology found that the glass industry uses 50% less energy to create glass from recycled glass than from raw materials.

Americans recycled about 40 million tons of paper products in 2003, creating an energy savings of 163 trillion (yes, with a "T"!) kilowatt hours of electricity.

Recycling one pound of plastic soda bottles - or PET plastic - saves 1200 BTUs of energy (1 BTU is the amount of energy needed to raise a gallon of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit).

2005 saw the U.S. recycle 5 billion pounds of PET plastic, which equals a savings of 60 trillion BTUs of energy.

Be a Patriot: Conserve Natural Resources

Americans disposed of 83 million tons of paper products in 2003. According to the EPA, by recycling nearly half of that, we saved 705 million trees and 290 billion gallons of fresh water.

4% of U.S. annual oil consumption, or roughly 219 million barrels of oil, goes into the manufacture of plastic. Thus increasing the amount of plastic we recycle can make a significant impact on oil use.

In 1997, the U.S. recycled 13 million cars, which conserved 32.5 billion pounds of iron ore, 18.2 billion pounds of coal and 1.5 billion pounds of limestone.

Aluminum can be recycled forever. Over 2/3 of all aluminum ever created is still in use. Most of the 1/3 not still in use is aluminum cans in landfills.

Be a Patriot: Limit Pollution

Recycling just half of your annual recyclable household waste saves 2400 pounds of CO2 being released into the atmosphere. Many scientists contend that human-released CO2 is a leading cause of global warming.

Recycling household and car batteries keeps heavy metals such as mercury, lithium and cadmium from being released into our air and water. Heavy metals, when consumed by people and other animals, cause numerous health problems and diseases.

The EPA estimates that 200 million gallons of used motor oil are improperly disposed of each year. Recycling used motor oil keeps it from polluting your ground and fresh water.

Americans dispose of 270 million waste tires each year. Illegally-dumped and stock-piled tires are fertile breeding grounds for rodents and mosquitoes, and illegally-burned tires release oil and soot into the air and ground water.

Be a Patriot: Stimulate the Economy

Recycling creates a net gain in jobs - 5 to 1 over landfill management. Jobs created by recycling cover a wide variety of skill sets, including basic labor, manufacturing, entrepreneurship, advanced science and engineering.

Recycling creates new "green" technologies designed to take advantage of the reclaimed resources.

The National Recycling Coalition reports that recycling has cr

When you select gifts for the holidays this year, how could you do better than Earth’s Greenest Bag?

Is someone who uses a sports or swim bag on your gift list? Surprise them with the ultimate tote for either purpose: the stretchable Nature Bag. Perfect for a beach outing, it’s a home-crafted present that will be cherished by almost anybody – not only your eco-conscious friends.

How about a fungus hunter who will be in the forests on the first perfect spring day gathering mushrooms? One of our less dense Pahk style bags is a perfect gift to carry the harvest while allowing the morel or other spores to return to the earth and generate more delicacies for the next hunt.

Perhaps you have a friend who loves to garden? The minimalistic Nature Bag is the right companion to hold all of the seeds, bulbs, starter plants, hand tools & soil conditioners needed for an hour or an afternoon of work around the yard.

And if you want to gift a trend-setting style aficionado, our sustainable tote will help them set a standard for earth-friendly design and beauty. It’s the best way to carry nearly anything almost anywhere!

Home-crafted in isolated mountain villages of an ancient culture, the stretchable multipurpose unisex Nature Bag tote gently grasps and protects essentials while allowing ventilation. Its durable JungleVine™ fabric grows prolifically without agriculture and is gathered by hand. The result is Earth’s Greenest Bag--proved sustainable over thousands of years.

The carbon the JungleVine™ (tropical Kudzu) filters from the air is stored until released into the soil after it is buried to biodegrade (if the durable green tote ever becomes unusable), while the oxygen JungleVine™ emits during growth helps us breathe.

For convenience, you can order a large organic Pahk style 24 hours a day by phone toll-free at 1-877-548-1662 (from U.S. or Canadian phone numbers or from anywhere via Skype).

On behalf of the Khmu Nature Bag crafters & Mission volunteers around the globe, we wish you happy holidays.




Bounsou Keoamphone
Founder

Bill Newbrough
Sponsor