About 10 years ago I started on The Swag journey. As a mom who tried to feed her children fresh and healthy foods as often as possible, I was frustrated by how quickly fruits and vegetables would go bad. A significant portion of what I purchased on a weekly basis would never reach our dinner plates, food and money would go from the fridge and strait into the trash. There had to be a better way to store fruits and vegetables that gave me more time to use what I purchased. In other words, I saw a bunch of problems and wanted a solution. When it turned out that the solution I wanted wasn’t available, and what was available didn’t work well, I decided to invent one. After 10 years of research and testing, The Swag was born. We launched in Australian in late 2016 and have been blessed with a strong community of users and advocates. I quickly found that there are many people out there who shared my concerns, who wanted to waste less, save money, and reduce the amount of plastic they used. These concerns are global, and I’m thrilled to bring The Swag to the U.S. this year! I’m also happy that you’re joining me on The Swag journey. The Swag is all about giving back, and that philosophy is part of everything we do – from extending the life of your fruits, vegetables, and herbs to acting both consciously and thoughtfully so we can make a real, positive difference to our communities and the earth as a whole. Here on The Swag USA blog, I’ll be sharing insights and tips about produce storage, saving money, going green, buying organic, cooking with fruits and vegetables (yes, there will be recipes!), and so much more. To kick things off, I want to share with you some of the reasons why I invented The Swag, so you can see where I’ve been and join me as The Swag movement continues to move forward in the future. With that said, here are five key reasons that The Swag was born:

1. Reduce Food Waste

How much food do you waste on a daily basis? Each year, Americans waste 35 million tons of food, and 43% of food waste happens in homes. As I mentioned above, I used to waste a lot of food each week. I’d buy fruits and vegetables with great intentions to cook all of my family’s meals at home every day, but life has a tendency to get in the way of the best plans. Either something would come up or I’d feel too tired to cook. As a result, many of those fruits and vegetables would go unused and into the trash. On top of that, those fruits and vegetables never lasted long enough in my refrigerator to use them quickly enough, and going to the grocery store multiple times per week created even more problems. I’d lose precious time that none of us ever seem to have enough of, or I’d end up buying more things than I needed with every trip. It was a vicious cycle that I had to break! I invented The Swag to help reduce that food waste. By creating a fruit, vegetable, and herb storage product that actually keeps food fresher for longer, I reduced food waste and trips to the grocery store! Not only did I end up saving time, but I also saved money, which leads me to #2.

2. Save Money and Time

Americans waste 35 million tons of food per year, which equates to $165 billion. That’s $2,200 per household! Imagine what you could do with an extra $2,200 each year. I created The Swag to keep food fresher for longer and as a result, you’ll save money and time when you use it. How do you save money and time? Here are just a few ways The Swag can help you keep more money in your wallet and give you more free time:

• When your fruits, vegetables, and herbs last longer, you can use them before they go bad, which means less you’ll have to throw away and less wasted money!
• You’ll make fewer trips to the grocery store where (if you’re like me) you always end up leaving with more than just fruits and vegetables, and you probably don’t really need those other things at all!
• Fewer trips to the grocery store means less money spent on gas.
• Fewer trips to the grocery store means more free time for you to do other things that you’d prefer.
• You can buy your favorite fruits and vegetables in bulk because you know you’ll get more time to use them when they’re stored in The Swag.

Swaggers now have the confidence to buy their favorite fruits and veggies in bulk, knowing that they get more time to use what they buy.

3. Eliminate Plastic

We can all agree that plastic is bad in multiple ways. First, it’s filling up landfills and harms both the environment and animals. Second, plastic is filled with chemicals that are not good for your food or for you! That means you shouldn’t store your fruits and vegetables in plastic bags or plastic containers. More and more people with auto immune disease, fertility issues, gut issues, and behavioral issues reach out to me on a weekly basis because The Swag provides them with a non-toxic alternative. The toxins in plastic mess with our hormones and have a terrible impact on our health! But that’s not all. When you store fruits and vegetables in airtight plastic bags or containers, they can’t breathe! How would you like to be kept in an airtight plastic bag or plastic container? That’s why moisture clings to the bag or container they’re stored in. Fruits and vegetables need some air, and they need to be kept away from direct contact with that moisture or they’ll rot faster. The Swag was designed with multiple patented layers to solve that problem, and since it’s made with 100% natural, unbleached, unseeded cotton materials, you’ll avoid all of those nasty chemicals found in plastic.

4. Go Green

In addition to being an environmentally-friendly produce storage product, The Swag is a great motivator to buy organic fruits and vegetables that haven’t been treated with pesticides, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and wax. While pesticides, GMOs, and wax help to make fruit and vegetables look prettier, they also make those fruits and vegetables less natural and less healthy. Unfortunately, organic fruits and vegetables tend to cost more than non-organic, and since they’re pesticide, GMO, and wax free, they rot faster. The Swag helps them stay fresher for longer (possibly weeks longer based on customer reports), so you won’t feel the pinch as much when you buy organic!

5. Increase Fresh Food Consumption

We live in a time when people are starting to realize just how bad the food we eat is for us. If it’s boxed or bagged, it’s probably filled with chemicals and preservatives. If it’s fresh, it might be treated with a different set of chemicals and preservatives! As a result, people are looking for creative ways to eat more fresh food, but doing so has to be convenient and affordable. It’s my hope that The Swag ticks each of those boxes by making it both convenient and affordable for people to eat more fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs. After all, that’s why I invented it for my own family!

How Do You Use The Swag?

I’d love to hear how you use The Swag! We’re on this journey together, so please share your thoughts and tips in the comments below or visit The Swag USA Facebook Page to join the conversation! Also, we’re holding a contest where you could win The Swag Starter Pack (details here). You just have to like The Swag USA’s Facebook Page by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 14, 2017 to enter! We’re also offering 10% off on all purchases on our website through April 30, 2017. Just use coupon code EASTER2017 at checkout! Want to learn more? Check out my video below where I share more about The Swag story!