Vancouver’s Used Street Banners Transform to Shopping Bags

Each year, the Commercial Drive Business Society in Vancouver hopes to draw shoppers to their destination by printing 256 32”x60” nylon street banners. The marketing tactic has proven to be a success, however, the Society has realized the huge amount of waste that has been produced from this yearly blitz. Therefore, they’ve come up with a solution that has not only utilized the banners in their afterlife, but assists in the development of new green spaces as well.

So, rather than sending these nylon banners to the landfill, the Society is now transforming them into unique, reusable shopping bags with a cool history. Additionally, “All proceeds from the sale of these shopping bags will be donated to the development of new green spaces in the neighborhood,” Ian McSorley, marketing chair for Commercial Drive said. “Working with Vancouver Parks Board and neighborhood volunteers, funds will be used to develop additional public green spaces.”

By converting just two years of old banners, rather than buying new nylon, they have:

• avoided 3.53 tons of CO2 emissions
• avoided sending 128 kg of nylon to the landfill
• saved 25,456,640 BTUs of energy – enough to provide electricity to an average Vancouver home for over 10 months
• freed up 543 trees to capture and store CO2 from other sources for a full year

The shopping bags are available in two sizes and 10 different colors with handles long enough to carry on your shoulder. ::Commercial Drive