Bag ladies

The best ideas seem to be ones that are written on a napkin during a chat over coffee, and for mother-daughter team Gayle and Meghan Crowell of ConservingNow, that’s exactly how their environmentally conscious organization started.

“We were having coffee one day at Whole Foods, watching the checkout line, and kept hearing that nearly everyone had forgotten their reusable bags,” said daughter Meghan. “It kept happening over and over again. So we thought, ‘What can we do to help people remember?’”

ConservingNow, founded in 2009, provides inexpensive and compact bags for shoppers to use at grocery or retail stores and cut down on plastic bag usage. The two women wanted a project in which they could work together and also give something back to the Reno community.

“We love the environment and love nature,” said Gayle. “It seemed natural.”

Meghan’s knowledge as a lawyer and Gayle’s experience as a first-grade teacher and as an investor in Silicon Valley made the process of founding ConservingNow relatively simple. And in the two years since its inception, it has established an international community with over 200,000 active participants on their website and in their outreach programs.

“It’s amazing how big it got so fast,” Meghan said. “People in Reno were looking for a way to make a difference. We didn’t do any marketing. The blogging world helped get the word out.”

According to Gayle, ConservingNow was founded on three principles.

“We knew adults needed help managing behavior,” she said. “We also want to change the habits of the upcoming generation. And we want to be a connector for the community to help businesses and families make positive changes.”

ConservingNow has more than 20 different styles of bags in various materials and patterns. “People wanted bags they could use at places besides the grocery store so we wanted the bags to be fashionable,” Gayle said.

The organization also provides products—all of which are made from recyclable resources—like mouse pads, door hangers, key chains and static cling reminders to place on car windows.

“We wanted to target all of the places where people would be reminded,” Meghan said. “We get told all the time how effective the static cling reminders are. You see it yourself when you get out of your car, and it also shows others that you’re doing something good for the environment.”

Gayle and Meghan believe that awareness is a necessary step toward changing habits, and Gayle used her knowledge of classroom curriculum to create a kit for teachers.

“Children can have a huge impact on the choices their parents make at home,” Gayle said.

The duo travels around the country and speak at conferences and events, and have partnered with local organizations such as the Green Power program at the Desert Research Institute.

They estimate that ConservingNow has helped keep thousands of plastic bags out of the Reno community alone.

“Going green doesn’t have to be intimidating,” said Meghan. “If everyone makes one small change in their life, it adds up a lot over time.”

Gayle agreed. “Simple actions, when done collectively, can have a huge impact.”