“Starting a revolution, one bag at a time” 

A Belmont University professor in Nashville who identifies herself as an artist started giving away fabric bags several years ago.  Calling herself The Green Bag Lady, Teresa Van Hattan-Granath has since inspired thousands of people to switch from using plastic or paper to beautiful, one-of-a-kind fabric bags that are all assembled by volunteers and given away free.  Using donated fabric and a simple pattern, Teresa and others work as a team, sometimes meeting together, sometimes individually in their own home, then dropping off their parts of bags somewhere else.  Some people cut out the bags or straps, others finish edges or assemble the whole bag.  Many people, including my step-daughter and her husband, put in a little or a lot of time working on bags, depending on the day and their other commitments.   The bags are given away at various public events around Nashville, with the only price being a promise from the lucky recipient to use the bag instead of paper or plastic. 

On the website (http://www.greenbaglady.blogspot.com/) there are messages with photos from people who describe the positive impact Teresa’s bags have had on them.  She provides patterns and a video showing how to assemble the bag.  Over 5,000 GreenBagLady bags are being used in all 50 states as well as 75 cities in 38 countries/territories, and Teresa wants the number to grow.

We would like to replicate the GreenBagLady project in Northern Virginia, and invite you to get involved.  Rebecca Selove and Helene Shore have offered to help get the project rolling here, and would like to share the fun and opportunity to make functional art with others.  Contact Helene Shore at Teachhss@aol,com if you would like more information.