{"id":451,"date":"2025-01-29T17:15:27","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T18:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/?p=451"},"modified":"2025-07-13T14:54:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T14:54:20","slug":"tote-couture-my-old-bags-a-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/29\/tote-couture-my-old-bags-a-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"Tote couture? My old bag\u2019s a classic"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/4896.jpg\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"dcr-16w5gq9\">Reusable tote bags have been around a lot longer than Anya Hindmarch\u2019s \u201cI am not a plastic bag\u201d one from 2007 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/fashion\/2025\/jan\/23\/forever-tote-it-bag-du-jour-greenwashing-ruse\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">How the \u2018forever tote\u2019 became the It bag du jour, 23 January<\/a>). In the early 1990s (possibly even the 1980s), Friends of the Earth sold canvas tote bags with the message \u201cSay no to plastic bags\u201d. Mine has been used at least once a week since then.<br \/><strong>Tony Green<\/strong><br \/><em>Ipswich, Suffolk<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-16w5gq9\"><span data-dcr-style=\"bullet\"><\/span> I work in a charity shop. I usually drive the till, and find that being helpful and chatty improves the takings <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2025\/jan\/22\/my-local-bookshop-has-hit-on-an-incredible-business-strategy-be-nice-to-customers\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">My local bookshop has hit on an incredible business strategy: be nice to customers, 22 January<\/a>). My colleagues insist on calling me the Babe Magnet, but I had to correct them that, given the age profile of our customers, Granny Charmer would be a more appropriate title.<br \/><strong>David Felton<\/strong><br \/><em>Wistaston, Cheshire<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-16w5gq9\"><span data-dcr-style=\"bullet\"><\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2025\/jan\/21\/signature-moves-are-we-losing-the-ability-to-write-by-hand\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">The long read (21 January)<\/a> is a poignant reminder that the touch of the hand is more than just connecting pen to paper. Following a recent bereavement, the most treasured heirlooms were those that had been touched by the deceased: a mother\u2019s needlework; a father\u2019s letters. Future generations will lose this connection to their past.<br \/><strong>Julia Hatto<\/strong><br \/><em>Betchworth, Surrey<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-16w5gq9\"><span data-dcr-style=\"bullet\"><\/span> Keir Starmer says he wants to \u201ctake the brakes off Britain\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2025\/jan\/23\/legal-challenges-to-infrastructure-projects-to-be-blocked-in-push-for-growth\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Legal challenges to infrastructure plans to be blocked in Starmer growth push, 23 January<\/a>). He would do well to remember that brakes are a critical safety mechanism.<br \/><strong>Bruce Stenning<\/strong><br \/><em>Fankerton, Stirlingshire<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-16w5gq9\"><span data-dcr-style=\"bullet\"><\/span> In my fourth year at Davenant Foundation school in London, my RE report read: \u201cShows no interest in this subject\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/artanddesign\/2025\/jan\/27\/head-to-bradford-for-a-full-hockney-day\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Letters, 27 January<\/a>). I have been a Church of England minister for 54 years.<br \/><strong>Rev Dr Laurie Blaney<\/strong><br \/><em>Basildon, Essex<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reusable tote bags have been around a lot longer than Anya Hindmarch\u2019s \u201cI am not a plastic bag\u201d one from 2007 (How the \u2018forever tote\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/29\/tote-couture-my-old-bags-a-classic\/\" class=\"read-more-link\">[Read More&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-make-money"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":454,"href":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451\/revisions\/454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}