Hello! My name is Amanda Tenold, I’m a wife and working mom of 2 “energetic” boys - Brennan (9) and Greysen (8). During the school week, I wake up every day to make them a healthy-ish lunch, and for the first couple years I would dutifully pack each item in a Ziploc bag. But over time, the waste and cost began to really bother me — at least 4 plastic bags per day, 5 days a week. I’m not great at math, but even I could figure out that’s TWENTY BAGS EACH WEEK!  And that’s just from my little family! I like to think of myself as environmentally conscious and considerate of the planet our kids will inherit, yet here I was using close to a THOUSAND disposable plastic bags each year! Imperishable toxic trash that ends up clogging landfills, choking oceans, harming wildlife, etc... You know the story. There had to be a better way.

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​The better way finally hit me- reusable bags. After a little research I came across a food-safe, medical grade fabric for the inner lining. Durable, sustainable, economical. Perfect! The liner would need another fabric to protect and prettify the outside, so I got VERY excited when I realized I could use my weird passion for fun cotton prints to make the bags look cute and playful and personal. It was all coming together!

I realize I’m not reinventing the wheel here, as there are loads of businesses who make reusable bags. But many of them use enclosures that are impractical. Some are even sealed with Velcro. The problem with Velcro is that with repeated use and cleanings in the dryer it quickly degrades and become unusable. Also, all sorts of stuff (crumbs, lint, hair, etc.) will stick to Velcro. Gross. Other bags use zippers, which are also not great. The teeth can break, become crooked, snagged... Annoying.  Zippers are also more costly on the manufacturing end, which would make the bags less affordable. My choice? Plastic snaps! Clean, reliable, and easy for little hands to open and close! Thus, Dax & Milo was born!