Caroline Gardner designs Waitrose, eco-friendly charity bags in aid of Meningitis Now

5 August 2019


Waitrose and Jutexpo, the world’s biggest supplier of eco-friendly reusable bags, have joined forces with designer Caroline Gardner, producing a range of shopping bags, in aid of UK charity, Meningitis Now.

The range includes handy ‘pouch bags’ made entirely from recycled plastic bottles, made using Jutexpo’s HALT process, which turns post-consumer plastic into a soft, durable fabric called rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate).

HALT bags are the first to have the integrity of certification to the Global Recycled Standards (GRS), ethically-produced to the Jutexpo Standard.

The large shopping bags are made from a blend of jute and cotton known as juco, with both bags available in two striking designs. The large shopping bags feature the iconic heart design, reimagined as a hand drawn outline in charcoal and cream as well as an exclusive colourway of the classic heart print, while the pouch bags are available in a multi-coloured heart design and fun orange and pink graphic stripe.

The bags are available in Waitrose stores from early August 2019.

The environmentally-friendly bags are priced at just £4 for the pouch bags and £6 for the large juco bags with 40p from the sale of each pouch bag and 50p from the sale of each large juco bag being donated to Meningitis Now.

Caroline Gardner is best known as one of the UK’s leading and most prolific stationery and gift designers. Her distinctive designs now stretch across a wide variety of product categories, including paper, accessories and lifestyle.

Meningitis Now is a cause very close to Caroline Gardner’s heart. Founders Caroline and Angus Gardner chose the charity over 16 years ago, having had a personal experience with the illness when their then fifteen-month-old son, Sebastian contracted Meningococcal Septicemia. Thankfully he recovered and the family looked to help raise awareness through fund raising on behalf of Meningitis Now.

During that time Caroline Gardner has also raised over £170,000 for the charity through the sale of Caroline Gardner Christmas cards.

Caroline Gardner said: “We are thrilled to put our newest print on this iconic juco shopper, along with an exclusive colourway of our signature heart print. Not only are the foldaway bags an essential handbag item but it’s fantastic that each bag is made from 3.5 recycled plastic bottles.”

Sam Turner, compliance director of Jutexpo, said: “We are delighted to be supplying the latest environmentally friendly, reusable bags, wonderfully-designed and raising money for such a good cause.

“Our HALT production process has enabled us to create innovative bags that recycle post-consumer plastic bottles, adding purpose to what would otherwise have been discarded as uncontrolled waste.”

Meningitis Now’s vision is a future where no one in the UK loses their life to meningitis and everyone affected gets the support they need to rebuild their lives.

Tom Nutt, chief executive of Meningitis Now, said, “We’re thrilled that Caroline Gardner, Waitrose and Jutexpo continue to support us in this way.

“By buying these bags, Waitrose customers will be helping to raise the vital funds needed to fight back against meningitis, helping to protect your family, friends and the local community.”



Privacy Policy
We have updated our privacy policy. In the latest update it explains what cookies are and how we use them on our site. To learn more about cookies and their benefits, please view our privacy policy. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies. By continuing to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy unless you have disabled them.