MyBuddy-Box review

One of the challenges for week 3 of 40acts encouraged us to be mindful of our plastic consumption and one of the biggest things for me is plastic bags despite my good intentions to use bags for life more regularly. It seems this is a problem for a lot of people given that according to Government figures, more than 8 billion single use plastic carrier bags (approximately 130 per person) were given out in 2013 and in October, a tax on single use plastic bags will be brought in meaning that shoppers will be charged a minimum of 5p per plastic bag.

One of my little gripes with using bags for life (or indeed bags in general) for my shopping is their tendency to fall over in the boot of my car as I’m driving home so when I was asked to try out MyBuddy-Box as an alternative to a reusable bag, I thought this sounded like a good idea.

MyBuddy-Box is a lightweight folding box designed to help make carrying groceries a little easier. It can carry up to 20kg of shopping (which is more than I can comfortably carry anyway!) and folds up into a ‘briefcase’ with a handle which allows it to be hung on the hook on the front of a supermarket trolley.

It folds out quickly and easily, and the slider across the top of the box helps keep it open and provides strength. I was quite impressed by just how much shopping I could fit in the box and whilst I still needed a couple of bags to carry all of my weekly food shop, the box held a good proportion of it and was easy to lift in and out of the trolley.

It fitted easily into the boot next to my buggy and meant that I was less worried about the eggs getting broken on the way home!

At home, I also found the box very useful for putting laundry in and tidying toys away. You can also fit A4 suspension files in the box and use it for office storage. The folded version of the box is a similar size to an A4 ringbinder which makes it very easy to store away on a shelf when not in use (or in the boot of the car so I don’t forget to bring it on my next shopping trip!)

My-Buddy Box also has fold-down tabs in the inside corners of the box which mean that you can stack another box on top. The boxes are 100% recyclable, and are made from food-safe extruded high-density polypropylene, which according to the manufacturers, have been tested for durability by driving a car backwards and forwards over a folded box 20 times without causing damage.

I was sent the ‘Henley’ box to review which is a wicker basket design and retails at £14.99. Whilst this seems a little pricey given that you can buy a hessian bag for a couple of pounds or less, I do find it is more useful than a bag and it holds much more. There are several different designs available on the MyBuddy-Box website and two plain versions which cost £9.99 each and if you use the code ‘FREE’ at the checkout, you will get free P&P on your order. You can also follow MyBuddyBox on Facebook and Twitter.

I received a complimentary MyBuddy-Box to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.