Hey, salut, it's Alex.
So today is about solving
one of my problems.
Before we do that,
let me give you some context.
You see,
I consider myself as a
committed defensor of the holistic approach to cooking.
(ethereal chorus)
Cooking has to be considered as a whole concept.
Let me show you what I mean.
(pen clicking)
(scratching on board)
So this is you
or anybody that wants to be fed.
My job could be reduced to that part and that part only.
Feed people,
make people eat.
Of course, before I can feed people,
I need to prep the food,
get the food,
think
the food.
I also need to deal with the food.
Technically a video or a recipe's not exactly tangible, food
not even not exactly, it's not --
But in many ways
I'm feeding your soul,
your appetite for food.
So, I'm feeding something.
(beep)
Now obviously within this highly scientific diagram
stand an infinite number of problem
that I need to tackle eventually.
Season, sustainability,
the shopping, technique, social, leftover,
healthy bag situation
which basically consists of rough criticizing
made by those who just remain seated at the table
while doing nothing.
Way too many problems.
Of course I can't deal with all of them at the same time,
but in this video
I will at least address one:
the grocery bag conundrum.
I'm trying to build something
that would be food friendly.
That that's the main purpose,
but that would also double as a daily bag for me.
Breaking news,
I'm not the only one using a grocery bag
when, you know, shopping at the store.
So I ask you guys on Instagram story,
what actually is your shopping bag?
And these are the answers I got.
(funky music)
♪ How you like me now ♪
(plastic bags rustling)
So I've got myself a very wide selection of grocery bags.
so I suggest we start with the most obvious one,
(plastic bag rustling)
the plastic bag.
It's compact, light,
very resistant, inexpensive.
It's basically free.
But, and there is a big but, a big but.
It is not recyclable.
The reusable plastic bag.
It can be very compact,
beautifully designed.
Yeah.
Most supermarket or stores just accept to change it
if yours gets ruined.
But then I wonder what they do with it.
This one is made of the plastic,
but there is a thermal insulation inside.
It's just the picture of the person who's gonna die,
(dramatic sound)
if you throw it away.
And just a quick word about the plastic bag.
I'm not super fond of them.
I've been using them in the past.
(plastic rustling)
(chuckling)
Anyway, I'm trying to be a better person, okay?
Now I'm gonna reach out to a friend, Dave Hakkens,
who started, like years ago,
a global initiative to just put all the trashed plastic
to good use.
It's called Precious Plastic.
I will post a link in the description box down below.
Absolutely amazing.
But for the moment,
let's just ask the guy.
Hey Dave, what's up?
It's Alex. Any chance you could tell me
how wrong a plastic bag is?
- So here's the thing with plastic bags, Alex.
You quickly get them in the store or something,
but they stay around on the planet for hundreds of years,
floating around into the oceans
or going to landfills or they're getting burned.
And it's just a waste of material.
Now you could recycle them,
but that still takes a lot of energy and effort to do it,
just for the few seconds you wanna use that bag.
So, next time you're in a store,
don't get a plastic bag.
Get a reusable one.
I don't know,
fill it up in your hands, your pockets,
but whatever you do,
do not get that plastic bag.
Next, the classic tote bag.
Plural, I've got many.
You've got the super light version.
Shameful handle.
(material rips)
Aww, I'm truly sorry YouTube,
but this is not a good tote bag.
Then you've got these super heavy duty tote bag,
but the handle are too short.
It's way too high and not wide enough.
My favorite tote bag ever.
Falls on the shoulder just perfectly.
It's super solid.
You can basically put it in your pocket.
(thuds)
The problem with this one is that
you've got no compartment inside.
Where do I put my smartphone?
(soft thud)
We also need to take into account regular bags,
like backpacks or bags.
This is my backpack.
It's extremely solid.
It has a great volume inside,
but it's heavy.
That's probably the only problem of this backpack.
Love this backpack.
I would be very annoyed
if the fish or the chicken
were to just leak inside this bag.
Great thing about this bag,
you've got a zipper.
(zipping)
It has a great inner volume.
I think it can hold loads of weight.
It's not super foldable.
(phone chimes)
Guys, I'm in a shop doing my shopping.
Also one of the cons of using a bag like this one
when you're doing shopping,
it feels like you're doing shoplifting.
(ominous music)
At the end of the day,
I've got two serious candidate.
This would be perfect for a daily use.
This is only great to go to the grocery store.
You only need one bag, your bag.
For the moment,
I don't have the perfect solution,
but trust me,
I have tracks.
First, the bag must be big.
It's probably not the best idea
to use my beloved Japanese bowl,
but I know how to --
(sketching sounds)
That's a big bag.
(sketching sounds)
Second feature of the bag,
must be strong.
It will definitely be a challenge
to make it as strong as possible
while making it as light as possible.
Four, it should be pocket-able.
(light laugh)
Five, recyclable.
Now number six,
this bag should be like this watch.
Simple, efficient, clean, understandable.
The food features now.
Obviously, (grunts).
Just, (grunts).
And let me tell you that the food features
are the most interesting one.
This is not a comfortable --
(dramatic music)
(sketching sounds)
I'm just fed up with those cutting handles.
Meat, leak.
Veg, squished, and then leak.
Canned, squishers.
Fragile stuff, your smart phone, keys.
Because of all those type of groceries,
there needs to be a compartment system inside this bag.
I want some thermal insulation.
I'm thinking of insulating the whole bag.
And I need a closing system on top.
(bell dings)
I want it definitely weather proof.
(bell dings)
Because we're dealing with food, loads of food,
I want the whole thing to be washable,
washable.
(long beep) (distorted hum)
(laughing)
Sorry to interrupt guys,
but this is me, Alex
from the next episode.
And I'm just literally putting the finishing touches
to this better, early version of the ultimate grocery bag.
(laughing)
This is so exciting guys.
Look at this.
It's not super strong.
Look at this.
Look at this, guys.
Whatever, it's great.
Ah, (exhales)
Oh, look at this.
I basically made a not weather-proofed,
not water-proofed,
not insulated,
not compartmentalized tote bag.
(soft thud)
Start again.
(static)
Okay, so guys,
that's it for this episode.
I think you have now a good vantage
on the overall concept
that I want to achieve right there.
Of course, I'm really waiting for your feedback on this.
I think we can make something amazing.
Amazing, is the basement, okay?
And I wanna go to the ceiling.
So in the next episode
I will start building a prototype.
So I'm really looking to your feedback
in the comments down below.
As always, if you enjoyed this episode
then please give it a big thumbs up
and share that everywhere.
Insta, Face, Twitter.
It really helps me a lot.
Spread it like butter.
Like, people click subscribe
'cause I make new videos every week.
It's always about food.
I mean this is a grocery bag, so it's --
In the meantime,
take care, b'bye, salut.
And I need to get a sewing machine.
(funky music)