How this Idaho entrepreneur gives feed bags new life

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Jodi Gebarowski is the type of person who refuses to throw empty Cool Whip containers away. “I get it from my grandma,” Gebarowski said. “She always did that.”

That “reduce, reuse, recycle” philosophy instilled in her by her grandmother has turned into a business. Gebarowski turns old bags for goat, chicken, dog and other pet food into reusable grocery bags. 

“In the last six years, I have collected over 20,000 empty feed bags,” she said. 

This all started in 2018, when Gebarowski began operating a small dairy farm in southeastern Idaho. She noticed that the plastic bags her goat feed came in were made of the same material as many reusable grocery bags. “It’s woven in a biaxial roll pattern that gives it all of its durability and stability,” she said. 

After watching a tutorial on YouTube, she made her first reusable bag and gave it to a friend. Soon she was collecting empty feed bags from dozens of farms in her rural community. 

Today, Gerabowski said she spends about four to six hours a day making and selling bags on her website, craft fairs and other community events. 

“It makes you feel really good,” she said. “My grandmother, she absolutely loves it.”