A Greener Laptop Bag

I've been carrying around the Targus Grove Topload EcoSmart bag for a while now, and I gotta say, it may be eco-friendly, but that doesn't mean it ain't sturdy. The big selling points for this bag are that it's PVC-free, the metal hardware is nickel-free, and the plastic hardware is recyclable. As I didn't know bags typically had PVC and nickel in them, these weren't big selling points for me, but it turns out the Grove is a great bag, and the eco-friendly stuff is a nice side bonus (or the other way around, if you prefer).

The bag is your basic shoulder bag, with a cool green color and orange interior. There's a handy cell-phone pouch on one side of the bag and a zip-out water bottle holder on the other which stows away nicely when not it use. There are two front pouches, one of which has lots of inner pockets for business cards, pens, note-books, etc, and there's a non-zippered magazine pocket in the back of the bag for easy access to reading ma-terial. There's also a Velcro pass-through for attaching the bag to your rolling luggage.

On the inside of the main compartment is a very well-padded (but non-removeable) laptop sleeve, which maxes out at 15.4-inch machines. The bag overall is on the smaller side--it'll hold a laptop and your lunch, but not much more than that in the main compartment--but it's a perfect size for toting around the city or crowding onto a jam-packed subway train.

The only real complaint I have it's the strap, which includes a comfy pad, but which doesn't stay at the length you want. I need to readjust it almost every day as the strap-adjuster-buckle-thingy won't hold the strap at a consistent length (probably due to the lack of nickel in the metal hardware)(just kidding).

Still, it's a good bag overall, and to celebrate Earth Day, Targus is offering free shipping if you order the bag through the company's web site. The bag is $59.99 direct, and there are other bag styles available for varying prices.

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