Walking down the street, you spot a man carrying his groceries bundled in a canvas bag. Sitting in class, the girl next to you has her books stored in another canvas tote. You attend a club meeting only to notice that the officers all have matching canvas bags with the club logo embroidered on the front. These canvas totes are more than accessories, they frame the civic by expressing an inherent connection to a community of environmental activism and advocacy, and to subgroups through related designs.
Canvas bags highlight participation in a community of environmentalists who are taking specific steps to reduce their carbon footprint. By utilizing reusable bags instead of plastic bags, overall waste is reduced, which positively impacts ecosystems which are otherwise harmed by carbon emissions and plastic bags roaming the earth. This fulfills an obligation to the earth and an obligation to ourselves to protect the planet we call home. On a more surface level, canvas bags can represent belonging to specific communities, such as clubs or organizations, by donning totes with their logo. This strengthens that individual’s identification with the group by matching others with the same bag and advertising their mission.
This artifact fulfills the purposes of civic 
engagement by building a community for people who value sustainability and allows organization members to relate through a shared accessory. It develops an identity by allowing the carrier to select bags that hold additional meanings in their designs, expressing their style. These bags advocate for policy and create change by taking action to migrate away from single-use bags and towards sustainable, reusable products. This shows a connection to recent environmental policies, including the creation of a charge for plastic bags at grocery stores in select states.
Carrying a tote bag requires few means or financial resources, and little time. It is a simple act of civic engagement. Many canvas bags cost only a few dollars, making them available to a larger group of advocates. They are also often distributed as free gifts during events, which expands their reach even wider. Furthermore, it requires almost no time to utilize this artifact which frames the civic. Citizens can quickly grab their tote, pack their bag, and head out on the street to make a statement. This allows all citizens with easy access to a tote to have the power for civic engagement.
This artifact is used in all settings, such as grocery stores, schools, fundraisers giving gifts, on the street as an accessory, and all throughout the public. This makes it visible to a large audience, allowing its impact on framing the civic to be even greater. Using canvas bags in varying settings illustrates how versatile they are, which convinces a larger audience to make the same sustainable change.
A canvas tote can hold different degrees of significance to different people. Some may interpret it as a fun way of expressing their style with differently designed bags, while others see it a statement of sustainability and a departure from harmful, single-use products. This action progressed as concern for climate change increased, leading to canvas bags expressing the ideology of environmentalism. This artifact depicts this ideology by protecting natural resources, as an environmentalist would, through sustainably sourced accessorizing.
Canvas bags introduce the commonplaces of “sustainable living” and “reducing single-use plastics,” which are frequently heard from environmentalists and seen on the news. It also suggests the commonplace of “expressing yourself” by allowing the consumer to choose totes that represent their style and interests. The overall artifact is meaningful from an environmentalist ideology, and specific patterns and logos on canvas bags create additional meaning to the wearer who identifies with those traits.
The rhetorical situation that called for this artifact to act was the exigence of climate change misinformation. There became disagreement in the severity of concern for the environment, and the canvas bag was a step towards advocacy for sustainability. Climate advocates normalized the use of this accessory, and it was then consumed by the average citizen, using it in their everyday lives. This reduces waste and positively impacts all inhabitants of Earth, which is necessary when the concern of climate change became overwhelming. Tote bags were a simple way to feel productive in combatting the matter. This product responded to that kairotic moment by taking the platform of climate action and making it accessible to more people. As people have altered their daily lives to be more sustainable, reusable bags have remained a simple, effective, and stylish way to take part in the movement.
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