<p>UC</a> Student's "Eco-Bag" to Arrive in Stores this Summer</p>
<p>In a national competition to choose the best designs for a reusable shopping bag, University of Cincinnati transportation design student Josh Henry, 21, of Strongsville, Ohio, was one of the national winners chosen.</p>
<p>And now, his design will be on display and sale at more than 850 JCPenney Company, Inc., stores nationwide. It should be available in stores in June or July 2010, in time for the back-to-school shopping season.</p>
<p>Henry said that he completed his design in about an hour after receiving a college e-mail about the JCPenney national competition inviting students to design an eco-bag for shoppers.</p>
<p>Recalled Henry, "I worked on it one evening when I didn't really have homework. The design popped into my head. The tree design appealed to me because it's basic and simple. It is a real-world representation of the word, green. I sent the entry off without expectations. I was shocked to be a finalist and then to win."</p>
<p>The best part of the project was that he really did have fun with it, Henry explained: "I was just experimenting with different layouts and graphics. The most difficult part was making the final decision on a detailed design after some experimentation."</p>
<p>The tree motif also allowed JCPenney to utilize a clever tag line on the bag: "leaf a better world behind."</p>
<p>The 100-percent cotton bags with Henry's design will also carry his name and signature. They will retail for $1.99, with proceeds benefitting the JCPenney Afterschool Fund.</p>
<p>As a winner in the national competition to design the bag, Henry will also have the opportunity to meet with JCPenney executives this summer, including Myron E. "Mike" Ullman III, chairman and chief executive officer.</p>
<p>Henry isn't the first UC student to win the JCPenney eco-bag contest, first held last year. In that 2008 contest, UC student Emily Taylor was one of three national winners selected.</p>
<p>And in this year's contest, UC's Hillary Cross, a fashion design student, was a finalist in the competition.</p>