How To Patent An Idea | Bagging A Trip Down Under

Don’t bother calling Andrea Vincent of Cotati between 4 and 5 p.m. She’s busy watching Oprah. And in December, she’ll be with the talk show host and about 300 other Oprah fans in Australia after it was announced – during the taping of a show Vincent was at – the entire audience would be flown to the Land Down Under.
Vincent was selected to attend the taping of the season premiere of the show’s last season, which aired Sept. 13, after submitting an application showing how the show has inspired her. It was an April 2008 episode focusing on Earth Day that moved her to invent the Veggie Bed, an alternative to plastic bags for vegetables bought at a supermarket.
“I kept looking at all these plastic bags thinking, ‘where’s this going, where’s that going,’” she said. And when she mentioned it to the checker at the market he suggested she invent an alternative. So she did.
The episode, particularly an image of a stork with a plastic bag over its head, “upset me so deeply,” that she called her friend Carlos Lee and asked how to patent an idea, and she then asked if he’d like to be CEO of her new company. He agreed and together they created the Veggie Bed.
The big showWhen she received a call from Oprah’s production company Harpo Productions, Vincent was a surprised, but coolly explained her product and how she was moved to create it after seeing the Earth Day episode. She was later notified that she was invited to attend the taping and worked out her schedule and finances to accommodate the trip to Chicago.
On the show, Oprah mused about past giveaways and stoked audience members’ hopes. Each possibility she brought up gave way to cheers and shouts. But when she said, “The other side of the world,” the audience erupted as she continued, “we’re going to Australia!”
Then a plane fuselage popped out from back stage, the door opening to reveal actor John Travolta, a certified pilot who will be flying the whole group to Australia.
After the announcement, Vincent was excited, nervous and a little scared. After Oprah mentioned other trips she had given away to audience members, particularly one to Philadelphia, the Cotatian was afraid she might be leaving right then and there, from the Chicago studio. “I thought, ‘what are we going to do with the kids?’”
But it’s OK. She’ll have time to plan for that and other necessities for the December trip, like getting a passport. This will be her first time out of the country.
Chance to make a differenceAs one might expect, the publicity has been great for her product. It’s available now at local grocery stores, but Vincent’s having to fill extra orders because they keep selling out. She’s going to begin selling them on her Web site soon (theveggiebed.com) and will even expand the product line.
The money would be nice, because like many Americans, the Vincent family has been affected by the mortgage crisis. And as a breast cancer survivor, it’s vital to have insurance to keep her health in good standing.
But it’s not all about that, says Andrea Vincent. The plastic island floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing, and plastic bags are a big culprit. She says by using a Veggie Bed on every grocery trip instead of plastic produce bags, it would save up to 1,000 bags per year. And with cities like San Francisco banning plastic bags, and California considering the idea, she seems to be onto something with her idea.
Though she was chosen because the show inspired her idea, Vincent was quick to point out that Harpo Productions doesn’t officially endorse the Veggie Bag. But if she were to get on camera while in Australia, it would be great to have that chance at the Barrier Reef, which she says would illustrate why she feels her invention is so vital.
“It would mean a lot to me to see that part of the ocean, because that’s what I’m really trying to do, is help the ocean,” she said.
Life at homeThings at home are still pretty much the same. Her husband, Dave, and daughters Trinity, 8, and Cheyenne, 5, won’t all be going with her to Australia, but other than that, it’s just another day on the ranch. Moondoggy Ranch, that is. It’s Vincent’s dog care and boarding business.
The ranch saved her from a “corporate world,” she says, but she wouldn’t mind the inventing business full time. She’s been in the dog world for 13 years now in the North Bay.