Seat belts, candy wrappers and dog hair are just a few of the materials designers, artists and ordinary folk are using to make sexy sustainable bags. We have compiled a list of our favorite environmentally friendly bags with something for the green fashionista, the practical treehugger, the eco-conscious child and everyone in between.
Conserve Recycled Plastic Bags
Anita Ahuja, founder and president of Conserve, has come up with an ingenious way to upcycle the plastic bags plaguing her region and also help numerous people find gainful employment. The result is Conserve’s stunning range of bags made from recycled plastic.
Recycled Seatbelt Bags
Italian designers have created a super-stylish application for old seatbelts - reconfiguring them into handbags. 959’s latest line of handbags utilizes reclaimed polyester seatbelts from scrapyards, puts them through a rigorous cleaning process and styles them into cutting edge eco-accessories. The seatbelt series includes the 531 clutch bag, a 582 his/her bag, the 793 bigger-bag and the 972 school bag.
The 60 Day Bag
60BAGs are Polish biodegradable carrier bags made out of flax-viscose non-woven fabric. The flax-viscose fabric used for the bag is produced with flax fiber industrial waste. Designed by Katarzyna Okinczyc and Remigiusz Truchanowicz, the 60BAGs naturally decompose in about 60 days (hence the name) after being discarded by the user. 60BAGs can be composted or safely burnt which means they don’t require any recycling processes.
Vintage Car Upholstery Bags
Imagine the attraction of American muscle cars from the 70s and 80s stitched into a handbag. Fashion designer Kim White takes vintage automotive fabric and upcycles it into stunning handbags. Each handbag comes tagged with the year and make of the car.
Cat & Dog Hair Bags
There is a lot of unwanted dog and cat hair in the world from brushing or grooming animals. Much of the discarded hair ends up in landfills. Danelle German, an animal groomer in Simpsonville, South Carolina, has come up with an unusual way to deal with the unwanted animal companion hair – she makes attractive handbags using the waste from her grooming business – the Catty Shack.
Recycled Candy Wrapper Bags
Ecoist Recycled Candy Wrapper Handbags are the perfect accessories for summer - bright, stylish bags made from recycled materials. Choose from more than 50 bag and clutch styles made from recycled candy wrappers, Coca-Cola labels, subway maps, food packages, magazines, newspapers and even energy bars. The handmade Ecoist bags are bright, fun, fabulous and green.
Ecozoo Animal Backpacks
Puppies, pandas, pigs and elephants. These brightly coloured whimsical animal bags, from Ecogear, are the perfect knapsacks for children. Designed to be both practical and fun, these adorable bags also have the added bonus of being completely environmentally friendly. Constructed from organic cotton canvas and rope, with non-toxic dyes, recycled components and sustainable wood accents, the Ecozoo bag line will delight young children (and animal lovers and fashion forward adults too).
Mariclaro Recycled Bags
Recycled vinyl, car seat leather and pleather, seat belts, bike and truck inner tubes, and truck tarps. It’s hard to believe that these discarded materials could be upcycled into stylish eco-bags. Mariclaro is a design collective of Mexican, German and Canadian artists, working to create functional and aesthetically appealing products from recycled materials while simultaneously reducing waste in landfills. The result is fabulous eco-friendly bags.
Freitag Bags
200 tons of truck tarpaulins. 75,000 bicycle inner tubes. 25,000 seats belts. These are just some of the materials Zurich-based designers Daniel and Markus Freitag, divert from the landfill each year. Instead, they turn the unwanted materials into Freitag Recycled Freeway Bags. The international recycled bag sensation recently launched a series of very limited edition art bags. Using recycled exhibition banners from the Tate Modern London, the Mori Art Museum Tokyo, Palazzo Grassi Venice, and the Museum of Contemporary Art L.A., to create Limited Art Edition Bags, Freitag will release part of the art bag collection online each week in August 2009.
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