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BANG FOR THE BITE
Supporting eco-committed designers helps keep the planet from going to hell in a handbag, but it comes at a cost.
COCKTAIL FACT
According to The Luxury Institute, men are more likely than women to choose a luxury-label handbag.
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home › tip library › Eco Handbags
Need an attractive escort for your next party?
The Bite
Hook your arm around an eco-handbag. With green being trendy as all whatsit, fashionistas are snatching up bags like they did peasant blouses in 2002. Whether organic, recycled, or vintage, bag one for yourself while they're hot.The Benefits
- Voguish designs. Even manbags (or, if you prefer, murses) come in greener styles that are all the rage.
- Eco-friendly materials. Designers are finding innovative ways to incorporate reclaimed, recycled, and sustainable materials into stylish bags.
- Supporting eco-pioneers. Simple supply and demand: When you support trailblazing designers, more eco-friendly finds will follow.
Personally Speaking
For years Jen has carried around a fake leather bag she got on Canal Street in NYC that is big enough to hold her Biter bottle when she's out and about. When not bound to her bottle, she carries her Escama bag to turn heads.Wanna Try?
- Escama - conversation-evoking handmade bags made from aluminum can pull-tabs, in four sizes ($32-$160).
- HER Design Iris - inspired by an iris bud, the latest clutch from HER features linen with a recycled-bottle lining and comes with a detachable strap ($129).
- Kim White - wide variety of supercute and durable bags made from vintage car seat fabrics ($115-$250).
- Stewart + Brown Swans Crescent Bag - machine-washable hemp and organic cotton shoulder bag with a swan print, in two colors ($79).
- Entermodal - made from materials such as locally sourced aluminum, these bags work as murses or purses; available online in August ($450 and up).
Jul 31,2007
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All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.
Once Upon a Handbag
I just saw one of the most moving films I've seen in a long time, Once, about two musicians who happen to meet on a dreary Dublin street late one night and...well, you'll have to watch it to find out the rest. But at one point one of them ends up rolling her vacuum behind her through the city.
What does this have to do with handbags? It's exactly how I feel whenever I carry a purse. For me, it's either my trusty backpack (even weight on shoulders, lots of pockets, leaves me hands-free) or coat pocket (anyone's will do, as long as we're out together).
OK, OK, or it's my grandmother-in-law's hand-me-down vintage art deco evening purse. It's the exception because it's utterly unique and beautiful in its own right. Many of the bags we selected for today's tip are one-of-a-kind and made to last too, so whether you're a full-time bag lady or not, you can enjoy their quirky ways for many moons.
-Jenifer Morgan...off to sneak my wallet into my husband's murse...
What does this have to do with handbags? It's exactly how I feel whenever I carry a purse. For me, it's either my trusty backpack (even weight on shoulders, lots of pockets, leaves me hands-free) or coat pocket (anyone's will do, as long as we're out together).
OK, OK, or it's my grandmother-in-law's hand-me-down vintage art deco evening purse. It's the exception because it's utterly unique and beautiful in its own right. Many of the bags we selected for today's tip are one-of-a-kind and made to last too, so whether you're a full-time bag lady or not, you can enjoy their quirky ways for many moons.
-Jenifer Morgan...off to sneak my wallet into my husband's murse...
Biter Comments...
I'm in love with the recycled innertube bags-- durable, waterproof, and incredibly cool-feeling (careful, the bigger bags can be heavy). Try English Retreads for some freaky good fashion.
You can't forget ecoist. They make handbags (and other cool stuff) out of unusable candy wrappers and other food labels. Makes for a unique pattern! The handcrafted purses create jobs for artisans in Mexico and Peru, and ecoist plants a tree for each bag sold.
Why not go with inexpensive and mainstream fashion? Go to your local Goodwill, Salvation Army, or Easter Seals thrift store. Not only can you find great bargains but you're supporting worthwhile organizations at the same time!
I always thought these handbags that you can knit out of recycled plastic grocery bags were cool:
http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/round%20plastic%20bag%20tote.html
(Not that Biters would necessarily have plastic grocery bags hanging around, but maybe you know someone who does...:-) )
There are other patterns out there as well, do a search for recycled plastic bag purses. Wish I knew how to knit!
I am totally down with the Thrift Store idea - with one twist: recycle trashed blue jeans. Most Goodwill stores have a bin where they put the grungiest, most-wasted pieces of clothing. Grab a pair of $1 jeans and sew up a shoulder bag, a backpack, a clutch - you could even get all three from one pair of jeans! In my mind, spending $450 on a 'murse' (or whatever) makes you no better than an eco-poser.
MY GOSH. I know very few people who can afford a handbag under any name that costs $250 or even $72. Recycling means
many things, and I don't think that expending lots of money is one of them. Great ideas at used clothing stores, making bags out of plastic bags, unraveling and reknitting or crocheting bags with the yarn, settling on one handbag for day and one for "going out", maintaining each so that they last for a long time...All of this is practical and doable...
Totally unaffordable bags!
I will make a general sort of comment here: for the most part the Biter tips are really good and I find them useful... but once in a while they present something so ridiculous (like the $450 handbag) that their credibility really suffers [at least with me]. On the other hand, if we can get the yuppies and posers to start recycling, maybe "things" will finally begin to change. If we can recycle all the plastic other potential floaters, maybe the results will end up on the arms of socialites rather than beached on Midway Island killing seabirds, dolphins and monk seals. THAT should be our real, communal goal. :o)
Love the Goodwill & thrift store suggestions! Also the recycling of $1.00 jeans to make purses, backpacks etc.Recycling at it's best!! Also consider garage & rummage sales. I got one of my cloth grocery bags(a really nice sturdy one)at a garage sale for $.25.I love this blog & my fellow bloggers!! I get such great frugal tips from this. Raven- you can sometimes learn to knit at your local library for free. That's how I learned years ago.Some yarn shops or craft stores(JoAnn,Michaels) offer classes but for a fee.They usually offer them in the winter months.
Before you buy anything plastic, recycled or otherwise. Take a look at what it is doing to our planet through the negligence of our race.
http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Ocean-Plastic-Landfill-Algalita1nov02.htm
In the late 19th century, science set out to create an indestructible material. Plastic is the result. Long after the human race abandons this planet, plastic will remain.
Scary and so very true! It doesn't really have that much to do with handbags, but it's especially important to understand what "our" dependence on petroleum products has done to not only the world's economies, but to the earth itself. This is along the line of TMI, but your link [ http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/ocean.htm ] is one that everyone should go to and peruse. For me, I am trying my best to purchase goods without extra packaging, to carry my own shopping bags made of recycled thrift-store t shirts and to use glass containers as much as possible. One person can make a difference when we all work together.
all kinds of bags and belt buckles made from previousely skated and recycled skateboard decks are at beckycity.com each one is completely unique and she gives money back to good causes like keep-a-breast
I have really enjoyed today - exchanging ideas and reading the thoughtful comments all you guys have contributed. I have gone to several web sites to check out the products listed and some of these sites are actually useful. Most of all, I feel part of a small community of people who care enough to communicate with each other about a serious problem - and not get all huffy and sarcastic about stuff.
There is one final page I want to share - a page that should tie into all the Biter philosophies - http://www.ecomall.com/biz/recycle1.htm
A last comment - I know we in the US live in a Capitalistic State, and I know people gotta make money to eat and pay rent. But it rather galls me to see corporate hands jump into faux recycling so they can feed and further their harmful ways. So please be careful, people. The product that says "recycled" might have in reality been made by tiny little hands in a third world country using virgin [albeit cheap] materials.
I love you guys!
Recycled doesn't have to be from a product that has actually been used like a bottle or a plastic bag. Companies can also "Recycle" the scraps from making those things. The key is to make sure the product contains post-consumer waste to make any recycling worthwhile.
Just a note, sometimes the bags made out of recycled materials can be deceiving! Most times the chip bags used in some purses were bought unused and empty straight from the factory...
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PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Patricia | July 31, 2007 at 07:24 AM