Recycled Fashion Bags - Green Chic

Now most of us are not really looking at options like wearing a newspaper to a party, are we? Wearing a dress made largely of safety pins isn't exactly comfortable either (in any case you need to be someone like Liz Hurley to pull off "that dress"). It is therefore in the area of accessories where the inspired designs are making a difference.

A few years back, you would possibly not even think of carrying a handbag that's been made from discarded inner tubes of truck tyres. But things have changed so much nowadays. Chances are you'd be the talk of the town (the party, at least) if you carry such a bag today. Considering the vast range of designs available in recycled handbags, you'll be spoilt for choice once you give these a try.

Bags made from old record albums and art banners, magazines and candy wrappers, beverage cans and juice pouches can be the last word in elegance. You have more even examples of inspired designing, like handbags fashioned out of retro car licence plates and soda pop tops. The possibilities are endless, limited only by the designer's imagination.

And it's not just the independent designers who are calling the shots in the world of recycled fashion. Fair-trade producers from all over the world are creating stunning pieces of fashion accessories. Artisans in underprivileged communities from Philippines, India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Central America, and Africa are adapting their traditional skills and artistry to the need for recycling for a greener world. Their experiments with recycling have created as much a sensation as the work of independent designers. So when you carry that beautiful clutch, you also have the satisfaction of knowing that you are promoting community development in disadvantaged communities as well as doing your bit for a greener planet.

Another good thing about these gorgeous accessories is that they don't cost the earth while you do your bit for the earth. The bane of alternative green technology has been that it is rarely cost effective. A recycled fashion bag is one exception. While you might need to cough up a bit more of cash for some designer labels, most of them come cheaper than the mainstream alternatives.

It would actually blow your mind if you took a look behind the scenes to find out the number of things that are recycled into something new. Yes, everything on your table goes somewhere. Unfortunately, most of the things on your table go to the landfill but if you recycle you can actually see these recycled products reborn as something you can use everyday.

Delicious Purses

There is a place in the world where old candy wrappers, gum wrappers and soda bottle wrappers are recycled into something as stylish and useful as an over the shoulder handbag or purse. When searching online, look up Nahui Ollin. This designer makes some seriously sweet handbags. These eco friendly handbags are handmade in third world economic countries where the positive work and income are truly needed. The candy, gum and soda bottle wrappers are either misprinted or used and cleaned before use in these recycled handbags. Previous wrapped around domestic and international brands of candy, gum and soda, these wrappers add color and international flair to these eco-friendly handbags.

See? What once was trash on the ground is now treasure on your arm. Wow, recycling really makes the difference. Just think of the landfill space you just saved by purchasing a handbag made of 100% recycled materials.

Life Saving Lunch Bags

Every day you send your kids off to school with a brown paper bag filled to the brim with pre-packaged foods. At the end of the day, that is a lot of trash in the landfills. Plastics take up to one million years to biodegrade and paper bags are completely recyclable. Recycled products make the best reusable lunch bags. Here are a few examples:

-Recycled paper bags are actually processed and bound together to create a lunch bag that is 100% reusable. You used to pack your kid's lunches in paper bags they would just throw away. Now you can pack their lunches in bags that are eco friendly.

-Recycled juice packs are cleaned and fashioned, completely handmade, by a women's cooperative in the Philippines. These lunch bags are fashionable and great conversation starters. Your kids can aide in saving the planet by simply reusing their "juicy" lunch bags.

-Recycled plastic bottles and containers make the absolute coolest recycled lunch bag. These lunch bags keep food cooler longer and can come in 3 different colors. Because these bags are made of durable plastic, they come with a 100% lifetime guarantee.

Eco friendly bags come in difference sizes, colors, and base materials. Just imagine the kinds of things you can make with the stuff in your trash can!

DeWeNe

DeWeNe (Designs We Need) launches it's first product 'Hook and Go' - the shopping trolley re-invented. Hook and Go is a fold up trolley which allows you to visit your local shops or farmers markets and carry large quantities of bags home effortlessly. You simply hook your bags over the hook arm of Hook and Go and wheel it home.

Doy Bags

Doy Bags are made in the Philippines by a women's group, the Women's Multi-Purpose Cooperative based near Manila. The cooperative produces approximately 500,000 bags and household items per year, thus preventing many millions of juice packs and candy wrappers from being burnt, buried or simply littering the streets and waterways. The Women's Multi-Purpose Cooperative has won a number of awards in the Philippines for its concern for the environment and its outstanding contribution to waste recycling and employment generation.

Ganesha

Ganesha is an alternative trading outfit that markets the traditional industries of India. Working directly with the producers, their aim is to add as much value to handmade products through quality in design and making, to maximise the earning potential of the (often rural) producers at source, and put additional money into local economies.

Littlearth UK

When Rob Brandegee and Ava DeMarco founded a small company in 1993 with a simple recycling idea, they couldn't have known that some 15 years later they would be leading at the forefront of eco-fashion. The innovative process of reusing and recycling the most unexpected materials has become the canvas for intriguing ideas to develop amongst creative designers from all over the world. Inspiring 'haute' conversation where ever they are taken, your Littlearth handbag is going to catch attention!

Naveh Milo

Naveh Milo shopping bags are made on the outskirts of Medan, Indonesia, by a women's cooperative. By employing local women, and those who have travelled inland from Tsunami affected regions, Naveh Milo is making a positive impact on both the local, and wider community.

People Tree

People Tree is a fair trade and ecological fashion company, selling clothing and accessories for women, men, children and babies. Safia Minney brought People Tree to the UK in 2001 and by 2006, had a concession in Topshop's Oxford Circus store. It currently is working with 70 fair trade groups in 20 countries and is proud to combine the latest trends in fashion with traditional skills and technologies. People Tree champions organic cotton farming, simultaneously bringing benefit to the customer, the growers and the environment.

Rubbish Bags

Trash Chic bags are made in Bangkok by a co-operative, and are made from 100% recycled rice grain sacks.

Sarah Smith

Sarah Smith produces a bright, colourful, eye-catching range of bags. All of the products made in Britain proudly carry the Fairtrade mark.

Shared Earth

Shared Earth works with over 30 producers around the world to bring you fairly traded and ethical products and gifts. It began as a small shop on Goodramgate, York which opened in October 1986, and now has seven shops to its name. Shared Earth builds and maintains partnerships with producers and disadvantaged people in developing countries which helps to keep traditional skills alive, whilst benefitting local communities and building bridges, regardless of race, religion or culture.gg
Silverchilli

Silverchilli work with two Mexican charities promoting sustainable resource management, skills training and educating on recycling. PlanetSilverChilli bags are handmade by womens groups, environmentalists and a prisoner skills training groups using colourful factory-second crisp packets and car tyres. PlanetSilverchilli pay 50% in advance on all orders to help fund raw materials, so the producers are never out of pocket. The remaining 50% is paid on delivery, making PlanetSilverChilli bags a combination of fair trade, inspired design, and environmental consideration.

Traidcraft

Traidcraft comprises of a trading company and a development charity, fighting poverty through trade since 1979. It has formed lasting relationships with small scale producers all over the developing world, whilst also actively campaigning for trade justice. If you care about the story behind the product, then Traidcraft has the products for you.

Turtle Bags

Turtle Bags promotes the work of  the Marine Conservation Society. Turtles are mistaking upturned plastic bags for their favourite food, jellyfish, with deadly results. Turtle Bags seeks to promote alternatives to plastic bags and reducing plastic pollution.