by Eileen Weber
Looking for that classy little clutch or a funky Hobo? Look no further for your eco-chic handbag. There are some great shops online that have made the old new again.
Just a short drive down the East Coast, New Jersey-based Vulcana® handbags base their business on one simple question: Why buy new material when there’s plenty of it just lying around in landfills?
According to their web site, the car tires taken from landfills are transformed into rubber sheets. Vulcana manufactures the rubber sheeting, called “rubbRE”™, once the wire and fibers have been extracted from the tires.
“People want the runway look with the earth-friendly aspect,” said Aline Denommee, a Vulcana representative. “The key is trying to combine them.”
The company also has a line of handbags with a layer of hemp on the outside of the rubber material. “Hemp has a different aesthetic,” she said. “There’s a little more strength to it.” Denommee also said the company is planning a new line using recycled plastic bottles, recycled fabrics and water-based dyes.
Love Mert, an Oregon-based company founded in 2002, uses “a collage” of natural, reclaimed, recycled, and vintage materials for all its products. “Being eco-friendly was always in me,” said Melissa Michelsen, owner and designer of Love Mert handbags. “Now, it’s hot and it sells.”
Just for fun, Michelsen started out making the handbags as gifts for her friends. Requests for her little creations became more and more frequent and a business was born. She comes across her materials wherever she can. Even her mom, who lives in Vermont, gets into the act finding bolts of cloth here and there.
“I find the fabrics all over. But, the upholsteries from the 70s are my favorite,” said Michelsen. “I’m a one-woman show and I’ve created my own signature style by reusing what’s out there.”
In nearby Seattle, Crystalyn Kokorowski reuses vintage fabrics or materials with a very low impact on the environment every day. Kokorowski’s company, Crystalyn Kae, makes handbags with faux leather, vintage fabrics from eBay] or Etsy, and even silk and washable tweed.
“I draft my own handbag patterns to eliminate waste, source the best available materials with the least impact, and try to incorporate recycled or vintage fabrics whenever I can,” said Kokorowski. “Most of my customers appreciate that with so many fabrics and colors to choose from, that their Crystalyn Kae bag is unlike any other designer handbag.”
She added that her company also tries to be eco-friendly in other ways. For one, they have no company car. They use a car-share program to transport supplies and hand-deliver to local stores. But when it comes to her bags, she wants her creations to have staying power.
“A major factor of sustainability is the lifespan of a product and it's ease of care. My customers often comment on how well the bags hold up over time,” she said. “I certainly have a solid following from the Vegan community, but I would like to think that my designs attract customers who want an attractive, well-made purse that isn't trendy. I think eco-friendly is the icing on the cake.”
Eco-Handbags.com, a Canadian online company, calls themselves the “one-of-a-kind” retail store selling handbags and other products that are completely eco-friendly. Materials range from recycled zippers, CDs, juice boxes, soda cans, and even chopsticks.
“It’s not frumpy stuff,” said Marisa Ramondo, President and Founder of Eco-Handbags.com. “This stuff is cool!”
She said that both the clients and the designers like the concept of the web site. Some of their biggest sellers are handbags made from art banners and movie billboards as well as the very popular Ecoist candy wrapper handbags. “People are looking for something snazzy that makes a statement,” said Ramondo. “They want to attract attention.”
Kokorowski agrees. “I think that the trend of the 'it' bag is beginning to fade away,” she said in a recent e-mail. “Customers are paying more attention to the value of investing in a bag that will be truly useful for their everyday lives and isn't a logo-encrusted bag that everyone and their dog has.”
Ramondo noted that the future trends in handbags will see some creativity from designers. Increasingly, more recycled materials will be used in the manufacturing. In other words, one person’s trash is another one’s treasure.
But that’s what makes these handbags so nifty. Manufactured with recycled fabrics has no further impact on the environment. It’s the ultimate in green. And for handbags, green really is the new black.
Nice way to recycle material. We all should be more conscious of recycling.
Posted by: Leather Handbags | September 21, 2011 at 04:56 PM
The bags are amazing! Definitely amazing! I am a big fan of eco-friendly bags myself. I usually go to http://www.eco-handbags.ca to look for eco-chic bags that are very affordable. It's a good thing to know more of these bags are being produced, I hope people make a switch to buy eco-friendly products
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Posted by: Louis Vuitton handbags | March 28, 2010 at 04:32 AM
to both comments:
here are links to other articles on this web site. the first deals with green cleaning. the second deals with carpooling. thanks for reading!
http://ctgreenscene.typepad.com/ct_green_scene/2008/10/a-greener-way-t.html
http://ctgreenscene.typepad.com/ct_green_scene/2009/02/need-a-ride-.html
Posted by: Eileen Weber | March 02, 2009 at 09:40 AM
I've been trying to improve on my carbon footprint by taking a bus to work 3 times a week and not using bags at stores.I check in on your blog once in a while trying to get some knew ideas.-
Posted by: Larry | March 01, 2009 at 04:35 PM
How about Cleaning Green in Connecticut?
Our Company DMS Carpet Cleaners is an organic based cleaning service located in Fairfield County Ct. Westport Magazine mentioned our company favorably last May in an article called "Greener by the Dozen".
Posted by: Dmsclean | February 28, 2009 at 10:32 PM