One summer when I took a trip to Mexico with my family I was approached by a vendor who was selling handbags approached me. When I took a look at the handbags I immediately noticed their unique patterns and loud colors. These handbags were made out of candy wrappers, magazines, newspapers, wrapping paper and basically anything consisting of paper! I was fascinated with the unique look of these bags and gave into buying one from the lady. Now, it seems that the trend of having one of these bags has been picked up here in the US. The one I had bought in Mexico was a small clutch bag and I wanted to find one that was big enough for my books for school. I went online and found this site www.ecoist.com that has a variety of styles and sizes.
This company has coined the term: upcycling. This term means to repurpose material into a product of higher quality. They make their products by using pre-consumer waste, which is usually collected from factories that discard them. Additionally, their handbags are made in a fair trade, sweatshop-free production center in Peru. Ecoist also sells bracelets made out of candy wrappers.
Some of Ecoist partners include: Disney, Coca-Cola, Mars, Frito Lay, Luna Bar, and AVEDA. In partnership with Trees for the Furture, Ecoist plants a tree for every handbag made. They have planted over 80,000 trees over the course of 4 years. These trees have been planted in countries such as India, Uganda, Haiti, Mexico, and the United States.
Fun Fact: In the last 4 years, Ecoist has saved more than 15 million candy wrappers from going to landfills.
Comments
Leave a comment