Earth Day is coming up soon (April 22 to be exact)! In honor of Earth Day, I am devoting this post to eco-style.  Have you noticed the words “sustainable & style” are being used together more and more by fashion editors and media?  Up and coming designers everywhere are premiering their eco-conscience designs; one hot trend is accessories made from recycled materials. Recycling materials and transforming them into fashion accessories is a win-win situation.  As a consumer, you are helping the environment when you support businesses that manufacture clothing and accessories made from recycled materials. How are you helping? Many of the materials filling the landfills will remain there for thousands of years. Recycling reduces the demand for raw materials; thus preserving our precious natural resources.  It reduces air and water pollution along with energy usage.
The consumer is rewarded by acquiring a quality product that is unique and well made. Products made from recycled materials are often handcrafted and manufactured by a fair trade organization that provides a fair wage and favorable working conditions for their workers. Celebrities and fashion elite are spotted everywhere donning everything from bags made from recycled juice boxes, plastic bags or rubber tires to earrings made from old mason jars and Clorox bottles. As more and more of us are beginning to follow the green movement, designers are creating fantastic well crafted pieces fashion consumers will enjoy for generations to come. And keeping our difficult economic situation in mind, I have found some beautiful pieces for a reasonable price.
Here are some good accessory finds from some of my favorite online retail shops:
Vy & Elle Bags- Made from PVC Vinyl (Recycled Vinyl Billboards) These colorful bags are chic and durable. Thousands of billboards with advertisements made of PVC vinyl go up each day. When these billboards are no longer needed, they are discarded into landfills where they create toxic pollution. Upset by this wasteful practice, Nicola Freegard and Robin Janson founded Vy & Elle in 2002 in order to transform this landfill-bound material into durable and vibrant products. The strength of PVC vinyl makes it an ideal material for reuse, and because of the different images printed on the vinyl, it’s even more interesting as a fabric. The material offers colorful graphics that take urban art into everyday living.
Rebagz from Half the Sky Designs – Made from recycled juice boxes; Moms everywhere love the convenience of disposable juice boxes. The square boxes used for liquids are called “Aseptics”. Aseptics are made from complex layers of plastic, metal and paper. The recycling process of aseptic is very expensive and awkward, and is therefore only available in a very few places. Fortunately, a group of enterprising women in the Philippines have found a way to incorporate this awkward material into fabulous designs. They cut the juice packs into strips, fold and weave them together to create some very cool stuff! Well-made, vibrant, fashionable and functional are just some of the ways to describe these water-resistant handmade creations. Rebagz is a line of bright durable totes, packs, handbags and wallets made from recycled juice packs and nylon rice sacks.
Green Leaves by Sarah Upton- The metals used in this stunning jewelry collection are recycled or reclaimed. Sarah was inspired by the natural design of leaves and hand forms these pieces into a unique wearable sculpture. By using reclaimed and recycled metals, less metal has to be extracted from the earth (a very toxic process). In addition, her company, ELEMENTAL METALS donates a portion of the proceeds to the Chatham Conservation Foundation to benefit the delicate ocean ecosystem in Cape Cod, MA.
Bottled Up Designs- Jewelry made from recycled glass. The manufacture of glass uses energy in the extraction and transportation of the raw materials, and during processing, as materials have to be heated together to a very high temperature. Large amounts of fuel are used and the combustion of these fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide – a greenhouse gas. Glass can be recycled indefinitely as part of a simple but hugely beneficial process, as its structure does not deteriorate when reprocessed. The artisans at Bottle Up Designs polish and mold the recycled glass to eliminate any sharp edges. The glass is then skillfully mounted in delicate spirals of sterling hoops to produce enchanting pendants and earrings that catch the light with every move! Each pendant is strung onto a simple contemporary round neck cord made from recycled rubber tires. Each piece comes with the Story of the Glass, so the artist includes a card with each selection relating the approximate age and original use of the antique glass.
these are cool, another great store that sells unique design items made from recycled stuff is balkantango here in budapest