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 Continue reading »