Under Review: A Purse that Keeps the Planet Seatbelt Safe?
Upcycling is one of my favorite parts of sustainable living. It is recycling that refuses to be boring or oversimplified, and often exemplifies some of the most innovative design work I’ve ever seen. Upcycled products can be extremely glamorous, and can often attract attention from the most discriminating style experts.
While I am not one of those style experts, I always love a beautiful, practical product that will drop jaws when I explain what it is made out of. And Maggie Bags are just such a jaw dropping product.
Made with good ‘ole fashion, Southern-style love in my own hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, the creators of Maggie Bags know that the “Greenest” option of all is to create something new from something that is not being used. Diverting products from landfills and saving the resources that would have been used to produce new materials is what inspired the founders of this company to find a way to use their creativity to green up the auto industry.
The world wide demand for automobiles has left behind an abundance of surplus man-made materials. Each year millions of yards of seat belt webbing are rejected for the slightest color variation, making the strap useless to the auto maker. Originally designed to be used as the life saving seatbelt in your car, this polyester material is of the highest quality and made to last. Maggie bags give new life to the unwanted fabric by creating a beautiful line of sophisticated handbags.
I had the pleasure of test driving (couldn’t resist!) one of the Large Totes from Maggie Bags, and even though I’m not a girly-girl who likes these sort of things, I thinks its probably the best bag I’ve ever carried. Though if I had to choose, I’d probably choose a smaller, more Lime-colored tote (hint, hint!), the Large Tote is superbly made.
Featuring seatbelt naterial in a criss-crossed design, the tote is striking, and only gets more beautiful on the inside. My bag is tan colored with a royal purple lining, and inside there are conveniently sized pockets for holding pens, cell phones, check books and other girly goodies.
If you’re a guy, congratulations for reading this far into the post! But seriously, if you like the idea of a seatbelt bag, but not the idea of carrying a purse, be sure to check out the messenger bags, laptop bags and carry on bags offered by Maggie Bags in very manly colors like black and grey.