Tomorrow, millions of Americans will take to the shops and just think of all the plastic bags that don’t have to be used. Plastic bags have never been so un-fashionable.  And for good reason!  There are so many stylish options available for reusable bags these days. Here’s a round-up of three fabulous reusable bags…

Maggie Bags

We love these Maggie Bags made from Recycled Seatbelts. They come in a range of single colours, or multi-colours like the Autumn Leaves bag pictured here. These bags are made to last with four nickel plated feet on the bottom and internal zip pockets for your purse, keys or cell phone.

Rebagz Tote Bags

These Rebagz Cinchy Tote Bags are made from recycled rice sacks. The one pictured here is called Honeybee, and there are other fresh and funky styles available. These Cinchy Tote Bags are not only eco-friendly and stylish but they are human-friendly too because they are made under fair labour conditions. Makes a great shopping bag, handbag or even a briefcase!

Flip & Tumble

Finally, the Flip & Tumble Reusable Shopping Bag. Gorgeously designed in loads of colour choices. Reusable shopping bags that folds up into a tiny pouch when not in use, it’s so easy to take it along when you go shopping. This bag can hold 25 pounds and has a comfy fit felt shoulder pad.

Click here to join me and take the pledge to make plastic bags history!

With the power of the wind, a knitting machine knits from the outside towards the inside of a building. The knitted material is harvested from time to time and rounded-off in individually packaged scarves. Each scarf has its own label which tells you in how much time it has been knitted and on which date.

Merel Karhof [via meanderings in thread]

Most think of mending as drudgery.  Some think of it as another way to be creative, while extending the life of a pair of jeans and saving money, and **being green**.

The Unpredictable Geography of Mending [dainty time]

Rapanui eco clothing from the Isle of Wight, UK is green right from the top of its head to the tip of its toes.

What makes it green?

The majority of our range comes from India, and we use quite a famous factory there which is powered by Vestas wind turbines via a wholesale power purchase agreement at the factory. The factories are all fair wear foundation audited, and that means everyone in the factory and in the fields gets a fair wage and clean working conditions. Down the road is the organic cotton plantation, the fields are hand worked, then the cotton is put on a camel and goes up to the factory, there it is spun and turned into a jersey. Then it is embroidered and put into a container on a truck. We never air freight stock so we ship it to London.

What about the dyeing of the fabrics?

The factory we use is OEKO-TEX 100 standard certified, which means there are no harmful inks, dyes or chemicals resident in the fibre of the garment. A three-phase (reverse-osmosis) water filtration system cleans the water and means that 90% of the water used in the dyeing stages can be reused. This system is closed-loop. (This helps prevent harmful inks or dyes escape the factory circuit into local waterways.) This also is true of the 100% organic products – these systems meet the Global Organic Textile standard and Soil Association Certification criteria set out for these products.

You’ll find men and women’s t-shirts, underwear, jeans, jackets and more at the Rapanui website. All organic and made in an environmentally responsible fashion.

Giveaway… Rapanui is giving one reader a pair of spotty organic bamboo socks
To enter, please leave a comment below.
For a 2nd entry, tweet about this giveaway and leave a separate comment.
For a 3rd entry, follow @wildishwoman or @rapanuiclothing on Twitter and leave a separate comment.
For a 4th entry, “like” the Rapanui Facebook page and leave a separate comment.

A winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday the 16th June 2010.

**This giveaway is now closed.**

And the winner is Stephanie.

I’ll be emailing you Stephanie.

Andres Arango sent me a pretty pair of turquoise vegetable ivory earrings from his Muichic collection to give away to a reader.

Andres is an architect & designer from Colombia living in Burlington, Vermont. His Muichic jewellery collection is made from the Tagua nut (aka.vegetable ivory): a botanical alternative to ivory; a seed that comes from the “ivory-nut palm” and only grows in South America’s rainforest.

There are necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings in turquoise, green, purple, brown, blue, red, pink, black, grey and natural. They have simple lines and are as smooth as silk. See for yourself, here, here and here.

How to enter:
Leave a comment.
For a 2nd/3rd/4th entry Tweet about this giveaway/follow me on Twitter/ follow Muichic on Twitter OR like the Muichic page on Facebook and tell me about it in separate comments. I’ll pick a winner at random on Monday the 31st of May.

And the winner is…

tania cadogan Congratulations Tania. I will be emailing you directly to arrange posting your earrings to you.

[ad#google]

I am repeatedly blown away by the beautiful eco-friendly goods out there,  thanks to the work of some remarkable creative peeps.    Here are some handbags that I’ve been coveting lately.

1. The ‘Hyphen’ Upcycled Seatbelt Bag, $35.00 USD, interrobang on Etsy
2. Cajun spice recycled felted wool shoulder bag, $50.00 USD, mtodonnel on Etsy
3. the sidekick wristlet clutch made of recycled materials, $47.00 USD, burjeune on Etsy
4. Cafes Do Brasil Organic Coffee Sling Bag made of recycled and organic materials, $66.00 USD, thewren on Etsy
5. Purple Warrior Bag made of recycled materials, $125.00 USD, Melissajoynyc on Etsy
6. Eco-friendly Hemp Bag with Songbird, $45.00 USD, Uzura on Etsy
7. Small Mod Bag made from leather and suede remnants and scraps, $130.00 USD, humade on Etsy
8. Eco-Lola 15 made from organic fabric, $105.00 USD, Zaum
9. Upcycled DURIAN eco-friendly leather bag, $110.00 USD, hoakonhelga on Etsy

For more eco-friendly handbags, check out Canopy Verde, Zaum and Etsy’s Bags and Purses section.

[ad#google]

tertium non data translated from latin means: the third is not given. it is an alchemic term which refers to the process of combining two disparate elements to create a new, third element. the process of transformation is a mystery – an unknown…

Gulnur employs true alchemic magic to turn a pile of rubbish into treasures.

You can buy her creations from her etsy shop.

[ad#google]

There are two swishing events happening in the next little while, one in London (UK) and one in Cape Town (RSA).  See their details below.

Incase you can’t read the fine print, here’s a close-up:

For the Cape Town (Northern suburbs) event, check out the Fashion Exchange website or their Facebook page for more info.  Take note that you will need a ticket for the Cape Town event.  Here are the basics:

And for the activist at a loose end next weekend, why not join in with a mass action called by London Rising Tide, London Tar Sands Network and Climate Camp London.

Party at the Pumps Part 2 is taking place just three days before Shell’s AGM, where the company will come under fire from shareholders over its plans in the Canadian tar sands; and a week before the Merthyr to Mayo solidarity bike ride, which will link two communities in Wales and Ireland resisting fossil fuel extraction.

When: Saturday, 15th May
Meet: 1PM at Oxford Circus
Bring: a zone 1-2 tube pass, noisemakers, your friends & family and your
dancing shoes
Oxford Circus meeting point map: http://tinyurl.com/OCnw-SVmap

Shutting down a petrol station for 5 hours on a sunny Saturday afternoon
was so much fun we’re going to do it again. Shell’s Hell – in the tar
sands and beyond – is next in the firing line.

Party 1 had Samba, twin sound systems, a live Ceilidh band, face-painting,
free cakes and 200 people. Party 2 will be bigger and better, with
activists joining us from Brighton, Oxford and beyond.

Watch the video call-out here:

And while there aren’t any protest parties going on in Cape Town on that day, there is this community market, which is well worth supporting:

[ad#google]

Shannon of Free Spirit Knits has put together a headband tutorial for old jumpers/sweaters that have been accidentally washed in hot water. Another great way of reusing things that were destined for the bin. Follow the link below for the full tutorial.

Ruined Clothes Get New Life [Free Spirit Knits]

[ad#google]

Becky Stern’s cool bike tube headband at Craft: is simple to make and a great way to use up punctured bike inner-tubes.  We get through these in our family.  Lots of thorns in South Africa.

Bike Tube Headband [Craft:]

[ad#adify]