Eco-bags : High-Fashion/Low Impact

Bags for a Green Planet “Not so long ago the words “environmentally friendly bag” referred solely to sacks (usually brown) to carry organic groceries. Today, Earth Day 2008 , eco-bags are just one of the coveted fashion items that are planet-friendly. In fact, they started the trend — or at least gave it a big boost. … Up-and-coming designers using environmental practices and products found themselves on the profitable edge of a major trend. Especially among those who design bags — a status staple item. Vancouver’s Ashley Watson, 29, started making her coveted recycled leather bags by fluke a few years ago. “I was at my parents’, and had this idea for a bag but was really impatient so I cut up one of my dad’s old leather jackets and made it,” says Watson. Her slouchy bright bags — made from leather jackets she finds at charity thrift stores — coincided with the boho and eco trends in fashion. She started out visiting socially conscious boutiques in person — like Victoria’s Not Just Pretty on Fort Street, which still carries her bags and accessories.