Earth day is upon us all again, and while we celebrate our planet (where else are we going to go?), we also think of ways to be more conscious consumers.
Many earth conscious products are pretty crunchy-granola, but here’s some stuff to chew on that you probably didn’t know about Astrosatchel:
Our bags are fully Vegan, so while you can’t eat them, it means that there are no animal bits or cruelty involved in the production of your Astrosatchel. Since our bags are made in studio, you can rest assured that there was no child labour or shifty manufacturing practices.
The vinyl that we craft our bags from is Naugahyde brand, which is made in the US. Lots of cheaper, lower quality vinyl is available, but we use Naugahyde because it is union made and it is tested for quality. How does this help the planet? It means that someone who buys one of our products knows that it won’t crack in the cold or fall apart (thus turning into trash-ola), that they will be able to use their bag for years to come (instead of replacing it with new stuff continuously) and hopefully save a lot of plastic/paper bags along the way as well. By purchasing materials made in North America, it saves on fuel used in shipping from overseas (China, etc), and by manufacturing in Canada, it does the same as well.
We make every attempt to squeeze the most out of the materials we buy, so there’s less wastage when we do actually have to throw something away. Where do you think all those eye balls and cherry blossoms come from!!
Our clothing line continues our efforts to conserve, by recycling textiles into new garments, such as the kimono tops shown above, and in winter, we like to wear a toque (wool hat for our American friends) that we’ve made from rescued sweaters, so we can stay warm without cranking the heat up. We also save our larger off cuts of cotton to make the pocket bags and waist bands in our skirts and pants. It’s thrifty, but no one can tell until you take your pants off!!
At the studio, we collect our recyclables and take them home as we don’t have recycling in our building, and all of us either walk, bike or take transit to work. And I like to think that we are conserving water by letting the dishes pile up, but sometimes, I think we are just a bit lazy!! We also try to save paper by using digital media for our catalogues, instead of printing versions constantly, so you’ll always find us up to date online!
I know there are lots more people out there doing way more to help the planet, but I think by being a bit more honest with people about what we are doing, we let you know what kind of company makes the bag over your shoulder, and I hope you enjoy it even a bit more now!!
