While we’re on the subject of purses — or bags, or handbags, or whatever you like to call them — here’s something completely different. (This is a hint for anyone who might be thinking of buying me a present anytime soon!) It’s the EcoWeekender Shoulder Bag, hand-crafted from rice and fish feed bags.
Now, being from Atlantic Canada, I am rather familiar with fish feed bags and that’s a real selling point for me — the material is lightweight, remarkably tough, and has a good degree of water-resistance to it. Plus, you get these funky designs on the bag, and no two of them would ever be exactly the same.
I like the casual shopping-bag look, and the one-of-a-kind “global village” style, but I also really appreciate that the bag has a zipper compartment inside to hold small items you don’t want floating around loose, and the entire bag has a zipper closure on it too. The strap is made of a durable material like a seatbelt.
This EcoWeekender Shoulder Bag is one of a series of accessories — from cosmetic bags to messenger bags — all handmade by women in Cambodia.
What began as a small group of Cambodian seamstresses has grown to over 150 women—many of them polio-afflicted or land-mine victims, and nearly all are their families’ sole breadwinners. These hard-working women are now able to feed their families, clothe their children, and perhaps save to buy a cow…
Fairly traded, eco-friendly, practical, and unique!
EcoWeekender bags are available from World-Shoppe.com, a member of the Fair Trade Federation and Co-Op America.