In a previous life the raw material of Give It Bag’s elegant new range of clutch bags carried maize meal or building rubble. These one-off, compact dress handbags are made from recycled plastic sacking used in transporting grain from farm to factory.
The sacks are sometimes reused for the packaging of construction materials. But at the end of the line is Give It Bag, a small eco-design company that keeps these sacks out of South Africa’s landfills by turning them into handbags, giant shopping totes and backpacks.
Give It Bag was started in 2007 by designer Regina Börth and medical doctor Phillip Ruther, a German couple living in Cape Town. They stumbled on the idea one afternoon while their Tamboerskloof home was being renovated and discovered they had accumulated mounds of bags — re-purposed grain sacks used for concrete.
Instead of throwing the sacks away, Börth and Ruther turned them into shopping bags, an alternative to the nasty plastic packets that are standard issue at supermarkets. Since then, the Give It Bag range has grown and today Börth and Ruther’s bags are sported more often by environmentally conscious hipsters than by dowdy housewives in the aisles of Pick ‘n Pay.
The novelty of fashion accessories made from recycled materials is probably greater than their appeal as symbols of style.
At the annual Design Indaba countless rustic, shapeless carriers are touted as ethical buys if not workable substitutes for a Marc Jacobs Hobo, the designer’s high-end take on the floppy shoulder bag.
But usually that is where it ends. The only contribution these bags make to society is that they mitigate our production of waste.
A Give It Bag is different. Each one has a unique edition number stitched into the binding that works as an access code to a partially exclusive social networking website.
On this website Give It Bag owners are encouraged to share stories of their charitable deeds and to post notifications of opportunities for others to do good. There is even a section on the website that collates motivational stories for the benefit of users who are not sure where to begin or who do not feel particularly charitable.
The idea is to build a global community of do-gooders. In their story of Give It Bag’s origins Börth and Ruther say: “Many small acts of kindness can lead to huge positive change.”
What’s more, Give It Bags are all made locally and by hand. The perfect sacks are picked from a depot near Cape Town harbour, where they arrive on ships from all over the world. The bags are then made individually by a team of local crafters.
“It would have been cheaper in Asia,” Börth and Ruther state on their website, “but we’re committed to keeping it local.”
The Give It Bag showroom is at 35 Wesley Street, Canterbury Studios Unit 4, Gardens, Cape Town. For other dealers worldwide go to www.give-it-bag.com