another spinoff of the plastic bags and recycling threads

[hamamelis]

check out this stuff!

http://www.themonsoongroup.com/trash.html

[bumblebee]

Oh yes, I saw those on inhabitat.com.

Here are more green bags:

http://fleurville.com/

I think the patterns are gorgeous.

[kathy caribe]

holy frack! Are those prices in US dollars?????

[bumblebee]

holy frack! Are those prices in US dollars?????

LOL Well, yes, considering that it's a US site. :P I know they're expensive. It seems like many green items are, for whatever reason (production/distribution costs, small business concerns, perhaps living wage for employees and consumers who are able and willing to pay more, etc.)

The bags are beautiful, though. I don't own one and likely won't buy one unless there's a big sale, but I would gladly accept one as a gift!

[Stacey]

holy frack! Are those prices in US dollars?????

LOL That was my first thought too!!

I think they are really cool, but I certainly can't afford one!

[libbylibbylibby]

well, those are lovely. I also would accept one as a gift (although, given the cost, why not just give a grocery gift card...), but I'm going to go on with my plan of making grocery bags out of our old curtains. :)

[cinnamon]

The shower curtain is my favorite. What ingenuity! nt

[Christi]

Those are really cool. So colorful and quirky! I think my favorite is the umbrella.

I've seen something similar at our local Ten Thousand Villages, which makes me wonder if it's the same company that sells to them. I'll have to check next time I go.

[hamamelis]

The shower curtain is my favorite. What ingenuity! nt

I know! I've got some b-day money set aside, I might splurge and buy it, but OMG, so much money. I posted the link because of the ingenuity and work that goes into them, and the cause the products support. So expensive but very clever.

[candeo]

holy frack! Are those prices in US dollars?????

And that the other true costs of such a small/human-scale enterprise are actually reflected in their prices.

When you think about what actually goes into making these - the time and labor to search for and gather the materials, the time and labor and whatever stuff it takes to clean and prepare the materials to use, the time and labor and additional stuff (zippers, adhesive, tools, etc.) put into actually making them, then add the cost of transporting the things completely around the planet (I mean really, around the planet!) and the costs of the people on this end who do the coordinating, facilitating, marketing, website, etc. etc. - well, it's not hard to believe that the consumer price would be high.

If the prices were low, I'd assume that this was all an exploitative scam.

[karunamayi]

If you check your local Craigslist, you might find a few fleurville bags. I don't need or want one, but out of curiosity, I looked on my CL and there were 9. Reasonable prices, relatively speaking.

[jump4joy]

Gorgeous! I would so love to buy that umbrella. And yeah, $65 sounds like a helluva lot for an umbrella, but my 2nd $12 umbrella in a year just gave up the ghost due to shoddy workmanship and the world's lightest weight thread. So if the $65 umbrella lasted me 10 years it would be more than worth it! Not to mention of course how cool the whole project is, and yes it is quite shocking to see how expensive stuff really is when the workers are paid a living wage. We are so used to buying cheap stuff from markets with almost slave labor, that real prices for goods start to look astronomical.

[bumblebee]

Oh, thanks for the info! I really, really do not NEED one, but the next time I get the shopping bug, I'll see if I can find any of the pricier ones for under $50.

[kathy caribe]

Gorgeous! I would so love to buy that umbrella. And yeah, $65 sounds like a helluva lot for an umbrella, but my 2nd $12 umbrella in a year just gave up the ghost due to shoddy workmanship and the world's lightest weight thread. So if the $65 umbrella lasted me 10 years it would be more than worth it! Not to mention of course how cool the whole project is, and yes it is quite shocking to see how expensive stuff really is when the workers are paid a living wage. We are so used to buying cheap stuff from markets with almost slave labor, that real prices for goods start to look astronomical.

Believe me, I have no problem with a living wage, but I was so shocked at the prices, I couldn't believe they were US dollars. I kept thinking they HAD to be a different currency. And I also have to wonder just how much of the $90 for the umbrella is actually getting to the Indonesians making the umbrella... Maybe it is the enormous costs in transporting materials across the world...

We ex-pats have created something of a monster by paying living wages here in Mexico (and I suspect other areas). We cannot fathom paying less and the workers come to expect the same prices from Mexicans who can now, no longer afford the services because the gringos drove the prices up, out of reach for the common man. Interesting dilema...