There are so many eco-friendly handbag designers around that it seems they’re no longer the exceptions to the rule. But few are as environmentally conscious as Fibre Arts Design, a Californian label which has recently become a certified green company through the Green Business Bureau.
Fibre Arts Design uses recycled and organic materials to create its handbags, but its eco design ethos goes further than that. It uses environmentally friendly products in its office, including compact fluorescent lights, recycled paper, and green cleaners. It also purchases alternative wind and solar power to reduce its carbon footprint. And it recycles and composts its scrap materials where possible.
Fibre Arts Design also tries to make it easy for its employees to live greener lives. They’re rewarded for carpooling, cycling, or skateboarding to work, and compensated for catching public transport. Eco-friendly dry-cleaning services even offer to pick up the workers’ clothes from the office.
Fibre Arts Design’s commitment to environmentally friendly practices reminds us that designers need to do more than just make an organic cotton tote to be really green. I’d love to see more transparency when it comes to business practices so we could really make eco-friendly accessory choices, wouldn’t you?
