There has been an ongoing debate on eco friendly tote bags.
Is it really safe for the environment? Are cotton bags as bad as people say they are? How do I identify eco friendly bags?
I too had these questions. Thankfully this article will help you clear up any doubts you have on eco bags!
A tote bag is a very practical accessory. It’s a straightforward product with a wide range of applications. Tote bags may be manufactured out of a variety of materials and they come in all sorts of sizes and patterns.
Lightweight materials like canvas and cotton, as well as woven textiles like jute, are frequently used, and sometimes, they can be manufactured out of more robust materials like leather.
Wanting to supplement your existing tote bag with one that is eco-friendly is a great way to practice sustainability. Let’s get straight to the list of all the best eco friendly tote bags.
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Summary of the best eco friendly reusable bags:
15 Best Eco Friendly Tote Bags
1. Nisolo
Nisolo is an ethical garment, shoe, and bag company.
One of the most pressing issues facing the globe today is the status of the fashion industry and its influence on people and the environment.
Rather than contributing and being involved in the fast-fashion industry, Nisolo thinks the fashion industry has the potential to be one of the world’s most powerful conduits for social and environmental improvement.
The goal is to persuade the fashion industry to respect the planet and the people who create the garments and shoes you wear highly.
2. Cuyana
Karla Gallardo and Shilpa Shah are the founders of Cuyana, started the brand with the goal of establishing a worldwide design business that encourages deliberate purchasing through well-crafted products.
Through carefully selected materials, exact shapes, and meticulous attention to detail, these ladies create timeless designs for women. Each piece is handcrafted by talented artisans in Europe, South America, China, and the United States.
3. Elk The Label
ELK is an Australian firm dedicated to environmental implementations and ethical business practices. The company releases an annual report on their site to show how far they have come and what they want to accomplish.
The goods are made primarily of natural fibers and responsibly tanned leather. The leather used is LWG approved and complies with REACH requirements. Their products are composed of high-quality materials and are attractively crafted in evergreen pieces.
4. Gunas
If you are in search of one of the best vegan tote bags, look no further.
GUNAS has been designing high-end, cruelty-free, and vegan handbags, serving as a voice for animals in the fashion business since 2009.
The company operates in ethically operated factories that are personally visited and inspected by a member of the business. There is no PVC in these fashionable bags, either as the members prefer to utilize upcycled, recycled, and vintage materials whenever feasible, and the business is always experimenting with new ones.
Each handbag is ideally paired with a vegan leather tote bag organizer to help keep all your items in place and easily accessible. There’s even a compartment for a laptop!
5. Ground Truth
This company goes the extra mile to ensure all the bags produced contains recycled material. Each bag contains 8 repurposed plastic water bottles, and the packaging is carbon neutral and biodegradable.
Groundtruth collaborates with a Taiwanese manufacturer to create a cloth made completely of recycled plastic bottles. Bottles are obtained from landfills, various recycling facilities, and rubbish pick-ups.
6. Von Holzhausen
Von Holzhausen reimagines the possibilities of leather.
Rather than obtaining leather from animals, the team has created two cruelty-free ways to make it sustainable. The first alternative is Technik leather, which is produced from recycled polycarbonate, and the second alternative is Banb, which is created from biodegradable bamboo.
The versatile bags made from these unique textiles make a great addition to your bag collection.
7. Ecoright
The conscious brand Ecoright takes conscious materials, sustainable processes, and ethical manufacturing seriously. Ecoright is a cruelty-free and vegan company where the main emphasis is on natural, organic, and recycled textiles.
Organic materials are better for the environment since they use environmentally friendly procedures such as no pesticides, natural fertilizers, and less water. This guarantees that the land’s health is preserved throughout time.
Materials are sourced from recycled plastics, jute, and recycled cotton. The inks and dyes are natural, organic, with no hazardous ingredients. This implies that their manufacturing and disposal do not affect the environment.
They have plenty of designs and it’s almost as if they are custom eco friendly tote bags, with designs to accommodate the acquired taste of everyone.
8. A.A.K.S Handbag
Akosua Afriyie-Kumi founded AAKS, a premium accessories business located in Kumasi, Ghana. Her style is a mix of her ancestry with meticulous, long-lasting craftsmanship.
Her aim is to make high-quality handcrafted bags in current forms while preserving the spirit of Africa via traditional, complicated weaving techniques and brilliant, vivid colors.
9. Angela Roi
Founder Angela Roi has perfected the art of ageless beauty and forward-thinking style with her vegan handbag business.
The vegan and leather-free bags from the business are created responsibly by craftsmen who are given fair pay in secure factories. Simple vegan leather totes, cross bodies, and bucket bags have orderly compartments, easy-to-use handles, and a pebbled texture finish that is both modern and minimalistic.
10. Able
This brand knows that investing in women will be fruitful as the returns are an uplifted family and community. Their team consists of women from across the globe and a fair and transparent wage is ensured to reach them.
When leather items are made, the material is taken from skins that would otherwise be wasted, requiring less energy than vegan leather.
11. Malia Designs
You can find fairtrade tote bags with Malia Designs as this is a fair trade enterprise in Cambodia that promotes female economic development.
They work with artisans that create stunning pieces out of repurposed materials. Their craftsmen are self-employed suppliers who run their own companies and control their financial security.
Their items are well-crafted, long-lasting, and are created from recycled materials to have a low environmental effect and reduce waste.
12. Pixie Mood
The handbags from this establishment are eco-friendly, long-lasting, and fashionable. This firm has been making useful and interesting bags out of recycled and solvent-free vegan leather since 2010.
Pixie Mood, based in Canada, is known across the world for its RFID-enabled wallets and cases. You’ll be wearing one of these items for years to come, with hundreds of styles and every hue of the rainbow.
13. Rok Cork
It is not uncommon that ethical buyers have a limited number of alternatives in the market., when it comes to eco friendly tote bags.
The products from Rok Cork are made in small, family-run businesses where workers are treated with respect, have great working conditions, and are paid much over minimum wage. Every stage of the production process is done by hand and only high-quality materials are used.
The goods include no PVC or PU-derived components, and every step of the production chain is traceable. Rok Cork has only a couple of missions to contribute to the long-term preservation of cork fields in Portugal while also helping the country’s ailing economy.
Rok Cork does not destroy natural or social resources while also ensuring that employment is continued for the families who put the effort to create the goods. In reality, both the environment and local communities benefit from the manufacturing practices utilized to create the products.
14. One Quince
With certifications such as OEKO-TEX, BSCI, and GOTS, the company does not compromise when it comes to ethics and sustainability. We work with factories that have a good reputation and have the dedication to environmentally friendly production. This entails fairly compensating employees.
Quine put up their utmost effort to produce in a way that lowers the amount of pollution in the environment.
15. Bellroy
Materials are chosen for their utility, durability, and ability to age gracefully. The business is also devoted to making them ecologically friendly by employing textiles created from recycled and plant-based materials, as well as finding leathers that have the least amount of environmental effect.
FAQs
Are Tote Bags Eco Friendly?
You can find tote bags trending for every season. Be it for Easter, Thanksgiving, or Valentine’s – you will find tote bags out there to fit any given occasion.
As trendy and versatile they are, the question remains; are tote bags eco-friendly?
I am sorry to be the one to burst your bubble, but tote bags are not as sustainable as one might think. A study was conducted by the Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark in 2018 that revealed that the cotton totes we see being sold at commercial brands, must be used 20,000 times to offset its environmental effect.
This is because of the massive quantities of energy and water required to create it, as well as the ozone layer’s influence and that is the equivalent of only carrying one tote bag for 54 years.
Another concern with tote bags is that many of them are coated with PVC-based logos and dyes. These logos are not recyclable and must be taken out of the fabric.
Why Eco-Friendly Tote Bags Are Good for The Environment?
As we all know, eco-friendly tote bags have become an alternative to single-use plastic bags. Sustainable tote bags provide promotional value for the business while also having the ability to contribute to the environment due to the material used in manufacture, the guaranteed longevity, and the price.
But wait, how do we make an eco friendly bag? Here is how you make a tote bag eco-friendly.
1. Choose Materials That Can Be Recycled
The material that is chosen for eco-friendly tote bags are made of is important, but there are different effects with each different material. It might be difficult to figure out what the various materials are and what they have to offer.
Plastic and paper are the most popular materials used in recycled reusable bags. Used materials are gathered and remade into fabric in this scenario, where existing materials are reused, allowing for the development of eco-friendly tote bags.
Reusable bags that have been recycled, can be recycled again once they have served their purpose, lessening the environmental effect of the materials. Some materials are only partially recyclable, paper for example as there is a limit to how many times paper may be recycled.
A great material option is jute. Jute is a vegetable fiber that is spun into coarse, long threads and is lengthy and soft. It is manufactured from a variety of Corchorus plants that are easy to grow and require minimal water. The cloth is tightly spun, making for a durable bag that is durable.
2. Endurance Is Key
Eco friendly tote bags have to be able to withstand the test of time and fashion.
These bags would be ineffective in achieving their stated aims if they didn’t offer a longer shelf life. The actual strength of these bags lies in the social impact they have made. With a viable alternative, public awareness of the detrimental effects of plastic bags has grown.
As the use of eco friendly grocery bags increases, there will be a lesser need for single plastic use.
3. Needs To Be Affordable
Investing in environmentally friendly tote bags might help a company showcase its green marketing goals. They are inexpensive, and the benefits to the world around you may be substantial.
A tote bag has the potential to become a necessity everyday tool in your life. By getting these bags as a gift to your loved ones, or even for yourself, you are gifting a valuable tool that can help them contribute to a greener world.
What Is The Most Environmental Friendly Bag?
NWPP (non-woven polypropylene) bags have proven to be the best option for an environmentally friendly bag. Bag effects have been measured by scientists and governments, taking into account materials, production, usage, and disposal or recycling.
Hey, I don’t know about you, but if scientists are recommending bags made of NWPP, there must be something useful and beneficial about this material.
NWPP is a lightweight yet durable textile created from a by-product of the oil manufacturing process, making it a more environmentally responsible alternative to plastic bags.
It’s also completely recyclable. These bags may be recycled and reused after being melted down. NWPP is also the finest choice if you want to produce screen printed tote bags or heat-transfer printing to personalize your bag.
NWPP bags are created when a pliable fabric and weave-like pattern is produced as a product of spinning polypropylene polymers into long threads and pressing them together.
The fabric that is both breathable and washable is created by the texture. The NWPP fabric is also incredibly robust, and the color and texture of NWPP will be present and durable for years to come.
If you are thinking of making your own bag, here is how to choose sustainable fabric suppliers!
What Are The Most Eco-Friendly Reusable Bags?
Reusable bags are slowly marking their place in the world.
Disposable bags that cause pollution are gradually being discarded, whereas single-use plastics are slowly being discarded by every country. Not only are canvas, nylon, polyester, and recycled plastic bags environmentally beneficial, but they can also store a lot more than fragile high-density polyethylene bags (HDPE).
Below is a list of recommended eco friendly grocery bags
1. Baggu Reusable Bag
The nylon reusable bags from Baggu can contain up to 50 pounds of items while folding up into a little five-by-five-inch pocket for simple storage. The bags are available in a variety of beautiful colors and designs and are constructed from either non-recycled ripstop nylon or 40% recycled nylon obtained from pre-consumer waste.
2. Society6 Tote Bags
These custom logo tote bags are made of a high-quality canvas-like material that is double-stitched for durability. They come in three sizes, making them ideal for reusable grocery bags or beach trips.
3. BeeGreen
These simple yet colorful bags are a steal. Each one rolls up into a compact roll and can carry up to 50 pounds. The reinforced handles are long enough to make it easy to haul your groceries over your shoulders.
They come with a one-year no-rip warranty and are machine washable. When carrying hefty items, the endurance of these bags is amazing and they are pleasant to wear on your shoulders.
4. LL Bean
These classic canvas bags were built in 1944 to move ice and have handles that have been proven to hold up to 500 pounds.
They’re available in a number of sizes, can be personalized, and are built to endure. These bags are made in Maine, and they are big yet fold flat-ish, so they are ideal for riding in the vehicle or on a bike.
5. Eco Bags
Be it tote bags, string bags, lunch bags, or produce bags, this company has got you covered.
The company started its business in 1989 with a simple mission, which is to make high-quality, responsibly sourced bags at affordable rates so that reusable bags become a way of life.
The production started with the Classic String Bag, which is a basic lightweight, expanding cotton net bag that has been used in Europe, even before the invention of paper and plastic bags.
Conclusion
As you can see, we have selected all the best ultra-cool, eco friendly tote bags for you to choose from!
The larger sized tote bags are ideal for carrying essentials and serve as a comfortable size to fit all your essentials.
Tote bags are commonly used in your day-to-day. However keep in mind, it is during grocery runs, and your normal or impromptu shopping trips that they might be forgotten!
So it might as well be a sustainable venture by keeping a few extra eco friendly tote bags at hand either in the boot of your car, or folded up small inside your hand bag or day-to-day tote bag. Without a doubt they are a sustainable alternative to the single-use disposable plastic shopping bags.
Investing in good quality eco-friendly tote bags is a small contribution to make towards a bigger change to better our environment, consider your ideal handle length and the sturdiness of the bag to ensure you get the most use out of them!
