Groovy And Sustainable Vegetable-Tanned Leather Bags

Less than 2 years ago a friend [Teana] and I [Kat] had a light-bulb moment! Why don't we combine our passion to live a more sustainable life, do good in the world and, well, handbags!

Bags really made from genuine leather [not that compressed waste stuff that falls on the floor, the crab sticks of the leather world], with as little impact on the planet as possible, and made without exploiting the people who actually knew how to sew the bits of leather together. And they had to look fantastic.

It turns out it wasn't so easy...

But we've ended up with a range of sustainable, fabulous, retro-style bags, we're really proud of.

- Using vegetable-tanned leather from Italy, made by experienced artisans, so we know the quality of the tanning is as good as it can be. And chromium free!

- The handle and piping inserts are cotton rope.

- The sleeve padding is organic, silk waste product from a silk farm just hours from the workshop that makes our bags.

- The workshop has recently been audited and ticked all the boxes - real adults, paid award wages in internationally-compliant working conditions.

- The hang tags are made from locally-sourced, recycled paper products.

- The cotton dust bags are made by local vocational training and job creation centre.

- Each item is shipped directly to the customer to reduce carbon miles.

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Sometimes we ended up between a rock and a hard place - if it's not going to last, it's not eco-friendly. If it harms the planet or human health it's not sustainable. How do we minimise our carbon footprint, without compromising other elements of the production process?

But here we are - cool-looking bags [not a scrap of brown leather in sight], that are beautiful on the inside and the outside. You know, metaphorically speaking. And literally too - mmmm, soft, soft lining. And they feel amazing on the outside too.

More info: stufforhumans.com.au