No Leather, No Vinyl - Are Organic Cotton Bags the Only Green Option?
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(Photo by Target)
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A fashionable girl can still turn to fun (and bonus: inexpensive) vinyl options from trendy bargain retailers like Target and H&M. No animals hurt here! Except, wait, the production of vinyl is sort of nasty. But did I mention, no animals hurt? Vegan? Please, can't I at least have a leather looking bag?
Apparently the answer is "No." A news alert from the Center for Environmental Health just released results from a study that found vinyl bags bought in the Bay Area have high -- dangerously high -- levels of lead in them. Great! That's where I live, and I'm carrying a fabulous H&M vinyl bag right now. Except I just dropped it like a radiation-hot potato.
Now, I'm no chemist, but why in the world do you need to use lead to produce a handbag? Is it really that hard to make something without animal products or vile chemicals? Actually I'm sure the answer is online somewhere, so let's just take that question as academic and move on to the important one: What materials are left for a stylish green gal to tote?
I just went through a sustainable vs. eco-friendly decision matrix with shoes, so it shouldn't be a surprise that bags are an issue too. Just last month I did a post on socially responsible and chic summer bags, like the black straw Kelly Starfish bag from Claire V. But now I have to wonder about the vegan Matt & Nat bags that I adore so very much because they're made of vinyl.
There will be more on this topic -- I might be willing to give up steaks once in a while, but no amount of C02 or poisonous dyes will ever make me carry a brown hemp bag. There must be a fashionable solution out there!
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