Sep 28, 2007

Women’s Co-op Launches Another Stylish and Eco-Friendly Collection

Toronto, Ontario – Bazura Biz is pleased to announce the launch of another new collection of stylish and eco-friendly bags made by a women’s cooperative in the Philippines. The new Woven Bag collection adds glamour to recycled goods while helping to clean the environment and supporting the livelihood of less fortunate, but empowered women and their families.

With only the help of the local village council, six Filipino women set up the Co-Op which has grown to include over 800 members today. Since its founding eight years ago, the women have been utilizing used, colorful and non biodegradable juice containers that would otherwise clutter landfills, fields and streets of their community, to create one-of-a kind Bazura Bags.

More than half of the members work full time at the Co-Op which pays school children to collect over 50,000 used juice containers per day. They are washed, sanitized and recycled into a wide variety of fashionable and durable bags, accessories, home furnishings and even footwear that are exported and sold in over 15 countries around the world.

Unlike the bags and accessories created from the recycled juice containers, the new Woven Bags are made from pre-consumer waste packaging obtained directly from juice box manufacturers in and around Manila, waste that would normally be deposited into landfills. In addition to helping to preserve the environment, the new Woven Bag collection also enables the Co-Op to fulfill another one of their main tenets – to keep the women members gainfully employed.

The Co-Op teaches member women the new weaving method and trains them to create the new woven bags to help increase their production as interest in these highly handcrafted bags grow. The Large Woven Shoulder Bag, the largest bag in the new collection, takes almost a day and 1/2 to complete.

The new collection also features a Woven Wood Handle Bag, Woven Shoulder Bag, Woven Zipper Purse, Woven Mini Purse with Long Strap, Woven Coin Purse, Woven Zipper Coin Purse, Clutch Purse and a Saddle Bag Purse. Prices range from $9.95 to $59.95 and all styles are available in a selection of appealing colors. Bazura Bags are available at stores in the US and Canada and online at bazurashop.com. For more information about the company and its social mission, please visit bazurashop.com.

By transforming “basura”, the Filipino word for garbage, into unique collections of eco-chic bags and other accessories, Bazura Bags keep millions of juice containers and pre-consumer waste out of crowded landfills and conserve resources that would be used to make products from virgin materials. The company is committed to giving garbage a new life as fashionable new bags and accessories that support the environment and fair trade.

“Unlike most third world factory workers toiling away in sweatshops, these women are entrepreneurs and shareholders,” says Larry Duprey, the founder of Bazura Biz. “They work for themselves and have a positive impact on their community and, at the same time, they encourage environmentalism. We are proud to promote their enterprise,” adds Duprey.