New Designs from Yogoco – upcycled yoga mat bags

Created by a mompreneur with a love for yoga, Yogoco bags are beautiful, functional and eco-friendly. Yogoco yoga mat bags are made from cotton scraps that have been discarded during the t-shirt making process. These scraps, typically destined for a local landfill, are collected and blended together to make cotton fabric.

But Yogoco yoga mat bags aren’t just a “green” product, they also let your yoga mat breathe, have pockets for your essentials and can accomodate a 26″ yoga mat.

Take a peek at some of the new designs and colors for this season. Love the Moroccan Sky Blue and Wahini White Flower, feeling ready more centered already.

Natural Luxe is offering free shipping on all Yogoco recycled yoga mat bags, use code GREEN at checkout.

Mother’s Day Eco Gift Guide

Skip the flowers this year and give Mom something good for the earth that she will love. We have a few suggestions to make Mom’s Day special.

A stylish recycled lunch tote so Mom can pack a healthy lunch.

Mom is always on top of her thank you notes, give her the gift of a beautiful set of recycled note cards.

Turn Mom into an eco-fashionista with the Urthbags margareta tote bag

Encourage Mom’s new found yoga habit with a brightly colored yoga mat bag

Green Mom’s work routine with a neogreene laptop sleeve

Which one is the perfect fit for your Mom? Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

Our bags are famous!

The spring issues of some of our favorite magazines have shown a lot of love for our handbags.

It started with Mar y Sol’s multi-colored opal clutch featured in Real Simple Magazine. Their “Trend worth trying” for April 2011 is bright stripes so of course our favorite striped raffia clutch made the page!

Next we found the recycled paper off the cuff wristlet from Rebagz featured in Parents Magazine. The cute red wristlet is one of their top picks for a great Mother’s Day Gift.

One of the spring’s best-sellers, the Guadeloupe handbag from Mar y Sol is seen in the pages of People magazine. The sunny yellow flower tote is a perfect fit for their summer styleboard.

Can’t wait to see who is next???

Ethical Fall Fashion

Our inspiration for this article comes from World of Good‘s ethical fall fashion picks in honor of October being National Fair Trade month. Nikita Lynn Designs, one of our favorite designers at Natural Luxe, has the Ingrid wooden handle clutch featured on the site’s front page.

Nikita Lynn travels to India twice a year to complete her vision of handbags and accessories. Working directly with the people that will hand stitch and bead these beautiful clutches, wallets and totes, Nikita is able to connect with another culture and see the impact that her business has on their local economy.

Mar y sol is another perfect pick to celebrate ethical fall fashion. Laurel Brandstetter, owner of Mar y sol, works with communities in Madagascar and Kenya to create her colorful line of handbags and totes. Brandstetter takes pride in the fact that the sale of Mar y Sol’s raffia handbags enables families to gain economic independence and promotes environmental conservation.

When shopping this month, consider purchasing an item that is made with fair labor. Your retail therapy will touch a person’s life on the other side of the world and bring us closer to becoming one world.

Eco-friendly bridesmaid gifts

We were inspired this week when a customer searching for something different to give her bridesmaids picked up these adorable recycled paper wristlets from Engage Green.

Made with recycled silver, Dogeared’s Make a Wish necklaces make a thoughtful gift that will compliment any bridesmaid dress.

Greenmarket girl’s eco-cuffs are both eco-friendly and extremely stylish, they turn heads and prompt a ton of “Where did you get that bracelet?” questions.

If you are shopping for something different than a typical monogrammed whatever to give your bridesmaids, consider selecting an eco-friendly gift that serves as a happy reminder of your special day and friendship.

Buy a bag – help a village

We have all heard of a little retail therapy to lift our spirits. What if your next purchase helped a woman a continent away at the same time? Here is a behind the scenes video of some of the women making recycled newspaper handbags in the Philippines.

Yesterday’s news becomes today’s must have accessory

These women are able to generate income which means that their children are now able to attend school instead of going to work which in turn helps eliminate child labor. At the same time they are recycling materials that would end up in a landfill.

Here are a few of the finished products

So next time you are in need of a shopping fix, consider a product that is fair trade. You will be helping yourself and a few others at the same time.

Your purse is so yesterday

Why thank you! They must be talking about my recycled paper wristlet from Engage Green.

Engage Green takes yesterday’s papers and turns them into eco-chic wristlets, totes and coin purses with vibrant colors and designs. The fabric is created by taking narrow strips of paper and twisting them to create strength. At the same time, yarn is used to weave the fabric. The amazing colors are made with animal free dyes so the collection is also vegan.

A few of the benefits from using recycled paper are –
* Saves 60% to 70% of the energy used in the manufacturing process compared to using virgin pulp.
* Uses up to 55% less water that virgin pulp, and helps preserve our forests.
* Reduces air emissions by 74% compared to virgin pulp manufacturing.

Designer Leoner Mendoza, an award winning artist whose work is part of the Art Museum of the Americas permanent collection in Washington DC, is the creative mind behind Engage Green. Their products represent a consistent commitment to protecting our Earth’s natural resources.

Find your zen in style – recycled yoga bags

I find that I am always more motivated to go to the gym when I have a new outfit to wear or bag to take with me. My new Yogoco recycled yoga mat bag has been just the trick to push me towards more pilates classes. Amazingly, 70% of this bag is made from the discarded scraps of the t-shirt manufacturing process.

Scraps from the T-shirt making process are collected, sorted by color and blended. This significantly reduces incinerator and landfill use. The cotton fibers require no new dying, saving on water while adding no new pollutants. Furthermore, as no new cotton is grown, there is no land use, no water intensive irrigation and no fertilizers or pesticides used.

The resulting cotton-like fabric has an organic feel and is used as the fabric in the large mat section of the Yogoco recycled yoga mat bag, as well as much of the towel section and piping.

These beautiful bags come in six different designs with vibrant colors and patterns putting you in the mood to find your inner peace and your toes. Take a look at the entire Yogoco recycled yoga mat bag collection - see you on the mat!

Mar y Sol fairtrade handbags

What has your handbag done for the world lately?

Well, if it carries the Mar y Sol label it has helped families to gain economic independence and helped to promote environmental conservation. These colorful handmade raffia handbags from Madagascar & Kenya enable women to provide for their families and have the opportunity to send their children to school instead of work.

By incorporating renewable raw materials to create their original clutches, totes and shoulder bags they are leaving a greener footprint. Mar y Sol handbags can be seen in O Magazine, Lucky, Glamour and Marie Claire.

Welcome summer with one of their raffia clutches, they are a must have for the season!

Natural Luxe featured in the Charlotte Observer

Hemp isn’t just for hippies anymore – so says the staff of the Style section at the Charlotte Observer.

One look at the Engage Green city bag and you will agree too! This fashionable handbag blends recycled cork, organic cotton and hemp to create a beautiful tote.

Eco-chic designers are becoming aware of the versatility that hemp offers in creating today’s sustainable fashions. We agree and hope that we continue to see the use of hemp in everyday items increase too!