XS - Recycles Materials

I spent some time recently with an organization that makes things out of recycled items. As of now, some of their top sellers are bags and totes of various types made out of recycled liquid soap, fabric softener, cleanser bags, etc. The idea may have been to reduce waste, but in actuality anything sold in a clear glass or plastic bottle has a much higher probability of actually being removed from the waste stream and recycled.The XS group designs patterns, cleans the bags and stitches them into very practical items. I bought a laundry bag made out of fabric softener bags last fall.

They are asking companies that use large vinyl banners and signs to donate those instead of sending them into the waste stream. XS is also creating totes and other items out of these vinyl products as well. Here you can see the color sorted, cleaned bags and at the bag of both photos you can see some washed vinyl signs.

So little is actually recycled here, perhaps the best thing we can do is purchase the bags and donate them directly to XS when they are empty. We could buy the bottles, but we'd just have to hope that someone pulls it out of the trash and sells it to a recycler. There is no recycling process where we live or in most places.

XS is branching out to try to recycle more items but this is a very small business. I just bought a pair of earrings today composed, in part, of recycled tire! I think they are being test marketed.

They received a donation of interior seat covers from new some cars where leather replaced the covers. Right now they are trying to design ways to use the covers. Not being as colorful as vinyl bags or soap bags, it's a little bit of a struggle for them.