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Gifts from Recycled Materials		  
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Here is a collection of unique gift products which are made using recycled materials and clever design. These products are made by individuals and small businesses who are trying to make a difference - they deserve our support. Ingenuity and creativity at its best.
 

Eco-Handbags.ca
Eco-Handbags.ca specializes in offering chic, unique and fashionable handbags created from recycled and eco-friendly materials.

It's worth a visit to this site just to see the range of creative imagination at work. Here you'll find an amazing array of handbags fashioned from candy wrappers, record albums, bicycle innertubes, denim, juice boxes, magazines, natural plants, chop sticks, and more.

Eco-Handbags ships to Canada and the US.
eco-handbags.ca
 
 
Wildwood Works is a small manufacturing business located on a tiny, rural island off Canada's west coast. They produce a variety of unique, finely crafted wooden gifts which have one thing in common - all the raw material for their products is hand salvaged from forest industry leftovers.
Branches, limbs and blocks of cedar, douglas fir and hemlock are gathered and graded, and fashioned into a line of over 20 products. Care is taken to incorporate the natural features of the wood - bark, branch spurs, knots and odd shapes - into the finished products. Each piece is unique by natural design.
Branch boxes" made from continuous branch lengths, so the lids line up perfectly with the bottoms. The swivel lids are fastened with concealed screws, and the finish is lustrous and hard wearing. Perfect for small treasures.

A good example of making the most from "waste" materials, Wildwood products have received numerous awards in B.C.'s value-added wood sector. Visit Wildwood at wildwood.ca
 
Tired Horse Swings
These childrens' swings are cleverly designed for fun, imaginative play. They also make excellent use of discarded tires. The EPA estimates that 80% of discarded tires end up in landfills and stockpiles, posing serious environmental consequences.
This swing design uses the recycled tire to its best advantage. The seat area has just enough rubber to give added flex and bounce to the swing motion, simulating real horse movement. The sidewalls offer "stirrups" to help the rider stay balanced, and the handles on the "head" give a secure hold on the horse if the swinging gets a little wild.

The tire material is impervious to outdoor weather, easy to clean and safer than wood or metal in case another would-be rider gets too close to the action.
Online Sources:
............Tired Horse Swings are now available at Eartheasy`s online store.
 
Ecopaper" from Costa Rica Naturals
A 70 year-old paper company in San Salvador has developed a line of paper and related products using leftovers ("agricultural waste") from banana, coffee and cigar production. These materials are combined with post-consumer recycled paper to make the finished products - personal stationery, laser paper, office accessories, school supplies and more.
Banana papers are made using the fiber from banana branches, which would otherwise be discarded into local rivers, posing a threat to natural wildlife habitats.

Cigar papers use the tobacco leaf's central stem, which is unusable because it's too stiff to be rolled into a cigar.

Coffee paper is made using coffe bean skins from beans which are below export standards, about 30% of the Central American coffee crop. Each ton of coffee paper replaces the need for about 17 trees.
A percentage of each sale is donated to a scholarship fund to support Latin American students who study sustainable agricultural development at a local university. Visit Ecopaper.
 

The Bookbox Company
This small business from BC Canada has come up with a unique and useful gift line using recycled books. The books are hollowed out inside, and fashioned into secret storage boxes. Books on their way to disposal have been converted into useful keepsakes that last a lifetime.
Bookboxes are available in many different sizes and book titles. The inside cut-outs also come in different shapes to suit a wide range of uses, from practical secret storage for valuables to whimsical packaging for gifts such as candy or small items.
You can choose from "modern" or "antique" titles to suit your bookshelf, or re-titled BOOKBOXES™ can be custom made to your specifications. 		 
THE BOOKBOX™ COMPANY has operated a web site dedicated to wholesale customers since early 1999. A retail web site, dedicated to meeting the needs of on-line shoppers, is now available at SecretStorageBooks™.com.
 
Green Glass USA
A South African company has developed a process which converts recycled "waste stream" bottles into elegant, collectible glassware. A recycling success story, Green Glass creations are prized as functional art pieces in many countries around the world.

The company creates each glass by turning a wine bottle upside down, removing the base and then reattaching the base to the neck. It took eight months to refine the process, which is now patented in 27 countries.

The founders, Sean Penrith and Philip Tetley, search the globe for suitable raw materials. Because the materials vary, the collection changes frequently. This helps to maintain the variety and uniqueness of the product line.

Green Glass currently manufactures about 25,000 goblets, tumblers and drinking glasses each month at its production facilities outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. A new facility is being built in Stratford, WI, USA. You can visit their site at GreenGlassUSA.
 
 



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