Goes well with green
The garbage can, generally a source of inspiration for raccoons and skunks, has more recently evolved into a feeding ground for product design. The recycled items showing up this spring -- bags, art, and a very sexy little swimming brief -- have the advantage of helping the environment in their own small way. But unlike some other eco-friendly designs (hello, hemp sandals), these goods don't forget about fashion. -- CHRISTOPHER MUTHER
Bathing suits from vintage T-shirts
It didn't take long after Philip Heckman and Rex Bonomelli strolled onto the beach that they could tell their new idea for bathing suits had strong potential.
''We were on vacation in Provincetown and wore them to the beach to see if we could get a reaction," Bonomelli says. ''We got there and the guy sitting next to us stopped his cellphone conversation and said to us, 'You have the best bathing suits on the beach.' "
The bathing suits that the New York couple were wearing became the basis of their company, LowTee. Heckman haunts thrift stores and
''It's tough in New York," Bonomelli says. ''Because people know what's cool in vintage stores. We usually have more luck finding them outside of the city."
Wearable art from billboards
When their time expires on the highway, billboards usually enjoy a lengthy retirement at the landfill. But lately the vinyl stretched over billboards has been finding a second life in laptop cases, diaper bags, totes, DJ bags, and iPod cases. Arizona-based Vy & Elle, has recycled 40 tons of billboard vinyl into one-of-a-kind bags that are incredibly rugged, thanks to the PVC vinyl. When viewed close, the pieces of billboard are abstract, pixilated works of art. Prices range from $7 to $150.
www.vyandelle.com or 888-285-4367.
Purses and bags from old tires
There are some sacrifices that Heather English doesn't mind making as a vegetarian, but giving up a durable purse is not among them. After swearing off products made with leather, she turned to less conventional materials to make a bag that could stand up to heavy wear. By cutting up the inner tube that she used for floating down the river, English riveted together an impervious rubber tote.
After friends started asking for the bags, English decided to go into business. She now ventures out to truck stops once a week to pick up old tires that the truckers save for her. She can usually get about four bags out of a single inner tube, which come in different sizes with names such as Bentley, Mini, and Coupe. She also makes belts (called fan belts and seat belts). Prices for the bags range from $50 to $140.
Available at Fire Opal, 320 Harvard St., Brookline, 617-739-9066, and 683 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, 617-524-0262. Also available at www.englishretreads.com.
Wall art from discarded museum banners
Nora Weiser was able to get her hands on a vinyl museum banner advertising a Charles Rennie Mackintosh exhibit to hang in her modern-style living room, but only because she had connections. She helped curate the Mackintosh show at the Art Insitute of Chicago. Others, however, were not so lucky. The banners, which are produced in multiple and hang from street lamps, are not sold to the public. Once an exhibit is finished, the banners are taken down and shipped off to the landfill.
Eventually, Weiser and her husband, Nick, took their fondness for museum banners a step further than the living room. When they quit their jobs and started their own business, they started selling the banners online. Partnered with institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Denver-based couple sell the banners through www.betterwall.com. for $300 to $1,500 (a portion of the money goes back to the museums to fund educational programs). Pricier than a typical poster, but much more dramatic in size (most are 6 feet tall and 2 or 3 feet wide), styles range from Impressionism to modern options such as Andy Warhol's portrait of Liz Taylor.
www.betterwall.com or 303-960-6672. 