When Life Gives You Melons | Tote

Well, if the last 18 months has told us anything… it’s to make melonade (or hail a pretend Uber out your front gate).

Srsly, this is the ultimate shopping bag with wonderful wide straps. Never again will your fingies feel the torture of skinny straps cutting circulation.

Crinkly, un-pretty & enormously practical. These tote, gear and beach bags are made from repurposed ag bags & ratchet straps. Masterfully handcrafted by migrant, refugee and asylum seeker women.

• Handmade and delightfully imperfect.
• Created from repurposed feed bags & retired ratchet straps.
• Absurdly strong, waterproof and tough as nails. Finally you can banish the fear of losing a bottle of wine to a burst bag or broken strap.
• Pocket on one side. Strap colour will vary and parts may be patched. Approximately 35cm x 45cm.
• Great everyday bag for shopping or pretending to leave lockdown.
• All bags are totally unique and only a limited number are available. Due to the un-mass produced nature of the bags, despatch time could be 2-3 weeks (but if we’ve got them in stock, we’ll skedaddle them out the door in 24 hrs).

After we collect and clean the feed sacks & straps, these glorious creations are individually crafted by the gals at SisterWorks in Melbourne.

SisterWorks is a super cool social enterprise which helps women become financially independent and happily settled in Australia. They provide training and employment opportunities for migrant, refugee and asylum seekers at their centres in Melbourne and Bendigo. This is a wholly commercial agreement with no grants or subsidies. The Sisters are remunerated above award rate for their craftswomanship.

By buying Old Bags you’re directly creating jobs & independence for marginalised migrant women... Not to mention, the sheer joy that comes with FINALLY having a bag big enough for all the things.

Repurposing to avoid landfill:
Empty animal feed bags and retired ratchet straps are intercepted before making their way to landfill. With their original purpose to ‘lift heavy things’ – it means these bags are super tough. Never again will you be fearful of losing a bottle of wine to a burst bag or broken strap.

They seem pretty pricey… just sayin’:
• Right!? So it seems the people who invented mass production were onto something…
• The stuffing around that goes with collecting and cleaning these things is pretty hectic…then there’s the printing, transporting them to the Sisters, the stitching and transporting them back. It would be so much easier, cheaper and faster if they were all made in one place from a big roll of clean, uniform material.
• On the plus side, these things are so tough and well made, they will probably outlive you so you can consider them a family heirloom AND a super sharp fashion accessor

Disclaimery stuff:
• Seeing as these straps did some hardcore work in their original life – you’ll probably see a stain or two. Let me assure you it’s not for a lack of scrubbing, soaking and washing on our behalf… We’ve cleaned all the straps to remove all hints of oil, diesel and all that yard yakka stuff – but we just cant get out some of the rust stains.
• Also, some of the feed bags have a hole or two… which we’ve lovingly patched up with canvas… Remember the good ol’ days when we used to patch things up instead of chucking them out? Good times.

Shipping within Australia:
All bags are totally unique and only a limited number are available. Due to the un-mass produced nature of the bags, despatch time could be 2-3 weeks (but if we’ve got them in stock, we’ll skedaddle them out the door in 24 hrs). Once dispatched Old Bags has standard domestic shipping timeframes within Australia, you can check the Australia Post website for information.

Shipping to New Zealand:
All bags are totally unique and only a limited number are available. Due to the un-mass produced nature of the bags, despatch time could be 2-3 weeks (but if we’ve got them in stock, we’ll skedaddle them out the door in 24 hrs). Once dispatched Old Bags has standard international shipping timeframes from Australia to New Zealand.

Prized Life is an online marketplace, connecting you with value driven brands from across Australia & New Zealand. Each brand packages and ships your order direct, from them to you. This means, if you order products from more than one brand you can expect a parcel to arrive from each brand, in the shipping timeframe detailed on each individual product.

Returns:
Old Bags have a 30 day return policy once your item has been delivered. To be eligible for a return, your item must be unused and in the same condition that you received it. It must also be in the original packaging. If you need to make a return please email hello@prizedlife.com.