Love your Bag, Love the Environment

Have you ever wondered what happens to a PacaPod that has been loved a little too hard and has come to the end of its life? Environmental and social responsibility is really important to us and we are continually looking for ways to re-use and recycle.

Every year the British public throw away over a million tonnes of textiles, the vast majority of which could be reused or recycled. We at PacaPod hate throwing things away and are proud that none of the bags in our possession end up in landfill. We achieve this with the help of our friends at LMB Textile Recycling.

They collect any bags that have had one too many adventures and take them to their sorting facility in London. From here, the bags are sorted into those that still work (although might need a bit of spit and polish!) and those that have reached the end of their life span.

Any that can be re-used are sent to Africa, where they continue their journey and get transported across the regions from the city centres through to remote rural communities. The majority of bags exported are sold or traded in the local community markets – our bags are getting a whole second lease of life.

After many years of use some of our pre-loved bags are a bit beyond repair – a sign of how well they were used! These are stripped down into their individual components for recycling. The parts can end up in things as diverse as car seats and fuel blocks, as well as the usual industrial cleaning rags… so you never know the bag that once sat on your shoulder may end up being sat on in the form of your car seat!

Re-use, Re-sell, Recycle

We are constantly looking at ways that we can limit our carbon footprint, so if you have any tips to share please let us know in the comments.