Years ago, downtown hipster boutiques in Manhattan started selling handbags made from old license plates—cute, but a real bitch if it starts a run in one’s chiffon dress. Recycled fashion recently got another boost with the 2009 debut of a Vassar, Mich.-based family outfit called Cangles, which, as the same suggests, makes bangle bracelets out of aluminum cans. (Finally, the perfect solution for those who hate the taste of Mountain Dew: Now you can wear the stuff without having to drink it.) Cangles is one of those green startups that’s not only found a plausible use for some of the 36 billion cans that end up in landfills each year but also gives a hefty percent of its profits to Michigan-area charities. It’s also given us a new marketing wrinkle: eco co-branding. The jewelry company got together with the Save the Earth Foundation, which now features its Earth logo as a charm on the recycled bracelets. (A portion of sales will go to benefit the foundation’s educational and research efforts.) So, ladies, now you don’t have to feel as guilty about buying jewelry, because it’s not shopping, it’s recycling.
—Posted by Robert Klara