A new take on recycling

Buy a bag, plant a tree. That's the message from Ecoist, which produces handmade designer bags and purses made from recycled materials including candy wrappers, soft drink labels, and food packages. The Miami-based company will plant a tree in a Global ReLeaf Forest for each recycled materials purse sold.

Each of the unique bags takes two to five days to produce and is considered to be one-of-a-kind. Company co-founder Gabriela Mekler found the bags in her native Mexico and developed a partnership with designer Marisa Rey.

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Miami-based Ecoist, which emphasizes environmental awareness in all its work, specializes in handbags and home details made from recycled materials--materials that would ordinarily wind up in landfills and years to biodegrade.

"We plant a tree for every bag we sell," Mekler says. "We're really excited about providing unique products that have an environmental cause behind them."

The bags are being sold in Miami boutiques and art museum shops. Ecoist's website says it plans to "take our know-how to other countries and turn waste-bound materials into products."