MUST HAVE FASHION FROM RECYCLED RINGPULLS AND BOTTLES

If you were to start your own business, you might think that discarded ringpulls from soft drinks cans would be a hazardous raw material. Yet a charity called Bottletop in Brazil is now exporting handbags made of ringpulls to the United Kingdom. Apparently it takes 1,000 ringpulls to make a bag and requires about a day’s work. They retail for upwards of £30 and have been bought by celebrities such as Annie Lennox and Natalie Imbruglia. The ringpulls themselves are collected by the homeless who can earn £3 per kilogram. If you’d like to know more, check The Sunday Times on 6th September or go to timesonline.co.uk/environment By coincidence, Coca-Cola has been inspired by a similar idea and will be giving away bags made from recycled PET bottles as part of a limited edition UK promotion in October. The blurb says they will be covered in pink and white phrases printed on a black background, folding up into a leopard skin pattern pouch. Call me old fashioned, but … full details are available at presscentre.coca-cola.co.uk