THE GEAR • February 2022

The Club’s choice: best recycled baggage

Doing your best to live that waste-free life? Then it’s time to upgrade your suitcase for something that’s a little more stylish, sturdier and better for the environment. Here, we share our favourite sustainable brands making brilliant baggage with the planet in mind

For the long weekender

Antler
Eco-warriors, look no further than Antler’s hotly anticipated Fenchurch collection. Sleek with a silky finish, the eco-friendly range (from £49) features backpacks, cross-body, messenger, weekender and wash bags, beautifully crafted using 100 per cent recycled, post-consumer polyester. Both the main fabric and the interior lining of the bags started life as plastic packaging which, instead of ending up in landfill, is sorted, cleaned and shredded into flakes, before being turned into polyester yarn and given new life as a woven fabric. Pair a bag with a stay at your favourite country house hotel and you’ve got yourself the perfect duo.

For the budding explorer

Patagonia
Possibly its most durable and ethically sound travel item yet, Patagonia (which pledges to become a carbon-neutral company by 2025) has unveiled its Black Hole duffle bag range (from £95). Fit for all the lugging and bashing that inevitably comes with travel, better yet, they’re made from 100 per cent recycled polyester and feature weather-resistant fabric to help keep whatever you have inside dry all day long. And the practicality doesn’t stop there. The best part? The bags’ shoulder straps convert into backpack straps, making them easier to carry around the airport.

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For effortless everyday style

Everlane
Everlane’s ReNew Transit Backpack may just be our new favourite travel essential from the San Francisco brand. Made using 100 per cent recycled polyester sourced from plastic bottles, its latest item has contributed towards the brand’s success in eliminating 90 per cent of virgin plastic from its supply chain. Ideal for day trips or long weekends, the £71 backpack features a padded laptop sleeve, two water bottle holders and multiple carry straps, plus a back slot for a rolling baggage handle (especially handy when you’re running to catch a flight). It’s certainly its most functional yet!

For the seasoned traveller

Solgaard
Meet the suitcase favourite, Solgaard and its new range of practical backpacks crafted in the brand’s exclusive Shore-Tex fabric and made entirely from recycled ocean plastics. An eco-conscious alternative, the bags have all the clever details you expect from the sustainable luxury label: hidden passport pockets, secret strap pockets, stretchy side pockets for reusable water bottles and drop-proof laptop storage. The brand has a mission to help cut ocean plastic in half by 2025, so feel good knowing that, for every item sold, it will commit to removing 229 ocean-bound plastic bottles, one bag at a time.

For the trendy jet setter

Horizn Studios
Are you seeking some seriously smart kit to stand out from the crowd? Following the Berlin-based brand’s pledge to be more ethical, say hello to Horizn Studios’ Circle One range of 100 per cent plant-based and biodegradable suitcases (£615). Long-lasting and timeless, the collection is made using BioX (the company’s patented hard-shell innovation). Not only that, but this is also the world’s first PETA-approved brand, has a 99 per cent waste-free production chain, says no to single-use plastics and ships everything in recycled cardboard boxes. What more could you ask for?

Get 25 per cent off Horizn Studios’ signature cabin luggage featuring a premium recycled polycarbonate hardshell using exclusive code BAHORIZN. Valid on online purchases made before 23:59 GMT on 31 March 2022.To shop the site, click here