For this Tried and True Green Product Review, a complimentary Baringo messenger bag was provided to us by GreenSmart.

Check out GreenSmart’s new Baringo messenger bag — it’s good looking and has a lot of great features.  Every time I use it I tell at least one person, “it’s made from 31 recycled plastic bottles.”  Inevitably, it gets a “wow, cool” reaction.

Rather than create waste in their manufacturing, the innovators at GreenSmart are literally making new material from waste.  All fabrics used for their Bottles 2 Bags are derived 100 percent from recycled plastic bottles (rPET Polyester).  The recycled plastic bottles are first ground into chips, then spun into yarn, woven into fabric and finally sewn into bags.  This process uses less energy than making polyester out of refined petroleum.

Well-conceived and executed, it’s designed to hold a lot of stuff — laptop, notebooks, books, small packages — and keep you organized.  The material is soft and lightweight yet durable.

There are several well-placed pockets (you can stash a slim reusable water bottle & your cellphone in the end pockets) and a front outside zipper compartment gives you easy access to small essentials.  Tucked under the front flap is a front panel storage area with allocations for pens, business cards, notepads & other small to medium sized items.

The interior has a divider/padded laptop bay and two handy mesh pockets (sunglasses, keys, wallet).  Along the back is a full width slash pocket for lightweight papers or folders.

I really enjoyed using it on its maiden voyage from West Palm Beach to NYC – I was able to place my laptop sleeve (coincidentally, also made by GreenSmart), cables, my handbag, reading material, etc. as carry-on.  It felt great to have so many extraneous things all together…Pardon the pun, but I guess you could say, this eco messenger bag really delivers high quality + low environmental impact.

If you’re wondering about the name, it’s named after Kenya’s Baringo Giraffe, an endangered species with only a few hundred members.  With each GreenSmart purchase, 10% of profits are donated to the World Wildlife Fund and other organizations helping to create a greensmart planet.

They’re available @ greensmart.biz for ($99.95).