The Rosa Bag Is What Happens When Cars Die and Go to Heaven

The Rosa Bag is a multi-functional bag that has the upper hand on most accessories: it is what happens to cars when they die and go to heaven. Or, if you will, Rosa is a dead car incarnate. Of course, the comparison is hyperbolic, to serve a point: the Rosa Bag is made of the recycled laminated glass from cars that have reached end-of-life.

Made in Spain by the Barcelona-based L’Autre Sac, Rosa is named after Rosa Parks because it stands for female empowerment, timeless elegance, and an actual concern for the environment. Currently raising funds on IndieGoGo, here is a bag that aims to offer a second chance at life to waste that would otherwise go to fill landfills, further destroying our planet.

According to the product’s description, some 480,000 tons of laminated glass go to waste every year in Europe, and only a small fraction of it is ever recycled. Granted, Rosa can’t make much of a difference at this point, but if crowdfunding is successful and it goes into mass production, it could.

“The modern-day lifestyle is changing,” the designers say. “We have to be conscious of our buying actions and the lines that used to separate our work lives from our social lives, from our family lives and so on, are blurry now and seem to disappear.”

Each bag is made from one pound (0.45 kg) of recycled car glass from landfills. In addition to that, the Rosa also generates no methane gas emissions, but saves 9.7 gallons (36.7 liters) of water for each unit produced. The Rosa is also superior to vegan leather (pleather) variants because, while their production entails no animal being skinned, they’re mostly made of plastic that contains harmful chemicals, so they’re far from eco-friendly.

The Rosa, according to the description, looks like real leather but is, at the same time, lighter and tougher. You can’t stain or scratch it, and you can use it to carry up to 20 pounds (9 kg), which makes it ideal for a variety of situations, including doing some light grocery shopping or running errands.

However, it’s perhaps best suited for work since it comes with clever compartmentalization that allows you to pack everything you need at the office, from your laptop to chargers, pens and notebooks, and water bottles. And it stays just as slim even when it’s loaded to the max. Similarly, it can also work as a carry-on due to its small size yet generous volume, and it makes for the most interesting conversation starter. Who else has a bag made of car glass, right?

Another highlight that perhaps only female readers will appreciate is the versatility of this bag. It can be worn in three ways (shoulder bag, backpack, and crossbody), and its elegant, slim silhouette make it a good choice for both day and nighttime wearing. In other words, this could be the ever-elusive perfect bag, the one that’s suited for every occasion, every outfit, and every purpose.

“Our core purpose is to provide women with beautiful fashion accessories that are socially and environmentally conscious, and set an example for sustainable fashion along the way,” L’Autre Sac says. “All our products are eco-friendly and vegan, and 10% of our profits go towards helping young women in Bogota, Colombia access education and develop leadership skills.”

The Rosa is offered in three color choices for now, at $169 a pop for early pledgers. The first to back it will receive their bag in June, with a second batch of deliveries scheduled to go out in September.

The idea of using recycled car parts in the fashion industry is not new. In fact, several automakers, like Hyundai, have even released capsule collections from waste material from the production line. Other carmakers, like JLR, go the other way around, and they use recycled materials in the cabins of their new cars.

Whichever way we look at it, the efforts are admirable but not enough because recycling is not yet standard in either industry. But it could be, one day, the makers of the Rosa Bag would like to believe.