Brooklyn based brand, Bergwerk, is setting the tone for a more eco-friendly fashion industry with its environmentally positive approach of scouring the city to find recyclable materials that can be magically transformed into a completely unique garment.

Established in 2013, through the ingenious mind of Gertrude Berg, Bergwerk is the culmination of an ecological metamorphosis. In a simpler phrase, take the old and make it new. Berg grew up in Austria and crossed the pond to study at the School of Fine Arts in Boston where she obtained an arts degree. She took an interest in sculpture, which inspired her original take on shape and the idea of reusing components that are already in existence. New York City is littered, for lack of a better word, with recyclable materials that most people bypass regularly. It’s encouraging to see brands such as Bergwerk take a second glance and envision someone else’s “waste” as something better, something refreshed.

Upon hunting down discarded fabrics from the fashion industry, the formerly hopeless textiles are salvaged and repurposed into a brand new garment. The soul of Bergwerk’s transformation process is behind Berg’s influence of the city and the art of sculpture resulting in avant-garde layering and precise stitch-work. There are no other alterations made to each individual piece besides the stitching, which means there is no extra cutting of the fabric. Just like in centuries past, the practice of utilizing all of something still rings true today in Bergwerk’s designs. Nothing is left to waste.

An awesome aspect of Bergwerk is that every piece is one of a kind. No two are the same, which really allows the wearer to fully express their individuality. Not discriminatory to age, no matter how young or old you are, its garments are appropriate for all. Anyone can take part in helping our planet in a stylish and conscious way by purchasing an original Bergwerk design.

The style focus behind its design process is women’s overall beauty and confidence at the forefront. Nothing is more beautiful than feeling amazing in something that has potential to change habits and generate a new, sustainable direction for the future. Another super cool fact about Bergwerk is all of their garments are hand-wash only! So not only does it rescue scrapped textiles from a trash-hell, it also promotes energy efficiency! Buh-bye, washer and dryer!

Bergwerk is sort of like Cinderella’s fairy godmother to recyclable materials if you really think about it. It takes sad scraps and transforms them from rags to ecofriendly riches. Bergwerk is continuing to pioneer the way for our world to stop dreaming of a better place and in fact start making it a reality, one refurbished piece of fabric at a time. It’s true someone’s trash really is someone else’s treasure.

Related on EcoSalon

Don’t Toss Your Favorite Jeans, Learn How to Repair Jeans Instead!

10 Ridiculously Easy Repurposing Ideas for Old Tee Shirts

5 Eco-Friendly Types of Fabric for Feel-Good Fashion (Inside and Out)

Image via Bergwerk

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Tech fashion is a hot topic lately because we have so much of it, and storing our gadget goodies in a weakly padded and smelly, toxic case just doesn’t fit in with an eco lifestyle.

Thankfully, the founders of GreenSmart found a way to solve all our problems with their full line of bags, accessories and laptop and netbook cases (also made from a water based material called Neogreene (cute right?) Neogreene remarkably compares to the feel of neoprene but with 25 percent less petroleum used, 25 percent less energy and the elimination of common toxic solvent adhesives found in neoprene. The company says that on the corner of each of their new Bottles 2 Bags backpacks and messenger bags, there’s a badge stitched in, indicating the number of (16 ounce) recycled plastic bottles that went into making it.

Not only are the cases strong and durable, but they come waterproof and thermally resistant to the little heater your laptop or Netbook can become.

Founders Tom Larsen and Debbie Williams are passionate about their products as much as their employees, and have implemented ethical social practices for GreenSmart including their product materials as well as manufacturing practices.

“As the specifiers of everything that goes into every product we made, we chose to hold ourselves accountable for the actions of our suppliers working on our behalf and for the consumers who did not know any better when they purchased our products. That was 2006. From that period forward we began the transformational process of replacing product materials with eco-conscious materials, teaching our retail customers about the materials, phasing out existing products and materials. What we did was nothing short of a do-over. Within 30 months, we had converted our supply chain to greener processes, greener materials and greener thinking.”

We at EcoSalon are especially impressed by the fabrics used for the GreenSmart “Bottles 2 Bags” which are derived from 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, and the fact that they “bumped up the aesthetics,” to match their environmental commitment, which includes donating 10 percent of their profits to the World Wildlife Fund and other groups – not to mention naming all their gear after endangered animals.

This case above is the Akepa, named after the rare Maui Akepa, a small yellow bird that was once abundant in many Hawaiian islands.

Do you like it? Do you want to be like the Akepa bird hiding in the branches illustrated on this case?

Then you should leave a comment below and try your luck at winning. And if you do win, you get to choose between a laptop or Netbook case in any color. Sound fair?

Then get to it!

(Legalese: contest rules and FTC compliance.)

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