Keen Harvest Bag

Keen, a company that started with the question, “can a sandal protect the toes?”, has gone on to expanding their product line well beyond just active sandals. Admittedly, I have not checked out their site since I was shopping for my trip to Kauai a few years ago, but a few weeks ago I pointed Firefox their way and was impressed with what I saw. Their Harvest Collection of bags is particularly noteworthy.

One model, the Cornell, is a unisex messenger bag made of 100% reclaimed rice paper. For those of you who have ever bought large sacks of rice from an Asian market, you know exactly what that is. The design and graphics on each bag are completely unique, the bottom is made of 100% recycled rubber (from tires), and there is a lushly padded 17.4″ notebook sleeve built in. I will not say it’s perfect, however. The front zipper on mine gets stuck, and repeated pulls are slowly ripping the pouch from the bag. My only other complaint is a small one – occasionally the strap folds up onto itself within the metal loops. Other than these small quibbles, the Cornell gets my vote if you are looking for a comfortable, unique, and green bag.