What do you do with those over-patched bike innertubes. Throw them out?
Eli Reich of Seattle has started a small business — Alchemy Goods — from patching those old innertubes into bicycle messenger bags (shown at right).
The Seattle Times has featured the company, reporting that “the company struggles to build a profitable enterprise while focusing on sustainability.”
At his Alchemy Goods website, Reich explains that his bike messenger bag was stolen and instead of buying a new one, he fashioned one out of old innertubes and other gear laying around his apartment. He got a lot of comments from friends who saw him wearing it, he made a few more, and pretty soon he was making them full time.
“So to whoever it was that stole my bag … you were the inspiration for my imagination. But please don't steal. It's not nice.”
The bags take about three hours to make and, because of all time spent making the bags by hand, cost over $100. He also makes haversacks and “ad bags” from recycled materials.
Reich gets many of his innertubes from Seattle area bike shops that save them for him. He notes that the tubes have distinctive features, like logos, patches, discolorations. The innertubes are a good material for bags, Reich writes at his website:
“First, they develop a finish over time that gives them the soft feeling of a fine Italian leather. Second, they're 100% waterproof and virtually stain proof, so you can keep your stuff dry any time of year.”
Reich, who has one full-time employee, fashions straps from old seatbelts and zipper pulls from innertube valves. The Times reported Reich sold about 175 bags in 2004 and expected to double that in 2005.
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