North Sails & Sea Bags Launch North American Sustainability Partnership
Published: Wednesday, October 19, 2022 12:00 pm
By: Sea Bags
Portland, ME — Sea Bags, the Maine-based designer and manufacturer of bags, totes and accessories made from repurposed sails, is pleased to announce a partnership with North Sails, the sailmaking industry leader. The two brands have teamed up on a sustainability initiative to divert retired sails from the landfill and pave the way for the sailing community to collectively reduce waste.
Since 1999, Sea Bags has collected over 700 tons of retired sails away from landfills and has repurposed nearly 16,000 sails in the last two years alone. North Sails, the world’s largest sailmaker with operations in 29 countries, produces sails for racing and cruising. The partnership kicked off internally with a sweep of sail lofts in North America in late 2021 which resulted in 166 sails being collected.
Launching Summer 2022, the North Sails and Sea Bags initiative encourages sailors to donate their old sails at any North Sails loft in North America. With 11 loft locations across the United States and Canada, North Sails provides easy access to participate in this meaningful program. Sails accepted in the North Sails x Sea Bags repurposing program include 3DiTM composite, Dacron, nylon spinnakers, and intact laminates.
Beth Greenlaw, Sea Bags President and Chief Sustainability Officer remarked “We are thrilled to formalize our long-time working agreement with North Sails. As a beginning and end to the supply chain, we together can work to improve sustainability in sailing and support a better future for our oceans and environment. With both companies leading a variety of sustainability initiatives, our goals will be measurable, with plans for continuous improvement.”
Jono Macbeth, North Sails Sustainability Manager offered “What makes this partnership exciting and different, is the commitment between our two companies to look into all the different parts of a sail and find sustainable end of life solutions for the various components.” MacBeth added “One of the consequences of producing sails with exceptional performance and longevity, is that the sail material becomes difficult to deconstruct in a truly sustainable way. Rather than shying away from this, North Sails and Sea Bags are working together to find solutions. We are all well served when the marine industry collaborates to maximize product usage and lifespan, producing a positive environmental impact.”
The North Sails lofts in North America are now accepting old sails for drop off. Find your nearest loft on www.northsails.com.
About Sea Bags
Incorporated in 2006, Sea Bags started by making fun, functional and stylish totes from reclaimed sail cloth in the historic Old Port district of Portland, Maine. Today, the company employs nearly 175 people — all dedicated to the mission of saving sails from landfills while creating a diverse line of totes, bags and home goods that feature material from sails that were once actively used. The extensive use of reclaimed sail cloth is unique to Sea Bags. Signs of hard sailing can be seen in every Sea Bags creation, making them as individual and unique as their owner. The Sea Bags flagship retail store, as well as the manufacturing headquarters, is located at 25 Custom Wharf House in Portland, Maine’s working waterfront — where you can see firsthand the bags being made. Company-owned retail stores are located in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan and California. To learn more about Sea Bags and the stories their sails tell, visit www.seabags.com.
tags: Accessories
