Megan McSherry: Addressing the Tote-Bag in the Room

Tote bags have been introduced in an effort to curtail plastic waste, as their reusability means offering customers environmentally friendly options. However, major companies, labels, and events have been treating tote bags as if they’re single-use items, leading to personal accumulation of tote bags in the homes of individual customers.

Slow fashion designer Megan McSherry has come up with innovative solutions for people on what to do with the tote bags they have accumulated. She creates everything from jackets to fashionable handbags and even versatile patterned fabrics out of them. Helping people reuse their tote bags, reduce waste, and reflect the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Responsible Consumption and Production.

In an interview with the New York Times, Melanie Dupuis, a professor of environmental studies and science at Pace University, has shared that widespread use of tote bags as a replacement for single-use plastic to wrap goods has created a state of environmental what-about-ism. Since tote bags come with their own share of footprint on the environment, such as pesticide use and excessive water use, this has led consumers to think that there is no solution to today’s environmental problems. 

However, the impact that tote bag production has on the environment pales in comparison to the impact that plastic production and consumption have on the environment. The New York Times article concludes that the simplest solution to the issue is to not hand out a new tote bag with every single product.

This is where McSherry’s solutions come into play: helping consumers make use of their already existing tote bag piles beyond bagging groceries. 

Her tote bag to dream bag project is one of these uses, where McSherry has shared online tutorial videos of how to upcycle tote bags into stylish padded handbags.

In the video, she walks her viewers through a step-by-step guide to remaking the totes, for example, by cutting them into new patterns and sewing everything together.

Another one of her upcycling projects is the chore coat, which is a durable jacket that has been crafted by patching together different tote bags.

”I only used materials from the tote bags —so everything including the collar, pockets, and bias tape, is made with the cotton canvas of the bags and the straps!” said McSherry about the project.

She’s even kept one of the tote bag’s handles to accessorize the coat’s pocket in order to highlight to passersby how the coat has been made from tote bags.

McSherry has these and plenty of other projects involving tote bags and other sustainable practices on her website. She even has a whole page dedicated to sustainable fashion resources, compiling everything from documentaries, books, and podcasts to brands that her audience can support in order to be further involved in the sustainable fashion world.

You can find out more about tote bag coats and other pieces by Megan McSherry by following her Instagram @acteevism.