Introduction: Passchal: Handcrafted Luxury Bags Made in the USA From Recycled Truck Inner Tube Tires
About:
Hello! My name is Rachel Leyco and we are a Richmond, VA based small business that designs handcraft bags & accessories made from recycling tractor tire inner tubes. We collect the inner tubes from tires centers throughout the USA before they are disposed of in landfills.
According to the EPA, approximately 290 million tires & inner tubes are dumped in landfills each year. To date we have collected approximately 76 tons of truck inner tubes.
Our first two and half years were spent finding a cleaning solution for the inner tubes that would thoroughly clean them and that was also environmentally friendly to coincide with our motto "Design with the Environment in Mind". We then set out to learn everything about making a quality bag.
Before we start handcrafting a product the inner tubes are sort by size, cleaned, cut , hand polished and then combined with premium leather & hardware to create an incredibly durable luxury bag. Our large bags have an interior LED light, large zipper & cell phone pockets. We pride ourselves on quality, unique design and a 100% made in the USA product.
The inner tubes are collected and go through our 7-Step cleaning & cutting process:
1) Collecting
2) Sorting
3) Cutting down to size
4) Pre-soaking
5) Final cutting
6) Final cleaning
7) Buffing
Leather, lining fabric, hardware & interior light are purchased from US suppliers. Our bags and accessories are handcrafted in our studio in Richmond, VA.
Our goal is to collect an additional 30 tons of inner tubes before they head off to the landfills by the end of 2012. These landfills are potential hazards that can be devastating to our environment.
With the support from people like you reading this and the $25,000 grand prize it will enable us to produce our new Men’s Travel & Tech Collection. Your support will pay for production costs and shipping.
Thanks for taking a look at what we do!
Rachel Leyco
According to the EPA, approximately 290 million tires & inner tubes are dumped in landfills each year. To date we have collected approximately 76 tons of truck inner tubes.
Our first two and half years were spent finding a cleaning solution for the inner tubes that would thoroughly clean them and that was also environmentally friendly to coincide with our motto "Design with the Environment in Mind". We then set out to learn everything about making a quality bag.
Before we start handcrafting a product the inner tubes are sort by size, cleaned, cut , hand polished and then combined with premium leather & hardware to create an incredibly durable luxury bag. Our large bags have an interior LED light, large zipper & cell phone pockets. We pride ourselves on quality, unique design and a 100% made in the USA product.
The inner tubes are collected and go through our 7-Step cleaning & cutting process:
1) Collecting
2) Sorting
3) Cutting down to size
4) Pre-soaking
5) Final cutting
6) Final cleaning
7) Buffing
Leather, lining fabric, hardware & interior light are purchased from US suppliers. Our bags and accessories are handcrafted in our studio in Richmond, VA.
Our goal is to collect an additional 30 tons of inner tubes before they head off to the landfills by the end of 2012. These landfills are potential hazards that can be devastating to our environment.
With the support from people like you reading this and the $25,000 grand prize it will enable us to produce our new Men’s Travel & Tech Collection. Your support will pay for production costs and shipping.
Thanks for taking a look at what we do!
Rachel Leyco
Participated in the
Jack Daniel's Independence Project Contest
