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Plenty of businesses around the state brand their products as "made in Maine," but a new company in Jefferson prefers "re-made in Maine." Luxury Boutique Shopping Bag
Blue Earth Bags repurposes old feed and coffee bean sacks into a durable tote.
Kim Fenn likes knowing she’s saving and repurposing materials instead of throwing it away.
“This is what the birdseed bag looked like, and we're going to make it into a reusable grocery store bag,” She showed Total Maine reporter Steve Minich.
Kim Fenn, along with her husband Rusty, launched Blue Earth Bags from their home in Jefferson.
Together, they create hand-sewn reusable grocery bags, along with an array of fancier totes.
“We line each bag. We pockets inside them. Some of them even have zippers in them,” Kim Fenn said.
The entire line is made up of either discarded polypropylene feed and brew bags or burlap coffee sacks.
“These are the coffee sacks are how they come from the roasters, and we get any number of them,” Rusty Fenn said.
The seed bags are typically donated by local farmers and coffee roasters.
Each week the Fenns travel throughout coastal Maine to collect the donated bags, which they’ve now amassed a garage full.
“The coffee sack bags have traveled around the world and ended up here in Maine. I think people think it's kind of cool if there's a little logo from Peru or Honduras or Mexico, and they know they're saving that bag from a landfill, and that bag has a story to it,” Kim Fenn said.
Barely one year in business, the Fenns say their success is measured in all they’ve accomplished, including giving back to the community
With virtually all their materials donated to them, the Fenns, in turn, are donating back a portion of profits to local community organizations.
The bags offer a second chance for something that may have been trashed.
For more information, visit the company's website.
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