15 Best Recycled Backpacks and Bags (2023): Totes, Purses, Shopping Bags

WIRED’s gear team has tested dozens of backpacks, totes, purses, messengers, slings, and even reusable shopping bags. More and more of these bags are using recycled materials that come from plastic water bottles, old nylon, and even fishing nets retrieved from the ocean. It’s important to find ways to reuse what would otherwise pollute our oceans and sit in landfills forever.

In this guide, we’ve pooled together our favorite bags that utilize recycled materials in some way, shape, or form. Not every bag is made from 100 percent recycled materials, but every little bit counts. But first, ask yourself: Do you need a new bag? If the one you have now really isn’t working out and can’t be repaired, then you might get some peace of mind with our picks below. Bags are often categorized by liters, which we explain more in a separate article.

Be sure to read our guides on the Best Recycled and Upcycled Products, Best Recycled Clothing, Best Reusable Products, Best Laptop Bags, and Best Camera Bags.

Updated April 2023: We’ve added the Troubadour Sling Compact, Lojel City Sling, Timbuk2 Spark Mini Pack, and Targus Zero Waste Backpack as picks. We’ve also added the Nixon Hatch Bag and Peak Design Everyday Totepack to our Honorable Mentions.

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