Dutch Designers Make Leather Bags Out of Discarded Fruit

Fruit leather can solve more than hunger. It might also be a solution to overly full trash cans, at least according to the creators of a new bag made out of discarded produce. 

A group of designers studying at the Willem de Kooning Academie in Rotterdam created Fruitleather Rotterdam as a way of dealing with the food waste generated by the city’s farmers markets. According to the Netherlands-based designers, the city’s outdoor farmers markets throw away 3500 kilograms (more than 7700 pounds) of fruit and vegetable waste from rotten, damaged, or imperfect produce in just one day. 

They took the damaged produce and turned it into fruit leather, much the same as the stuff you would find dotting the checkout lines at a health food store. The dried fruit is mashed, cooked, and dried in large slabs, but instead of chopping it up and packaging it into individual serving sizes, it’s cut and shaped into bags.

It looks less like the snack you ate after soccer practice than you might think. But can you nibble on your bag if you start to get peckish on the go? The designers don't say, but this may be all part of their marketing plan—if you keep eating your purses, you'll just have to buy more! It's a whole new definition of overconsumption. 

All images by Fruitleather Rotterdam via Facebook