Reimagining Waste: How a Brooklyn-native turns NYC’s “finest trash” into luxury tote bags

Lisa Azcona

Alex Dabagh, founder of the aNYbag, is on a mission to “take plastic off our streets” — here’s the unique way he’s making a difference.

Video Transcript

ALEX DABAGH: Plastic takes 500 to 1,000 years to decompose. It's going to outlive all of us. In my mind, sustainability is using what's available, taking what's out there and putting it into use. For us, we're taking trash and giving it a better life, a second use. So in my mind, sustainability, it's aNYbag. If we have all this trash going out, why not do something with it, why not reimagine it?

Hi, I'm Alex Dabagh. I'm the creator and founder of aNYbag. aNYbag is a homonym for a New York bag. You know, it's a fashion statement. Every time I wear mine, I get stopped left and right. Like oh, what is that? I'm like, it's trash. And they're like, no, really, what is it? It's New York City's finest trash. The mission for aNYbag Is very simply to take plastic off our streets and repurpose it, and turn it into a upcycled woven textile that we do here right in the heart of New York City on 29th and 6th Avenue.

You know, in my mind, there's no reason to send anything to landfills anymore when it comes to garments or fabrics or remnants or plastic because all that could be reused. How this came about was basically one night when I was taking out my trash and I turned around I was like, where is all my trash going? Where is the rest of New York City's trash going, the rest of the 8 and 1/2 only people that live here?

My mind just started running with that idea. And because we're a leather manufacturer at heart, and weaving leather is one of our specialties, I was able to figure out a way to take this plastic textile, re-engineer it, melt it together and create strips that we use to weave the blessing. This has never been done before.

We're pioneering this type of technology, this engineering of plastics. So with each aNYbag, we intercept about 98 single-use plastic bags to create one classy bag. With that, we are redirecting the trash from reaching our landfills and our waterways, and further polluting the environment.

With the collection process of plastic, we partnered up with half a dozen elementary schools. We partnered up with packaging companies. We partnered up with local supermarkets. We even have individuals coming in on a monthly basis dropping off their plastic from their homes that they've collected. It's amazing how much virgin plastic there is out there that just gets tossed.

You know, I grew up in New York in Brooklyn, born and raised all my life. I played in the parks all my life. I went to school in the city, college in the Bronx, and I want my kids to have the same clean city that I had growing up. So that was my way of creating a better future for them and cleaning up the greatest city in the world.

Last year alone, we collected over 12,000 pounds of plastic, which equates to 588,000 single-use plastic bags. That's over a half a million plastic bags have been collected in our little shop. This product isn't about margin and making a profit. This is about making the world a better place to live in.

And if we continue the way we are, the next 15, 20 years, I mean, we're not going to have a place to live. You know, where are we going to send all our trash? This product is 100% visible and traceable. You know and I know you could see where the trash, where the plastic is going and how it's being used. That's what makes aNYbag so unique and amazing because can make a difference with it.