It's in the bag: Center City District recycles fabric scrolls into totes

THE BOLDLY patterned bags may seem like just other pretty carryall, but they deserve second and third looks: Did that one say "Manayunk"? Why does that building look so familiar? And is that actor Nathan Lane's face on one side of that tote?

They're the Center City District's banner bags, eco-friendly totes made from the fabric scrolls that once hung from light poles throughout the area.

"These bags are something that are uniquely Philly," said Kelly Farrelly, manager of the CCD's banner program. "You're not going to find something like this anywhere."

The initial run included bags constructed from banners made for the Red Bull Soap Box Race 2008, Christoph Eschenbach's 2003 debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Ben Franklin Tercentenary. A more recent one included the banner promoting Walnut Street Theatre's production of "The Producers."

All of the bags are made of fabrics that are designed to withstand tough weather conditions. Some bags have a windbreaker-type texture. Others are more canvaslike. The bags are roomy - measuring 17-by-14.5-by-4.5 inches - and include two inside pockets.

The bags began selling last fall and are available at select Center City stores. Proceeds are used to further CCD's goals of keeping Center City safe, clean and beautiful. About 750 have sold thus far. Prices vary by store but start around $17. For more information, go to www.centercityphila.org.

Other nonprofits are interested in the CCD's idea: Some banner clients, like the Pennsylvania Ballet, are having bags made from their own banners. The University City District is also looking at bag prototypes, Farrelly said.

The CCD has been hanging banners for more than 17 years, going through about 3,000 banners annually. In the past, used ones were donated to design schools or tossed into storage.

"We were looking for a way to deal with obsolete inventory," Farrelly said. "I don't see us running out of raw material anytime soon."

Farrelly, who used to sew bags herself, had the idea to turn the banners into shopping sacks. Looking for partners, she found them in two area organizations: Philacor, an inmate training program operated by the prison system, launders the banners and hangs them out to air-dry.

Baker Industries, a nonprofit program that teaches basic work skills to the handicapped, ex-offenders, the homeless and those in recovery, handles the actual sewing.

"We had to learn how to double-needle and single-needle," said Turk Thacher, Baker's president. "But we'll do anything."

On a recent Tuesday, two workers were bent over sewing machines inside Baker Industries in Kensington, cranking out the next order. Each banner can yield as many as four bags.

Thacher showed off the piles of bright fabrics waiting to be cut and pieced together. When demand for the bags is up, even more machines are whirling, he said.

"We'd love to have them humming," he said.

Baker employee Dotti Walters said she has three of the bags at home.

"Aren't they neat? I never thought about where the banners went," she said. "I am an official bag lady."