I saved 45 bottles from the landfill

My husband and I love camping, hiking, and generally just being outdoors. My husband is also into safety, security, and disaster preparedness. He believes, not unreasonably, that we need to have supplies if a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, occurs, so we have a hurricane box filled with with all of the things we were glad we had when the last hurricane wiped us out for several weeks and a few things we wished we had. However, we also each have "3 day packs." Basically, a backpack with enough food, water, and supplies to last in the middle of nowhere for at least 3 days. I guess it is his military training kicking in, but I'm not complaining too much. Better safe than sorry. I'd much rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. It is because of this resent decision to have 3-day pack packed and ready that I decided I needed another pack and headed out to Bass Pro Shop, Dicks, and a few other stores to poke around and see what they had.

I am also "light green" as one of my friends would put it. I'm not a complete Eco-friendly "dark green" tree-hugging kind of gal, but I do my part. I reduce, reuse, and recycle whenever I can, but I also drive a small SUV. When given a greener choice vs a not so earth friendly choice I will gravitate towards the earth friendly solution, but I don't refuse to buy or use something if it isn't certified organic and packaged minimally with only 100% recycled materials. However, I saw this pack and fell in love with it! It is a great pack, large enough for everything I would need for a week with the family in the Everglades or a 3-day hump through the woods at the end of civilization as we know it (not the end of the world, 'cause hey...I don't plan on sticking around for that if you know what I mean), but the coolest thing about this pack is that it is made out of recycled water bottles. 45 water bottles to be exact. It doesn't feel like a plastic pack, it actually feels exactly like nylon, but it has 100% 450d Recycled PET body fabric and 100% 840d Recycled PET reinforcements. I don't know exactly what 450d and 840d mean (if anyone would care to enlighten me, please leave a comment!) but I know that PET fabrics are made by chipping plastic bottles and melting them. The melted plastic is then run through very small holes and hardens into yarn/thread which is then sewn into fabric. Pretty cool huh?

The pack wasn't that expensive either. Now, it wasn't the cheapest backpack I've ever bought, but it is by no means the most expensive pack we have in this house. In fact, it was fairly reasonably priced when compared to other packs of the same size and quality.

Even though it is way too hot to be doing too much strenuous exercise outside in the middle of the day, I am really itching to use my new pack!