The Bag Lady: Hippyshopper's pick of the best eco-friendly bags for winter '08/09

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Hippyshopper's pick of the best eco-friendly bags for winter '08/09

Our fabulous sister site Hippyshopper has been searching high and low to find the pick of the best eco-friendly bags out there - editor Abi Silvester gives us the lowdown:

Over the last few weeks I've seen so many bags - bags of bags, you might say - that are as sustainably made as they are stylish. So if you're looking to buy an ethically made bag as a gift, you'll be spoilt for choice. Top of my list for women has to be this great offer by Ollie & Nic, who are offering a free compact mirror decorated with upcycled, vintage fabric with each purchase of their 'Novello' oversized clutch.

Follow the jump for more super stylish sustainable portage for men and women

For a wonderfully personal gift, check out the new messenger bag from Spreadshirt, which can be customised with a design of your choice. It's made from an eco-fabulous blend of hemp and recycled PET bottles, available in two colour schemes, which you can find at Spreadshirt's site. Here are a couple of examples of how you could style your bag to fit its owner's personality:

Space invader retro chic for geeks:

loving the planet for the warm-hearted:

If you've lusted after Voltaic's solar-panel clad portage before but can't quite stretch to their prices, I've found a real bargain over at Get Ethical. It's a solar panel-powered bag which holds charge (for all your portable devices) for up to 3 months and is spacious enough to carry a laptop. It's also a bargain at £45.

This impeccably smart bag from Bourgeois Boheme is made from 100% vegan leather, and also costs £45.

Lots of Matt & Nat's fantastic vegan-chic bags are on sale at reduced prices at the moment, so now could be the time to get that ethical handbag of a lifetime! All bags on the label's site are priced in US$, but I've found a few bargains on UK sites too, including this oversized black shoulder bag which is now priced at £67.50 (was £135) from Black Truffle

There's even more space-invader chic over at Folksy, the UK-based handmade site. This fun tote bag is made from recycled leather and the main seam is trimmed with green pom-poms! It's priced at just £25.