We is Karen Monson and Rod Simpson and we started RARE BAGS in Tasmania in late 2009.  Our background is community work and having spent 10 years working in North Qld we needed a change and RARE BAGS is what we came up with.  We wanted to be independent and do something that has some meaning for us.

Our passion is the planet and the whys and wherefores of what we (as humans) are doing to it and all the other critters the planet provides a home for.   The extinction of species is the greatest crime that humanity has committed and hence we have a number of patches that raise awareness and stir the emotions about this issue.

All the bags are made from recycled, rescued from landfill and remnant materials - we use curtains, bedspreads, tablecloths and of course 2nd and 3rd hand fabric we get from op shops etc.  It takes about 30 bathtubs of water to make the cotton for a single tshirt, and hence we use recycled to not support the production of new fibres.  Cotton crops are the largest user of insecticides and pesticides in the world so it makes sense to us to use what is already in existance. 

We make the bags ourselves because we don't want to get rich from this ...  we simply hope to sell enough bags to be independent, live very simply, stir the pot, raise awareness and encourage others to do the same with the messages of our bags. 

There are a lot of issues in the world, and as one of the patches say (as have numerous other people) 'if you're not pissed off, you're not paying attention!