How many times have you described a tote bag as a “walking billboard”? One company has taken that oft-used descriptor literally and added its own environmentally friendly twist: Rareform scoops up vinyl billboards before they reach landfills and transforms them into one-of-a-kind totes, backpacks, wallets and more.

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Where are you spending the long weekend? You can find us at the beach 🏄🏼☀️

A post shared by RAREFORM (@rareform) on Jan 20, 2019 at 7:18pm PST

Brothers Aric and Alec Avedissian came up with the idea while backpacking through South America and seeing old billboards being used as roofing, basket liners and other purposes. The PVC material is “durable, waterproof and colorful,” explains Kara Morin, chief marketing officer for Rareform.

“We knew nothing about manufacturing or retail,” the brothers relate on the Rareform website. “We just knew unique billboards were all around us, and if we could turn those billboards into bags, we could make a cool product under a brand that was doing good.”

.@RAREFORM turns old billboards into unique, environmentally-conscious accessories 🌎 pic.twitter.com/xlXHMffMlZ

— INSIDER (@thisisinsider) December 28, 2018

To get the material to launch their business, the brothers convinced an advertising company to ship a few pallets of billboards to their parents’ home. “Our parents weren’t happy about it,” the brothers recall on their website. By 2015, however, Rareform was established enough to get its own office and warehouse space outside of Santa Monica, CA.

“Now we partner with the three largest outdoor advertisers in the country and receive shipments from all over the United States,” Morin says. “We currently repurpose 50,000 pounds of billboard vinyl a month.”

The billboards are washed, cut and sewn into a number of products: totes, wallets, duffels, cross-body bags and pouches. Due to the nature of the material being used, each Rareform item is unique.

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Curious about the #billboardstobags process? 1️⃣ Collect it. • We collect bold billboards from all over the country. 🛣 2️⃣ Cut it. • We wash & cut vinyl in our LA headquarters. ✂️ 3️⃣ Sew it. • Each item is sewn to create a unique, high-quality, durable product. 🧵 4️⃣ Choose it. • We have a variety of styles to fit every personality! Each bag is unique as its owner. 👤 📸: @stephenplopper #repurposed #upcycle #zerowasteliving

A post shared by RAREFORM (@rareform) on Mar 18, 2019 at 4:31pm PDT

Repurposing billboards is an idea ripe for the promotional products realm, and indeed, Rareform has a corporate division, allowing brands to turn their own used billboards into custom products if they wish. According to the website, the company offers low minimums, a production time of four to six weeks and the ability to customize its products with a logo. “We aim to align ourselves with similar brands, corporations, events and individuals that will echo our mission,” according to the site. Rareform has worked with both large and small clients, including Disney, Dell, SXSW and Patron, Morin says.

The idea has also been a hit with the average consumer. “People enjoy knowing their purchase does well for the environment and that each bag is 100% unique,” Morin says.

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