Now that the Earth Day media (and blogger) bandwagon is done for a year, you will see the predictable drop-off in stories about green travel and eco-friendly gear. The world keeps turning and deteriorating though, so we’ll keep talking about what does and doesn’t help the planet when you are on the move.

I’ve been trying out one of these cool recycled materials bags from the Keen Harvest collection. The “harvest” name refers to what these totes are made out of: recycled rice paper and “brown haul bag paper.” This one is the Harvest Grand, a simple shoulder tote that’s like a narrow messenger bag. Inside the flap there’s a zippered front pocket, a small interior zippered pocket, a place for a phone/notebook and some pens, and the main compartment.

I’m a green gear skeptic much of the time because if you really dive into the data, the most wasteful part of creating and selling travel gear comes with the creation and shipping rather than what it’s made out of, but it’s hard to fault anything made with stuff that would have just ended up in a landfill. With this Keen Grand bag you can give some materials a second life while having a cool-looking conversation piece as well.

As you can see from this back shot of the bag I’ve been using, these Asian rice bags are far from plain, plus you get the design element of having very foreign characters that we can’t come close to deciphering. With a list price of $50 for this one, the company is banking on the coolness factor being a big selling point. The tag says, “These bags have looks, smarts, and oodles of features that make them as unique, adaptable, and full of surprises as the people who carry them.”

You’ll need to treat the Harvest line of bags nicely though, making them better for a sightseeing daypack on vacation than for something you will use nonstop for months on end. “Resist overloading and do your best to keep it dry.” A two-week trip in Morocco? Check. Rainy season in Costa Rica. Maybe not. Take something like the Keen Hybrid Transport bag instead.

See more at the Keen Bags site.

Get the Harvest Grand at REI.