My name is Sally Schneiders and this is my story, because sometimes these things just happen…..

My husband, Jeff and I moved out to Fort Collins from Chicago in 2021.

We discovered Zwei Brewery through our son, because that’s what beer lovers do, find the best one as task #1 upon arriving!

Well, we patronize Zwei, um, pretty frequently, as do hundreds of other “regulars”, and eventually got to know some of the people who make that fabulous [fantastisch] German style beer.

One day in July of 2023 we walked in after work and found space at the “big table”, where the founders, brewers, investors, their friends etc sit.

As we sat down we noticed some of these people mulling over a half built prototype of a bike saddle bag, it turns out by upcycling grain sack material the breweries normally toss. These guys were looking for viable products to make out of the sacks.

The owners told me they throw about 30-50 sacks away each week, and every other brewery does as the sacks are unrecyclable. As a lifelong recyclist, reuser, reducer, I was horrified.

Without any knowledge of sewing, no plan, I started collecting the sacks.

As you can see from the pic on the left, I’ve accumulated over 2000 of them, from Zwei alone, in 5 months, since then! Think of the multiplier here!

In the quest of saving these bags from the landfills, I vowed to turn them into totes, or shoulder bags, saddle bags, any type of bag. AND! Recruit and motivate other sew-ists to upcycle grain sacks themselves. There are so many opportunities to show and sell your products, make some money, and improve our natural environment in the process.

Sew I did. 💪

If I can do it, anybody can. The opportunity to embellish is so much fun. And people love them! I’ve sold the few that I have made with orders for more, like yoga bags, bags with pockets, further up the learning curve for me! The designs on the bags are already beautiful.

This material is free. If you live in Fort Collins I have a massive number of sacks on our front porch, ready to disperse! Or visit your own local brewery.

Here are a few tutorials. Please write back with any questions, you are needed in this Operation Totes Not Trash

Thank you!