The chic reusable bag company, BAGGU, was founded in 2007 by Emily Sugihara who studied at the Parsons School of Design. In the winter of 2006, Suigihara, then a designer at J. Crew in New York, wanted to give some reusable shopping bags to her eco-conscious mother as a Christmas present, but she couldn't find any that were cute, well-made and affordable. So she bought some fabric and together with her mother, began creating the bag they wanted but couldn't find.

As the design evolved, Sugihara and her mother mailed prototypes -- about 100 in total -- coast-to-coast through the spring of 2007. The clean, stylish bags took off and BAGGU bags are now sold all over the world.

The BAGGU shoppers are made in China. To ensure that BAGGU factories comply with ethical and environmental standards, BAGGU works with several companies, including SGS, that monitor their conditions. Sugihara says, "hopefully we're actually improving the situation there by keeping our factories to an ethical mode of production."