Our Inspiration

Designed and printed with love in Aotearoa New Zealand.

TotesTotes - it's all in the name. We totally love tote bags, we basically live out of them. Totes for the gym, totes for the beach, for shopping, work, gifts - pretty much any time we leave the house.

And with each tote we swing, we try to leave as little impact on this beautiful planet as we can.

A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,

“Well, I made a difference for that one!”

The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.*

Can a tote save the world? No. But it can make a difference.

*Adapted from "The Star Thrower" by Loren C. Eiseley