'Salt Legacy': Island company repurposes used sail cloth to make custom bags and backpacks
When Meaghan McDonald got tired of paying rising rent, she bought a boat and lived aboard.
That phase of her life is behind her now – she says "three years was long enough" – but it was during that time that her current business started to take shape.
"I was hiking and I got to the summit and my backpack was starting to fall apart," McDonald said.
She thought she could build a better bag, and drew inspiration from her sailboat surroundings.
Soon, she was cranking out prototypes for bags made from recycled sail cloth. That became the basis for Salt Legacy.
The company uses old sails to make waterproof "adventure backpacks" and other products, turning what would otherwise be waste in a landfill into a new product.
Salt Legacy's homepage boasts that it has diverted 1,765 kilograms of material from landfills, with more to come.
The sails are donated by island sailors, and each sail's story is sewn on the inside of the bag.
"You get the map and the story of where the sail sailed, and even the skipper's name," explained Tisha Becker, McDonald's business partner.
Initially, McDonald said, the business was intended to be a side project. But it soon took over the living room, and sales of the one-of-a-kind, hand-sewn bags were brisk.
Next month, the company is launching two new collections online, and McDonald and Becker say they have "so many ideas" for what's to come.
With files from CTV Vancouver Island's Jordan Cunningham
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