When
Angela Greene, 45, learned that her backpack's pocket was made
of truck and tractor inner tubes and that local tire centers
offered free discarded inner tubes, she began experimenting.
With Ken Kobrick, she created handbag prototypes in 2001.
 And
in 2004, they founded Richmond, Virginia-based Passchal and
landed their bags in the Billboard Music Awards goodie bags.
The conversion of inner tubes to luxurious handbags with
customizable leather trim and Smartlyte Interior light systems
is miraculous, considering the original farm equipment tubes
"are dirty and smell like rotten eggs," according to Greene.
Kobrick, 47, proudly mentions that, in addition to boutiques,
recycling organizations and automotive and tire stores now carry
Passchal.
The business projects 2006 sales of $200,000 and is
creating a line of evening bags with fiber optics, proving
they're fearless when it comes to treading into the unfamiliar.
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