Iconic backpack retailer Fjällräven has collaborated with Swedish illustrator and animator Linn Fritz to create a collection of playful rucksacks with a vitally important mission – saving our oceans of plastic one piece at a time.
Under the brand’s Kanken Art initiative, Swedish artists are invited to encapsulate their relationship with the natural world through art, using the classic Kanken backpack as their canvas. Now in its third year, Kanken Art is tackling the issue of overwhelming amounts of plastic in oceans across the world. Around 71% of the planet’s surface is covered by ocean and although devastating, the stark reality is; ‘estimates indicate that by year 2050, there will be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish, unless we seriously change our habits…’ explains Kanken.
Kanken Art is determined to draw attention to the increasingly devastating effects of plastic and micro plastic in our oceans. The limited-edition collection launched on World Ocean’s Day with 1% of proceeds going directly to the Artic Fox Initiative which supports organisations fighting to clear our oceans of plastic.
Kanken Art is working alongside Leave No Trace for Outdoor Ethics and The Two Minute Foundation both of which are supported the Artic Fox Initiative. Leave No Trace is a non-profit organisation based in the US who are dedicated to educating people on how to enjoy the natural world responsibly. Similarly, the Two Minute Foundation empowers communities to work on an individual level to help tackle plastic waste by cleaning up local areas two minutes at a time. They use social media initiatives such as #2minutestreetclean and #2minutebeachclean to empower individuals to look after their local natural spaces.
The collection of four unique backpacks comes in two designs, ‘Ocean Deep’ which is an array of deep blues and grey and ‘Ocean Surface’ which is sky blue, white and coral. Each bag is crafted using Kanken’s hardwearing and sustainably conscious fabric which is made up of organic cotton and recycled polyester. The iconic Kanken silhouettes are kept throughout the collection.
In keeping with Kanken’s commitment to eliminating plastic and drawing attention to its disastrous effects, each order is sent with a litter picking bag so all of us can do our bit, even if it’s only a #2minutebeachclean.
