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But it's not always easy being green. Timbuk2, a company famous for its messenger bags, has encountered resistance in its attempt to produce totes made from discarded plastic bags.
The idea seemed feasible when Timbuk2 formed a partnership with RootPhi, which developed a machine capable of bonding plastic bags together. The machine, called the Lamitron, allowed them to produce a new fabric while maintaining the visual details of the original plastic bag.
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 Rootphi recently announced the launch of a new
sister company, The Architect’s Birdfeeder Co, LLC www.architectsbirdfeeder.com. Written up all over the web, the
website and product launch have been a huge hit with brisk initial sales.
The Architect's Birdfeeder was designed by Doug Patt Co-Founder of Rootphi. He designed the Architect’s
Birdfeeder to be fun to put together through exploring unique interlocking
structural elements! Unlike most birdfeeders, The Architect’s Birdfeeder comes
in a low impact small box, packs flat, and requires not tools or fasteners for
assembly. This makes it easy to refill. It is also easy to clean with a damp
soapy washcloth and is made from polycarbonate (the same stuff they make
bulletproof glass out of). Here is what others are saying about
the Architect’s Birdfeeder:
PSFK: "Unlike most birdfeeders, it looks more like an I.M. Pei sculpture
than a shrunken barn. It also comes in a low impact small box, packs
flat, requires no tools or fasteners for assembly, and is easy to
refill and clean."
Boing Boing: "I also happen to be sweet on flat-pack products for even less of
a good reason. I suppose they scratch the same itch as Ikea furniture
and Chinese takeout boxes. It's neat to see what can be designed given
the restriction, even if the one thing we have in amply supply in the
States is shelf space."
Coolhunting: "The upshot is product that's fun to put together, easy to refill and
clean and eco-friendly. It also looks like a bird feeder from the
future, which makes for a nice contrast with birdseed, trees and birds."
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 RootPhi was recently featured in this months brand eins magazine. Brand eins, the prominent branding business and design magazine in Germany, describes Rootphi's business model in contrast to Frog Design. In addition, it describes Rootphi's ability to continue to create disruptive game changing product categories and technologies.
Article Link (Coming Soon)
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 A series of RootPhi's products were recently featured at the New Products and Innovations Show at Design Within Reach. RootPhi showcased a variety of projects in development as well launched products at the show. RootPhi was recognized for outstanding innovation in the consumer product and sustainable product space.
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 Patti Roll, Director of Marketing at Timbuk2 was interviewed recently about their collaboration with RootPhi, llc. She discussed the ability to create completely customized messenger bags from RootPhi's patent pending process to create ReClaim material.
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 Brian Witlin was recently interviewed on Progressive Radio with John Scott regarding the various innovations RootPhi is developing. Brian discussed a few of the many projects that RootPhi currently has in the pipeline. Brian discussed the release the Timbuk2/Rootphi collaboration "Lamitron" bags which will be released in the coming weeks at the Timbuk2 store in San Francisco. The interview can be found 2/3 through the podcast.
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 This top secret fusing machine was created by a design consultancy, RootPhi,
who call their resulting fabric ‘Reclaim’. Apparently you end up with
fabric that has the good attributes of a leather or vinyl.
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 RootPhi was recently featured in the Folio magazine of Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung where various experts discussed "Who will be the next millionaire?" Diego Rodriguez wrote the following.
What I find most dazzling these days are people working to change environmentally-focused products from being merely "green" to being what I like to call "red" as well.
"Too many green products, such as the Prius hybrid, are the modern-day equivalent of a hairshirt. While undoubtedly morally and ethically rewarding to own, they lack a certain je ne sais quoi when it comes to providing the kind of visceral delights which bring pleasure to our monkey brains. Something red, on the other hand, feels more like a Ferrari, overflowing with wonderful sounds, scents and physical sensations which forge the kind of emotional connections that keep you coming back for more."
read the article | read in german
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 RootPhi was recently featured in Deloitte Consulting's Gateway magazine. The article discussed many of the innovative products and businesses RootPhi is currently developing and spoke briefly of what the members of Rootphi were doing before they formed the company.
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 Diego Rodriguez, VP at IDEO wrote a nice article about Brian:
"This month's Wired has a cool article about the Lamitron, a device developed by Brian Witlin which takes old plastic bags and turns them into usable fabrics. In partnership with Timbuk2, Brian is taking trash and turning it into functional, useful fashion. I gotta believe there are some pretty good margins with that kind of a supply chain... What Brian is doing today is exactly what we were envisioning when we wrote that first bullet: Prepare future innovators to be breakthrough thinkers and doers. Thinking AND doing it. Shipping stuff, making a difference."
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 Brian Witlin was recently interviewed by CBS Radio discussing the Eco-Chic recycling process and embodiments that RootPhi has been working on. The story will run on a few hundred stations across the country. In case you may miss it, you can listen to the story as an mp3.
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 "Last week, we were intrigued by a post on Coolhunting about RootPhi and Timbuk2's recycled messenger bags. The material is made from bonded plastic bags--very strong and quite eco chic. In an interview with RootPhi Cofounder and President Doug Patt, PSFK found out more about the innovative fabric, San Francisco's shopping bag ban, and his love of trashy products. Plus, Rootphi's top-secret sneaker revolution."
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"Brian Witlin, cofounder or RootPhi, is interested in rethinking recyclability to retain the intrinsic beauty of the first generation object. One of his explorations in this direction is being leveraged by Timbuk2 to create a new generation of messenger bags made from plastic trash."
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 RootPhi is featured in the May issue of WIRED magazine. Mathew Honan describes a first hand account of prototyping with Rootphi at our collaboration space at Timbuk2 .  The article speaks to the messy process that is RootPhi's special sauce.
"The finished totes look super cool, in a battered, Blade Runner sort of way. They bear the brands of whatever plastic bag or film was last fed into the Lamitron — some batches have logos from the San Francisco Chronicle, United Airlines, Apple, and Evian. Another has two side panels from Wal-Mart and a center section festooned with a familiar pattern of red concentric circles."
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 RootPhi is currently working with Timbuk2, a San Francisco based messenger bag & accessories company, on a special project. It is a collaborative effort to utilize a recycled fabric currently in development at RootPhi. The recycled fabric, RootPhi calls Reclaim™, is made from Low and High-density polyethylene. LDPE and HDPE are the simple plastic ingredients found in a typical shopping bags that you’d find at your local grocery or shopping market. RootPhi has developed a machine that turns these bags into a very special fabric that has characteristics much like leather or vinyl. The difference being that this new fabric is cost effectively recycled, comes in a wide variety of textures, thicknesses, colors and can be used in many applications. Timbuk2 saw this material in spring of last year during the early stages of development when RootPhi was making an assortment of prototype products such as change purses, wallets, and a variety of bags.
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 RootPhi just finished up a web project with top selling author Bob Sutton. To promote his new book, The No Asshole Rule, RootPhi developed a series of viral promotional strategies that surpassed conventional publisher promotion methods.
ARSEMail, one of our web based promotional concepts, was unveiled on Guy Kawasaki's Blog. RootPhi collaborated with the great people at Electric Pulp to develop web-based "e-cards."
Bob's Description of the ARSEmail Ecards:
"You have a choice of sending one of two cards, one to help someone who is dealing with an asshole, OR the other to apologize if you have been asshole. You can send a personal message with each card. Plus the card about dealing with assholes has some tips, as well as a link to my post on tips for victims of workplace assholes. You pick your card, write your message, and then send it. "
Since the inception of Bob's viral marketing efforts for his book, The No Asshole Rule has reached the 10 ten most sold books on Amazon and continues to be a major success.
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