Brenda Sacks, a former fashion and T-shirt designer/manufacturer in Los Angeles in the 80s and 90s, has had an almost 20-year hiatus. It was the frustration of not being able to find table cloths or table mats that she liked, or that looked good after just one wash, that has led her back to the drawing board (literally) to create an innovative and uplifting line of table coverings using her own designs that she felt called to create using black ink and large brushes in almost meditative strokes.

The quest began on her travels across the world, always looking for that special idea. After much R&D; she found 100% recycled woven fiber, sourced entirely from recycled plastic bottles. Reducing waste is something very important to her. In 2004 while traveling in Australia, Brenda saw reusable grocery bags in a supermarket and this hit her like a bolt. She bought ten bags and brought them home to the U.S. A year later, together with her brother and son, she co-founded The Earthwise Bag Company. Today Earthwise Bag Company is a premier supplier of reusable grocery bags in the U.S. (and abroad).

Brenda's desire to manufacture a sustainable product fueled her obsession to use waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill. Each day one billion plastic bottles are used in the world and too many end up in landfills and the ocean. Breathing a second life into these plastic bottles not only saves natural resources and energy in the production process, it also lowers gas emissions and the use of chemicals.

The results of this endeavor are crisp, modern table cloths, mats, and runners that are spill-resistant and incredibly easy-to-use. Each piece is emblazoned with Sacks’ artwork that carries with it a happy and peaceful aura.

“When I paint my designs, I think good and happy thoughts. It is a perfect moment in time captured as the brush moves smoothly and freely,” Brenda says.

An exciting addition to her line, Sacks teamed up with Danish Illustrator Ulla Puggaard on two of her table cloth designs. She saw Puggaard’s lettering in a magazine and fell in love with it, tearing out the page and regarding it as the gold standard for the writing she wanted to use with her designs. On a whim, she Googled and e-mailed Puggaard regarding a possible collaboration; Puggaard was interested in the idea. “The way Ulla writes is art,” says Sacks. “I loved the idea of the huge letters actually forming the art on the cloth.”

Tote bags and pillow covers will be added to the line in the spring.