Bagging it for the environment and er ... art?

Daniel and Markus Frietag's rugged and colorful bags are ubiquitous on the streets of Zurich and growing in popularity around the world. Utterly unique, the bags, wallets, iPhone cases and other accessories are made from second-hand tarpaulin from European freight trucks. And as if that isn't eco-edgy enough, the Freitag factory/office building in Zurich is made entirely of old shipping containers.

Recycling is in the Freitag family fabric and the entrepreneurial brothers admit they were taught to compost at a very young age. Something that's come in handy this week at Vienna Design Week.

Their eco-friendly ways and design ingenuity recently prompted an invitation to Vienna to participate in an interactive installation at the Walking Chair Gallery, called "Urban Gardening." The pair have designed 100 limited-edition reusable compost bags for the exhibit.

At the opening, guests were given the bags free of charge on the condition that they use the bags to compost their food waste for the length of the three-month exhibit in tis artistic compost heap. Each participant had to leave behind a photo and contact info to guarantee their commitment to the exhibit.

The brothers themselves contributed to the work in progress by cooking up a good wholesome soup for the opening night. Guests then added the first touches to the creative heap with their vegetable peelings.

Yes, it's fair to say, this art is indeed, garbage.

Photos courtesy Daquella manera via Flickr.