Plastic grocery bags are everywhere: piling up along the highway, floating in the ocean, accumulating in your pantry – and now in the form of a cute, prizewinning handbag.

The world consumes almost one million plastic bags per minute, and the vast majority end up as landfill or litter. But Bay Localize contracted engineer, Kate Stillwell's plastic bags found a more fashionable home, in the form of her prizewinning entry to a recent Sustainability Challenge issued by Degenkolb Engineers. Stillwell's design, a paired handbag and hat, crafted from recycled plastic bags, earned a $5,000 prize for local environmental nonprofit Bay Localize.

Stillwell, a structural engineer, used her background to create an ingenious three-dimensional space from sixteen plastic grocery bags fused together to form a sheet of stiffer plastic, which she then folded and finished with a zipper and asymmetrical handle. Stillwell's choice of materials celebrates Bay Localize's message of using local resources.

Stillwell chose to direct the prize to Bay Localize after her engineering firm collaborated with the nonprofit on the Neighborhood Assessment, Tapping the Potential of Urban Rooftops study that calculated how much food, water, and electricity could be produced on rooftops in an Oakland neighborhood.

Stillwell was inspired by Bay Localize's focus on local resilience and community action. "I think their work is so relevant and really has the potential to make a big impact," she said. "In my own life, I mostly try to do little things to make a difference, but the most important decision I've made is buying a house within walking distance to everything I do."

Bay Localize is thrilled with Kate's support and innovation for the contest and is planning to produce a collection of the recycled bag purses to offer the public.