BEND, Ore. -- A Bend company called Sara Bella Upcycled focuses on creating fashionable, functional artwork out of things people toss away every day.

The company makes one-of-a-kind products that are environmentally friendly.

Instead of calling it recycling, owner and creator Sara Wiener calls it "upcycling." It means to create something even better from its original state.

"I just started playing around with plastic bags and at one point I thought, this is really great," said Wiener. "I thought, 'Look at this pile of plastic bags that I'm putting to use, instead of putting in a landfill.'

Wiener makes plastic functional by making purses, totes, wine holders and even fashion-forward apparel.

Her upcycled business took off about a year ago, when some of her pieces were shown at an Earth day event.

"In the past year, it's just been growing, growing, growing," said Wiener. "I even hired my first employee."

Wiener makes all of the unique products with the help of her employee, Karlin Hedin, who is an avid sewer.

"This is a totally new concept," said Hedin. "I thought, 'You know I'm going to try this, this could be really fun,' and it was very artistic at the same time."

The two work at a studio in NorthWest Crossing, a place where Wiener said she receives a lot of support.

"I think that this is so attractive to so many people in Bend and in Central Oregon, because people here really get it," said Wiener. "They get that our environment is so important, and it's really up to us to take care of it."

To create the plastic pieces, it starts with trash bags full of trash, much of it donated by Wiener's neighbors.

Wiener cleans them, flattens them out on the heat press and fuses the plastic together to create a strong material. Then, decorative plastics are added, and they are trimmed and sewn together.

"There's really almost no carbon footprint that I'm leaving as a result of my business," Wiener said.

For items that cannot be heated, they are solely sewn together, which Wiener calls "crazy quilting."

The bags can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to construct, but some pieces are specially made, and take much longer. For example, a trench coat designed by Wiener and Hedin took over 28 hours to make and contains over 400 plastic bags.

Shops around town like Camalli Book Company and the Foot Zone carry Sara Bella products. Wiener and Hedin believe it is important to keep spreading the message about helping the environment.

"It's up to us as parents, and a neighborhood and a family to make sure that recycling is done," said Hedin. "It's important to me now, where it didn't used to be."

Wiener said she has many dreams and ambitions she hopes to achieve with her thriving business.

"My mission is to educate," said Wiener. "The more people I can teach how to utilize this trash, the less trash will end up in the garbage. I will teach anyone and everyone how to do this process and let them go for it on their own."

To learn some of the techniques used at Sara Bella, Wiener said she hopes to teach classes soon. For more information, visit her website at www.sarabella.com.