While medieval alchemists sought to turn lead into gold, Alchemy Goods strives to turn useless stuff like blown-out inner tubes, old seatbelts, and advertising banners into useful stuff like bags and wallets. This is upcycling. Recycling turns stuff into the same thing over and over again. Upcycling turns something of lesser value into something better.

People say that "necessity is the mother of invention," and that's exactly the way Alchemy Goods got started. During the summer of 2003 in Seattle, product engineer and bike commuter Eli Reich had his messenger bag stolen. Being an industrious sort, he decided to make himself a replacement out of materials he had in abundance: used bicycle inner tubes and a seatbelt strap. The first prototype was born on his home sewing machine. It wasn't perfect, but it was exactly what he needed. Soon, friends wanted their own, then local bike shops expressed interest, and each bag improved over the last. Thanks to Eli's friends, demand grew and grew, which led to the founding of Alchemy Goods.