These days my work commute consists of riding a train and a walk to/from the office. I found I didn’t have a very good solution for carrying my laptop and other supplies on my commute. I have a soft-sided briefcase with a slot for my laptop and all the other gear I need, but the shoulder strap is not very comfortable for walking any sort of distance. I have a hiking type backpack, which I was using, but it’s just one big compartment and has no padding. So I started looking for a new backpack that would handle my laptop better and have various compartments for other gear. I was also looking for something more environmentally friendly, then I ran across the Osprey ReSource Series packs.

The ReSource Series of packs and courier bags are some of the greenest packs on the market. They are made from 70% recycled materials by total content:

• 100% recycled PET fabric
• 100% Recycled mesh pockets
• 60% recycled content spacer mesh
• 55% recycled stretch woven pockets
• 100% recycled binding tape
• 100% recycled webbing
• Recycled buckles – reground from buckle scrap
• 100% recycled fabric zipper pulls
• (Non recycled foams, threads, zippers, piping and hypalon)

The ReSource Series bags are part of Osprey’s “Active Everyday” collection. The series includes 4 packs: Revo (22 Liters), Cypher (26 L), React (28 L) and Circuit (32 L). There are also two courier bags: Astro (18 L) and Elroy (25 L).

I ended up buying a green Circuit backpack from Amazon for about $99. The pack has a large main compartment with a padded section for up to a 17″ laptop. This compartment has a few inside pockets and has tons of room for my power, various gadgets and a jacket. There’s a second zipper at the back providing easier access to the laptop. An outer pocket has a couple slots for pens with another zippered inside pocket. There’s a small top pocket for sungrasses, keys, etc. There are two zippered side pockets which can also hold 1 Liter bottles and a stretch woven front pocket which clips at the top. There’s even a mesh pocket on the shoulder strap for cell phones, but there’s not enough room for my Treo.

The recycled material feels a little different from the standard nylon ripstop I’m used to from backpacking packs. It’s softer to the touch, but still feels quite strong. The shoulder and back padding are comfortable, but the waist belt, as on most packs of this type, if fairly useless. The bag weighs just over 1 kg. It comes in four different colors: Redwood (red), Panda (Black), Glacier (blue) and Rainforest (green).

I’m quite happy with the pack so far. My only real complaints are the lack of compression straps and that the laptop padding is not as thick as some regular laptop packs. However, the level of recycled material utilized combined with good comfort and utility make this one of the best purchases I’ve made lately. If you’re in the market for a new pack or courier bag, make sure you check out the Osprey ReSource Series. Hopefully this will be a new trend in the backpack industry.