Artisan Story: BIO Imaginarte BIO Imaginarte - The founders of BIO Imaginarte take the mantra “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” to heart. The focus of BIO when it began in 1992 was educating Mexico in the need to protect and restore the environment. Working with women who live in several villages as an aspect of its education efforts, BIO helped designed bags and other functional products that are made from manufactured materials, reusing aluminum pop tops, rubber from tires and plastic billboards, as well as recycling paper and candy wrappers. The women are paid a fair price for each piece that they make, which promotes the beauty of handmade products while addressing one of the main causes of environmental deterioration in Mexico—poverty.