Mike, from Jimi, sent GGG a couple of Jimi Wallets to try out and review for our green girls. After a three-week test drive (thanks to my best buddy N, for her help and notes!), the skinny on Jimi:

The Company:
Jimi was founded a few years ago, with a single product: the basic Jimi wallet. They now carry a small line of other Jimi-s, including the JimiX (a larger version of the Jimi wallet) and a couple of disc and mini-disc carriers.

Like more and more small businesses out there, Jimi is about doing business in a way that is concerned not only with their customers, but with the world their customers live in. And not just as an afterthought. With Jimi, you get a sense that environmental and social impacts is a key concern around which their business is built.

While they haven’t max-ed out their green-factor–the product itself is (eek!) plastic–we give them lots of green girls points for trying. And everything has to start somewhere. Jimi uses 100% post-industrial waste plastic, the product is recyclable, and made with fair-wage, U.S.-based labor. Also, as a member of the 1% for the environment alliance, Jimi donates 1% of all sales to environmental initiatives. So +50 points to Jimi for being a company that green girls can feel good about when shopping.

Function:
I’m notorious for misplacing pocketbooks. Well, let’s be real. I’m notorious for misplacing just about everything. So maybe the first and best out-of-the-box feature of the Jimi wallet is that its designed to be clipped to things: your bag, a lanyard, your pants, you. (+10 points for Jimi!) Only a minor complaint that clip is not included! (Ah. -2 points.)

The wallet is approximately 4 1/2 inches (11 cm) by 2 1/2 inches (6.5 cm), and 1/2 inch (1.2 cm) thick. The Jimi snaps open at the top, unfolding to reveal a money clip on one side, and a card holder in the other. The card holder will accomodate up to four credit cards, the clip will do about around 10 or so bills folded in three. The snap is nice and secure, and will tolerate a little bit of Jimi-overstuffing.

I’m not sure why, but I expected the wallets to be more rubbery and squishy–they are defintely a hard plastic shell. This can make them a little bulky in your back pocket if you are a smaller green girl. (Erm, like me.) If you’re planning to carry it in your purse or pack, this is not a problem. On the other hand, the plastic casing makes it excellently water- and dirt-resistant. Great for hikes, kayaking, etc.

Form:
The wallet itself definitely has an “ooooh” factor. For the few weeks that my best buddy N and I “test drove” them (we had them in red and clear), we got a lot of comments and compliments. There’s a certain novelty to the design itself, and hey, transluecent stuff is kind of inherently cool. (+15 points.) Also, the Jimi flat surfaces invite your stickers, art, etc.

Final Verdict?
I’m not sure what the final Jimi point total would be (in, uh, the totally arbitrary point system I’ve designed for this post). I just like assigning points to things.

In the end, we really liked using the Jimi wallet, but not for the things we thought we would. N thought it would be a great wallet for slipping in her pocket for hitting the bars, while I wanted to clip it in my bag and use it as my everyday pocket book. It turned out that the Jimi wasn’t quite slim enough for her dancing pants, and that the lack of a place to store my everyday coins made me a little nuts. She ended up giving hers to her green boy, who loves it, and I use mine as a designated wallet for hiking, surfing, and camping trips.

So, would we Jimi again? Definitely.