5 ms·

I started a business selling swim trunks made from recycled plastic bottles

59 points by patwalls 7y ago

ineedasername 7y ago
tldr: They worked with an Alibaba manufacturer that already made recycled shorts, and a designer to make their design. The rest is branding.
- imglorp 7y ago
  Thank you. I do wonder what a small business process and product would look like if it was (a) made closer to the source of bottles, ie not offshore, and (b) not a garment but something else useful. The garment industry is highly unscalable and labor intensive so it's probably out of the question for a first world startup. But maybe some other household article, like sandals or furniture.
  - ineedasername 7y ago
    The scalability issue may soon have some help, certainly not for all garments but for some. [0] Thought bath towels and t-shirts are progress, it will take quite some work to generalize to a wider range of items. [0] https://www.fastcompany.com/40454692/this-t-shirt-sewing-robot-could-radically-shift-the-apparel-industry https://www.fastcompany.com/40454692/this-t-shirt-sewing-rob...
  - TaylorAlexander 7y ago
    I'm learning how to make 3d printed robots with useful printed gears etc. My hope is that in the future I can use recycled materials. The PETG I print with is the PET most bottles are made out of, plus the addition of glycol which I believe makes it tougher. However making PETG from PET bottles, assuming it is even possible, does not seem like the best way to reuse plastics. I have wondered if you could make building wall panels by dumping a bunch of used plastic bottles in a press and using heat and pressure to fuse them together without ever chopping them or doing any chemical reprocessing. I've also seen a company that sells a machine to reprocess used plastic bottles in to plastic bricks. Using old plastic as a building material sounds really interesting to me.
    - imglorp 7y ago
      Something like that is possible with plastic milk jugs. Just apply heat and you end up with something like taffy that can be molded. Maybe wall panels (with some filler like sawdust?) are feasible? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdKmq7Kjt0I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdKmq7Kjt0I
      - cwkoss 7y ago
        Milk jugs are usually HDPE, which is much more easily recyclable.
- cwkoss 7y ago
  This is how the majority of US clothing brands operate, I don't think this is necessarily problematic. Local manufacturing is definitely preferable, but following the industry standard isn't really a knock against a small player.
Tharkun 7y ago
Do their products leach microplastics into the environment when washed?
- lnsru 7y ago
  Why shouldn’t they? All synthetic materials do this. Edit: that’s the reason I go to the gym with worn-out cotton clothing with advertising instead of buying trendy training t-shirt from some big brand.
- tomp 7y ago
  My first thought as well. Plastic bottles are quite hard and almost unbreakable (and when they break, the pieces aren't micro); in contrast, clothing fibres made of plastic bend a lot, presumably break a lot and are very micro...
  - jpalomaki 7y ago
    The larger plastic pieces turn to micro over time. "Secondary plastics are small pieces of plastic derived from the breakdown of larger plastic debris, both at sea and on land. Over time, a culmination of physical, biological, and chemphotodegradation, including photodegradation caused by sunlight exposure, can reduce the structural integrity of plastic debris to a size that is eventually undetectable to the naked eye"[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics
glfharris 7y ago
Their front page seems weirdly aggro towards two of their largest potential markets, eco-minded people and surfers.
- hoorayimhelping 7y ago
  >We're not the first to do so but we felt that all the brands out there tended to cater to tree-huggers and surfer bros. We wanted to make something different... Cool. I'll just stick to the brands that cater to me, a simple one dimensional surfer bro then. Everyone has these by the way. https://www.vissla.com/shop/eco-lastics/ https://www.vissla.com/shop/eco-lastics/ https://www.volcom.com/products/deadly-stones-20 https://www.volcom.com/products/deadly-stones-20 https://www.quiksilver.com/repreve-boardshorts-collection/ https://www.quiksilver.com/repreve-boardshorts-collection/ Billabong is claiming all their new boardshorts are recycled: https://www.billabong.com/mens-boardshorts/ https://www.billabong.com/mens-boardshorts/.
petermcneeley 7y ago
Just like how the fastest function is the function that is never executed, the most environmentally friendly discretionary purchase is the product never bought.
- sandworm101 7y ago
  Or never needed in the first place.
tamaharbor 7y ago
Sounds comfortable.
seltzered_ 7y ago
FWIW, there are yarn companies in the US that do recycled plastic yarns. http://www.patrickyarns.com/green-recycled/earthspun/ http://www.patrickyarns.com/green-recycled/earthspun/ does it, they've been sold via companies like PuraKai for shirts. This said, I'm not sure if this is a good idea in the first place if it just leaches out microplastics per Tharkun's comment. If they wanted to be more open, Junk in your Trunks could consider showing their full supply chain, similar to what services like https://www.sourcemap.com https://www.sourcemap.com do.
- ackbar03 7y ago
  This was actually the first thing that came to mind. I thought a lot of the microplastics came from these kinds of recycled plastic fabrics
bravoetch 7y ago
For people that treat themselves like trash? I don't get it.
stevespang 7y ago
OK. So you take plastic garbage and make more plastic garbage out of it ? It's now proven that all synthetic fabrics when washed, or even when worn in water, shed thousands of microfibers of plastic that last hundreds if not thousands of years in the environment. Why not just use natural fabrics like cotton, hemp, etc ? Additionally, research at UT proves that almost all plastics leach varying degrees of estrogen mimicking compounds into the environment.
mikhailfranco 7y ago
...but will the trunks be recycled? If not, then it is just delaying the inevitable.

59 points by patwalls 7y ago

tldr: They worked with an Alibaba manufacturer that already made recycled shorts, and a designer to make their design. The rest is branding.

imglorp 7y ago
Thank you. I do wonder what a small business process and product would look like if it was (a) made closer to the source of bottles, ie not offshore, and (b) not a garment but something else useful. The garment industry is highly unscalable and labor intensive so it's probably out of the question for a first world startup. But maybe some other household article, like sandals or furniture.
- ineedasername 7y ago
  The scalability issue may soon have some help, certainly not for all garments but for some. [0] Thought bath towels and t-shirts are progress, it will take quite some work to generalize to a wider range of items. [0] https://www.fastcompany.com/40454692/this-t-shirt-sewing-robot-could-radically-shift-the-apparel-industry https://www.fastcompany.com/40454692/this-t-shirt-sewing-rob...
- TaylorAlexander 7y ago
  I'm learning how to make 3d printed robots with useful printed gears etc. My hope is that in the future I can use recycled materials. The PETG I print with is the PET most bottles are made out of, plus the addition of glycol which I believe makes it tougher. However making PETG from PET bottles, assuming it is even possible, does not seem like the best way to reuse plastics. I have wondered if you could make building wall panels by dumping a bunch of used plastic bottles in a press and using heat and pressure to fuse them together without ever chopping them or doing any chemical reprocessing. I've also seen a company that sells a machine to reprocess used plastic bottles in to plastic bricks. Using old plastic as a building material sounds really interesting to me.
  - imglorp 7y ago
    Something like that is possible with plastic milk jugs. Just apply heat and you end up with something like taffy that can be molded. Maybe wall panels (with some filler like sawdust?) are feasible? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdKmq7Kjt0I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdKmq7Kjt0I
    - cwkoss 7y ago
      Milk jugs are usually HDPE, which is much more easily recyclable.
cwkoss 7y ago
This is how the majority of US clothing brands operate, I don't think this is necessarily problematic. Local manufacturing is definitely preferable, but following the industry standard isn't really a knock against a small player.

Tharkun 7y ago

Do their products leach microplastics into the environment when washed?

lnsru 7y ago
Why shouldn’t they? All synthetic materials do this. Edit: that’s the reason I go to the gym with worn-out cotton clothing with advertising instead of buying trendy training t-shirt from some big brand.
tomp 7y ago
My first thought as well. Plastic bottles are quite hard and almost unbreakable (and when they break, the pieces aren't micro); in contrast, clothing fibres made of plastic bend a lot, presumably break a lot and are very micro...
- jpalomaki 7y ago
  The larger plastic pieces turn to micro over time. "Secondary plastics are small pieces of plastic derived from the breakdown of larger plastic debris, both at sea and on land. Over time, a culmination of physical, biological, and chemphotodegradation, including photodegradation caused by sunlight exposure, can reduce the structural integrity of plastic debris to a size that is eventually undetectable to the naked eye"[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics

glfharris 7y ago

Their front page seems weirdly aggro towards two of their largest potential markets, eco-minded people and surfers.

hoorayimhelping 7y ago
>We're not the first to do so but we felt that all the brands out there tended to cater to tree-huggers and surfer bros. We wanted to make something different... Cool. I'll just stick to the brands that cater to me, a simple one dimensional surfer bro then. Everyone has these by the way. https://www.vissla.com/shop/eco-lastics/ https://www.vissla.com/shop/eco-lastics/ https://www.volcom.com/products/deadly-stones-20 https://www.volcom.com/products/deadly-stones-20 https://www.quiksilver.com/repreve-boardshorts-collection/ https://www.quiksilver.com/repreve-boardshorts-collection/ Billabong is claiming all their new boardshorts are recycled: https://www.billabong.com/mens-boardshorts/ https://www.billabong.com/mens-boardshorts/.

petermcneeley 7y ago

Just like how the fastest function is the function that is never executed, the most environmentally friendly discretionary purchase is the product never bought.

sandworm101 7y ago
Or never needed in the first place.

tamaharbor 7y ago

Sounds comfortable.

seltzered_ 7y ago

FWIW, there are yarn companies in the US that do recycled plastic yarns. http://www.patrickyarns.com/green-recycled/earthspun/ http://www.patrickyarns.com/green-recycled/earthspun/ does it, they've been sold via companies like PuraKai for shirts. This said, I'm not sure if this is a good idea in the first place if it just leaches out microplastics per Tharkun's comment. If they wanted to be more open, Junk in your Trunks could consider showing their full supply chain, similar to what services like https://www.sourcemap.com https://www.sourcemap.com do.

ackbar03 7y ago
This was actually the first thing that came to mind. I thought a lot of the microplastics came from these kinds of recycled plastic fabrics

bravoetch 7y ago

For people that treat themselves like trash? I don't get it.

stevespang 7y ago

OK. So you take plastic garbage and make more plastic garbage out of it ? It's now proven that all synthetic fabrics when washed, or even when worn in water, shed thousands of microfibers of plastic that last hundreds if not thousands of years in the environment. Why not just use natural fabrics like cotton, hemp, etc ? Additionally, research at UT proves that almost all plastics leach varying degrees of estrogen mimicking compounds into the environment.

mikhailfranco 7y ago

...but will the trunks be recycled? If not, then it is just delaying the inevitable.