It seems the only way a new company can make it in today’s business climate is to design an environmentally conscious product. At Summer Outdoor Retailer 2010, two earth friendly companies, from two different genres, struck me with their simplicity, beauty, originality, and works of art: The Bamboo Bottle Company and Looptworks.
Bamboo Bottle Company
A couple of years ago a group of businessmen, who were into the outdoors, thought there has to be another way to design a sturdy water bottle. Rather than making their product from metal or BPA free plastic, they figured people wanted to drink water from a glass container. To make it sturdy they insulated the glass with bamboo, forming the Bamboo Bottle Company. I stood by and watched one of the employees assemble the bottle and then drop it on the wood floor. Hearing the bamboo hit the ground my friend and I flinched, obviously the bottle didn’t break, shatter, or crack.
The bamboo is harvested from sustainable bamboo forests in China. As for the glass bottle, 60% of it is made from recycled glass. The cap, top ring, and bottom are dishwasher safe and are 100% recyclable. Eventually the company hopes to make a bamboo bottle that is plastic free. The product is expected to launch October 15 to retailers.
Looptworks
This next company comes from the cutting room floor, literally. Looptworks was launched in September 2009, when two veterans of the apparel industry decided to make clothing out of the pre-production excess that comes from textile factories. Unlike traditional clothing manufacturers, Looptworks usually takes about 10 weeks for a design to go from the idea stage to the actual product. Their designers use high quality surplus that used to end up in a landfill: buttons, wet suit material, and fabric. They call it their own Mr. Potato Head, designing a piece of clothing out of what leftovers were found.
They are following the waste stream back to fair labor factories, and purchasing what was once thrown away. What sold me on this company as I sat in their booth, is every piece produced is a work of art. Items are numbered. As a consumer you will own something very few people will have the opportunity to purchase. Each piece is well designed and made to withstand being worn season after season.
I can’t imagine what kind of creativity it must take to transform this fabric, falling to the floor, that was once considered trash into urban, hybrid clothing. Looptworks is currently found online and just began selling their products wholesale this past April.
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