Making Sportswear From Recycled Bottles

Joel wrote about how they’re making graduation gowns out of trash, well now they’re doing the same with sports gear.

‘They’ in this sense are a Virginia-based company called Atayne which is making athletic gear from trash. After an encounter with a performance shirt’s red dye covering one of the founders, the company turned itself to making sportswear from environmentally-sensitive material.

Atayne uses recycled polyester from post-consumer plastic bottles and also recycled cotton. There is even a naturally-derived odour control treatment added to the clothes.

If they perform well than why wouldn’t you buy them? They’ve reasonably priced to – take a look here.

Spotted via Springwise.

Clothing Brand Finisterre Making Ethical Waves

We’re always pleased to hear from new companies which are becoming more popular due to their ethical and environment credentials. Here, Stuart Gooding from Finisterre explains a bit about his company.

“Authenticity, innovation and a strong commitment to sustainability are nourishing the growth of what’s been called ‘the perfect brand’.

“What’s in a name? Well, ‘Finisterre’ means literally the ends of the earth, and it’s a word that brilliantly sums up the way that this technical clothing brand is pushing at new frontiers – not just in terms of the performance of its products under the most extreme conditions, but also when it comes to setting new standards of ethical business practice.

“It’s also a name that’s been making impressive waves in the last couple of years, way beyond the serious surfing circles in which it first became known. GQ, for instance, listed Finisterre’s Anabatic shell jacket in their ‘100 Best Things in the World 2007′, while the global trend-spotters at über-cool Monocle magazine recently devoted a double-page spread to what it dubbed ‘the perfect brand’. Not bad for an operation started up in 2003 with a £4,000 loan from [UK charity] The Prince’s Trust and still run by a five-strong team of dedicated surfers from a converted mine-building at St Agnes on the North Cornwall coast.

“Finisterre is tapping into a hunger to connect with something more authentic than the shallow, clichéd values associated with so many of the big, global brands. The guys behind the company are not just talking the talk. For one thing, they’re personally testing their own products on a pretty much daily basis in the most challenging of labs – the Atlantic surf whose thunder is audible from their office. The results are posted on the Finisterre blog, along with vivid reports from other product-testers around the world, including international big-wave surfers, adventure racers and BBC film-crews working in the Antarctic.

“For another, they’ve translated the idea of ethical business into much more than a vague aspiration, finding imaginative ways of reducing the company’s environmental impact in every area, from raw materials supply to product life and recycling. The success of these initiatives helped win Finisterre the Observer Ethical Business Award (2008), The Surfer’s Path Green Wave Award (2008), a Cornwall Sustainability Award (2008) and an ISPO New Brand Award (2008), as well as invitations to address international conferences alongside speakers such as Al Gore.

“In 2007, Finisterre decided to pull production out of China in view of concerns over working conditions and employee rights. Manufacturing now takes place in Devon and Portugal, and at a facility in Colombia run by nuns as part of a rehabilitation project for at risk women, and more recently the company have been spearheading an initiative with a small sheep farmer to bring back a rare breed with the intention of sourcing high quality wool right on their doorstep.”

We hope to have more about Finisterre and its wool breeding programme soon.

Recycled New Graduation Gowns

Completely the wrong time of year to post a story about this but who cares, it’s a neat idea.

Oak Hall has introduced a line of eco-friendly caps and gowns made from 100%, post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. Named “GreenWeaver” is made of fabric spun from molten plastic pellets. The result is a fabric so comfortably soft you have to feel it to believe it! It takes an average of 23 bottles to make each gown.

After first experimenting with a mix of bamboo and polyester, Oak Hall eventually turned to recycled plastic bottles – already used to make sweatshirts and other clothing – to change the way academic regalia are made and worn.

You can find out more here.

[Via: Springwise]

Green Surf Gear

A UK (Cornwall) based surf company has been getting a lot of attention recently for it’s pioneering environmental initiatives. Finisterre have been recognized widely recently winning the 2008 Observer Ethical award and are currently finalists for the RSPCA (Britain’s Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) good business awards (results may be out by the time you read this).

Their new Australian Merino wool line is shown below, the incredibly fine 17.5 micron merino can be traced from sheep to shelf.

They also aim to use less raw materials, less production effects, less transport, and in the end less environmental footprint left by the business and you as a consumer. Finisterre also sells weatherproof jackets, sweatshirts and other garments to keep you warm and insulated.

Eco Swimsuits

I’m always happy for an excuse to get women in swimsuits into Life Goggles. Although this may be the first, and last, time.

With summer here, new swimsuits are on most holidayers shopping list, so why not choose an environmentally friendly one? Treehugger has a slideshow of 10 of the best out there.

Nvohk Crowd Funded and Eco Conscious T-Shirts Launched

nvohk, the crowd funded (i.e. by members like you and me) eco-friendly t-shirt company that I’ve written about here,and many other places, has finally started selling eco-friendly t-shirts. As I’ve promised to keep you updated I though I would show you the t-shirts that I received a couple of weeks ago.

First, the co-founders who invested in the company voted on several designs to be printed in limited runs. They also voted on a new lovely logo, and have had various discussions regarding pricing and postage rates.

As you can see from the image, a tiny 10″x7″ package arrived containing my order. I was most impressed there was no further padding and this helps reduce waste and also keep the cost down. It contained three t-shirts so I was pretty happy. Of course they were very wrinkly, but that’s what an iron is for.

The photo below shows my order that contained two co-founder t-shirts and an ordered shirt (the tree of change). The co-founder t-shirts have changed a little since I posted a video of my previous shirt, and this time I also got a female version of it for my wife (the little t-shirt on the right obviously!).

The t-shirts are made from 100% organic cotton, and are now available for a nice $24.95 from the nvohk shop. I’ve been most impressed with the way Brendon and Sergio have been running things, some interesting discussions have been made, and I feel my views (and everyone’s views of course!) are listened to and acted upon where possible. You can of course, buy the t-shirts, but I also encourage you to join the other 500 or so people and consider becoming a member – this is how it works. Depending on how many t-shirts you want to order, the discounts available to members make joining worth it alone!

nvohk Becomes First Community-managed Eco-clothing Brand

nvohk is a company I’ve talked about many times and I’ve promised to keep you all updated on my progress as a “co-founder”.

They’ve hit their launch target of at least 400 sign-ups and now have members from over 20 countries (with 50% coming from outside the U.S). Next the member packet (including a co-founder t-shirt and member sticker) will ship out by the end of August/early September. You can see my video of my sneak preview of the t-shirt here.

They they will present nvohk’s logo design options the week of August 18th for the first member vote. Around 10 member/co-founder submitted designs plus 10 designs from nvohk’s Creative Director will be up for voting.

As soon as a logo is selected, members/co-founders will be able to submit their own t-shirt designs. We will collectively select 3-4 t-shirt designs, which will then be produced and offered in both men’s and women’s styles.

Going forward, the plan is to repeat the t-shirt process for 1-2 new t-shirt designs per month starting about 45-60 days after the initial t-shirt designs are offered for sale. All t-shirt designs will be available via www.nvohk.com and members/co-founders will receive 25% off the online retail pricing.

You can read more about how nvohk works, and sign up for $50.

I’ll update you again when the member pack arrives.

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