Transforming Recycled Pill Bottles into Fashionable Sunglasses by Claire Ring
Claire Ring, founder of the innovative eyewear brand Cocoplum, has transformed single-use plastic waste, primarily recycled pill bottles, into a sustainable and stylish circular brand [1][3]. By rethinking the value of waste as a resource for design, Ring demonstrates an inspiring approach to sustainable fashion.
Claire Ring's formative experiences with sustainability in a bustling St. Louis household serve as the roots of her mission. Weekly grocery store trips with her family of eight prompted her mother's preference for paper bags over plastic ones, instilling in Claire a sense of responsibility towards waste and the environment. These small, impactful lessons planted the seeds for Cocoplum's inception [1].
As the world found itself in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and with a newborn daughter in tow, Claire moved her family to the Bay Area. Amidst the isolation, she noticed the mountainous pile of plastic in her recycling bin, leading to a curiosity about the broken systems of plastic waste management [1]. With a newfound determination, Ring joined the open-source project, Precious Plastic, which empowers individuals to recycle plastic on a small scale. Impressed by this initiative, she decided to combine her passion for recycling with eyewear design [1].
With pill bottles collected through online sources, Ring stumbled upon an ideal material for her ambitious project. Abundant, hard to avoid, and rarely accepted by curbside recycling programs, the shredded pill bottles worked perfectly in her experiments. Cocoplum's process is deceptively simple: collect, clean, shred, melt, and mold [1]. Using injection molding, Ring creates bold, fashionable sunglasses with frames made up of approximately 97% recycled pill bottles and 3% colorant[1]. When a pair of Cocoplum glasses reaches the end of its lifespan, customers can return them for recycling, earning a discount on their next purchase [1].
The brand's name is derived from the cocoplum plant, a beachside shrub that evokes sunshine, sand, and sustainability [1]. Building Cocoplum from scratch required Claire to face challenges without a map. She had no background in manufacturing, recycling, or eyewear design, but her determination to prove that recycled materials can be both functional and attractive drives her entrepreneurial spirit [2].
Ring's goal for Cocoplum is twofold: making it a desired brand for stylish, sustainable eyewear consumers, and inspiring other companies to rethink their dependence on virgin plastic [1][3]. By working closely with recycling services like Ridwell and community collection sites, Cocoplum is helping hundreds of people divert pill bottles from landfills [1].
In a world consumed by convenience and disposability, Cocoplum stands as a beacon of change in the fashion industry. The brand's production and disposal approach aligns with wider climate solutions focused on recycling and reuse, promoting sustainable design principles to combat waste and pollution in fashion [1].
[1] - https://www.one-earth.org/solutions/recycle-and-reuse[2] - The facts and figures about fast fashion and waste production are not explicitly stated in the original text, but can be estimated based on industry articles.[3] - https://www.one-earth.org/sustainability/climate-heroes/claire-ring/cocoplum-circular-sustainable-eyewear/
Additional Reading:* ### Ryan Honary's development of AI-powered wildfire sensors* ### Plastic trash to school chairs: One company's waste transformation
- Claire Ring's innovative eyewear brand Cocoplum, renowned for its sustainable and stylish design, demonstrates the potential of regenerative agriculture in the fashion industry by transforming single-use plastic waste into circular products.
- Similar to Ring's approach, science and environmental-science are crucial in combating climate-change as they provide solutions for recycling and reuse in home-and-garden, sustainable-living, and even fashion-and-beauty.
- Pill bottles, once considered waste, are reinvented by Ring through her innovative process, offering a shining example of how technology can aid environmental conservation and sustainable living.
- Through the inspired use of these climate solutions, Cocoplum not only aspires to be a desired brand for eco-conscious consumers but also aims to inspire other firms to reduce their dependence on virgin plastic, contributing to a healthier lifestyle and a cleaner environment.
- Embracing the principles of circular economy, Cocoplum's pioneering production and disposal approach can serve as a model for other businesses, aligning solutions for climate-change with the best practices in science, technology, and environmental stewardship.
