Plastic bottles are an environmental nuisance, especially in the world’s oceans. One innovative company is helping to remove plastics from the ocean with an eco fashion twist – by repurposing the bottles into swimwear and beach clothing.
Did we mention that the company was started by college students who are balancing launching a new clothing line while still attending classes?
Fair Harbor Clothing creates board shorts for men out of recycled plastic water bottles. The eco fashion line not only uses recycled materials to reduce their environmental impact, but they also donate 5% of their profits back to the Surfrider Foundation, which helps to remove waste from beaches and oceans.
The company is founded by Jake Danehy and his sister Caroline, along with a friend, Sam Jacobson. It all started when they realized that their beloved beach, Fair Harbor on Fire Island off of Long Island in New York, wasn’t quite as clean and peaceful as it used to be back in their not-so-distant youth.
After learning that 50 billion plastic bottles have a one-time only use in the United States each year, the idea of reusing plastic bottles for another purpose inspired the Fair Harbor Clothing line.
The trio started the company while Jake was studying geography at Colgate University, with help from the university’s Thought Into Action Entrepreneurship Institute. At the time, his sister was still in high school and Jacobson, a University of Southern California student, was studying in Hong Kong.
The boardshorts in the eco fashion clothing line are each named after a street on Fire Island, the location that inspired Fair Harbor Clothing.
Eleven plastic water bottles are used to create one pair of men’s boardshorts. The bottles are collected, then processed into small filament particles. Those particles are then heat treated and woven in a recycled polyester fiber.
Additional products in their eco fashion line include t-shirts and hats made from organic cotton and recycled polyester. Future expansion with a new season of clothes will include more t-shirt options, a sweater, and patterned boardshorts.
Fair Harbor Clothing first started selling eco fashion products in July 2015. The millenial founders received funding after pitching their idea in front of a panel of celebrity panelists, similar to ABC’s Shark Tank television show, which included Jessica Alba, Greg Coleman and MC Hammer. All three founders have a previous entrepreneurial background before even graduating college, from creating a lacrosse goalie camp, running a fashion blog, and founding a small business in South Africa.
Imagery courtesy of Fair Harbor Clothing