Fall 2010
Recycled’s Growing Reach By Lin Grensing Pophal

Recycling consumer goods is a sure way of going green. As consumers’ desire for sustainably produced green products is increasing, vendors are churning out products made with recycled elements that are not only green but also trendy.

Road signs. Typewriter keys. Bicycle inner tubes. Discarded bamboo chopsticks. To many, these raw materials would seem like junk. But not to the artists who have used them to create unique gift items from these recycled materials—and not to the growing number of retailers who offer, and consumers who purchase, the end products they’re made from. Angela Ringo is the interiors editor for Stylesight, an online provider of trend forecasts. “Recycled materials are definitely still trending in the gift market as gifts with an artisanal handmade quality really resonate with consumers,” says Ringo. “Repurposed vintage objects instantly read as authentic, and gifts that include secondhand details like covered buttons, grosgrain ribbon, or old fashioned hardware stand out from the onslaught of mass produced objects.”

The popularity of green gift items is on the upswing, agrees Melissa Jurgens, senior project manager with Simply Retail, Inc., in Minneapolis, a company that provides retail consultancy and management services to healthcare organizations. Fortunately, as demand continues to grow, so does the range of items offered by vendors who are taking advantage of a seemingly limitless supply of cast-off items that can become the basis for these recycled works of art.

Recycled’s range

Lanette Fidry is the owner of Cycle Dog in Portland, OR. The company makes dog collars from recycled bicycle tubes. Apart from the advantage of saving these materials from the landfill, Fidry says the synthetic rubber provides a great raw material for dog collars—it doesn’t fray or smell and is soft and comfortable.

Inner tubes also serve as the basis for products created by English Retreads in Boulder, CO, where Kate Salomon is business manager. Company owner Heather English founded it when she was looking for a handbag that would meet vegan standards and couldn’t find one that she liked. “[Heather] found that rubber was a fantastic material,” says Salomon. Strong and durable, the purses will almost literally last forever, another boon for sustainability.

At TrippworX Design Studio in Greensboro, NC, owner Tripp Gregson, a self-proclaimed “packrat,” originally focused on “functional art,” making furniture out of recycled wood salvaged from old houses and buildings. Then, in 2006, his use of metal eclipsed wood as he began to create more artistic, somewhat less functional, pieces. TrippworX items include such things as martini glasses and handbags made from recycled road signs. His newest work—the “Fish Out of Water” series, features wall-art metal sculptures made from recycled metal and found materials.

Kerry Loeb is the co-owner of Blueberry Green Studios in Fairfax, CA, which creates designer belts and typewriter jewelry from recycled materials. Loeb assists by taking apart the typewriters and cleaning the keys. His wife then uses them to assemble different types of jewelry including watches, bracelets, rings, cufflinks and earrings.

The desire to not waste anything and to keep materials out of landfills is the impetus for many artists. It was lunch that provided the inspiration for Bryan Parks, with Kwytza Chopstick Art in Eugene, OR. While living in China some years ago, Parks was eating with chopsticks every day. “I would see them littered all over the streets and became aware of what a wasteful habit it was,” he says. “Eventually, I got this idea to see if I could actually make stuff with them. So I started the whole process of collecting chopsticks, sanitizing them and coming up with some cool designs.” He began selling his designs in 2004—things like folding baskets, trivets, table lamps and handbags. Parks uses bamboo chopsticks in natural and chocolate colors and says he’ll be introducing some new colors this summer.

Beyond green

As great as the green message is, vendors are finding that it alone is not enough to sell a product. English Retreads, for one, has found that looks matter too. “Even in this climate women are much more focused on if the bag looks good, or if it’s useful and if it holds everything they need it to,” Salomon says. “I think we still have a long way to go in terms of educating consumers to the point where the fact that it’s made of reclaimed material or in a sustainable manner is as important as these other considerations,” she says. Gregson has noticed a similar trend. “It occurs to me that people are starting to look at recycled products with more of a discerning eye for not only does it have a really unique quality about it, but is it fun and different,” he says.

Retailer Jennifer Branham agrees. Branham owns Natural Luxe, a green store in Charlotte, NC. “We have noticed that an item being ‘green’ or recycled is an added benefit to the customer—they love to hear the story, but the item has to be stylish and affordable [first],” she says.

Education essential

Building the case for consumers to purchase items made from recycled materials and created in sustainable ways requires education and, say those in the industry, enthusiasm and excitement about the products themselves. In some cases the nature of the materials used in the product is obvious—Gregson’s “Fish Out of Water” designs made from road signs, for instance. In others—English Retread’s bags—it may not be immediately obvious. This is where education and creative merchandising come into play. Signage is an obvious solution for educating consumers about green products, but it’s a solution that “is a big thing,” says Jurgens. “That’s what we always recommend to clients in addition to the education of the staff,” she says. Staff members need to be knowledgeable about the products and to do sufficient research, she says.

Gia LaRussa is the marketing director for The G2 Gallery in Venice, CA. G2 operates a thriving gift shop that exclusively sells products that in some way represent the gallery’s eco-friendly mission, she says. “Products selected for the gift shop are artisanal, designer crafted and made in America. Not all the items the gift shop carries come from recycled materials, but some of the most popular items do.” Two of the most in-demand products currently on display in the gift shop are Ella Vickers recycled sailcloth bags and Verabel jewelry, made from vintage lockets. “Both of these products are green without wearing their eco-friendly merits ‘on their sleeve,’ so to speak,” says LaRussa. That requires some consumer education.

“Every line of products on display in The G2 Gallery’s gift shop is showcased with a framed artist’s bio that states where the artist is from and information about the artist’s process. This personalizes the retail space, letting shoppers know something about who their necklace or purse is coming from.”

At Natural Luxe, says Branham, the top-selling necklace is a recycled Scrabble tile pendant. “We keep our display simple with one necklace hanging on display so that customers can feel and see that it is a Scrabble tile,” she says. “It also helps to have shelf-talkers that discuss the recycled aspect of the item and include a short story on the producer.” “We generally display our merchandise with found and salvaged items,” says Rebecca Biskaduros, proprietor at Sea and Green in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ. “For example, our rugs are displayed in old ice cream containers and we keep them labeled to show that they are made of recycled plastic bottles.”

For many retailers, being green is a passion that is reflected not only in their displays, but also in their actions. For example, owner Diane Kraus of GreenTangerine in Los Angeles, hosts a “Green Your Community” block party in which recycling options are offered. In the store, Kraus tells the “back story on every product so everyone can read what it is they’re buying, where it came from and how it was made.”

Excitement sells

Both vendors and retailers say that ultimately what helps the most is the passion that they and their staff convey as they interact, one-on-one, with customers. “You do need to talk to the consumers and let them know what it is all about,” says Kraus.

“I think the retailers that are the most excited about the products most successful,” says Gregson. “To me 99 percent of the sales process, whether it’s me making the sale, or a retailer selling it, are is for them to just absolutely get off on the whole concept—if they’re excited, their customers can’t help but get excited.”

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Lin Grensing Pophal

Lin Grensing-Pophal is a freelance business journalist in Chippewa Falls, WI. She writes about marketing and business management issues for national and trade publications and is the author of Marketing With the End in Mind (IABC, 2005).




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