More and more companies are looking for the next innovative material for their products. The eyewear company Genusee creates their frames with recycled materials.
Genusee is located in Flint, Michigan that is plauged by the clean water crisis. Due to the water crisis Flint has a high number of waste that is contributed to plastic bottles, Genusee saw this portion of waste as a viable material for their products.
The co-founder of Genusee, Ali Rose, gives us a sneak peek behind operations for making sustainable eyewear. Genusee saw the rise in plastic waste around the city and saw the opportunity to make a great product while contributing to an increase of jobs in the community.
Since resident were forced to use water bottles the increase of plastic water bottles since they had no other choice. This is when Ali Rose asked herself ‘what can i do with all this plastic?’ She also had no plans on starting a business but approached the situation with the mentality of how they can help Michigan through design and collaboration.
The glasses are made from reground plastic bottles that are turned into pellets that are injected into molds to create the shape of the frame. Starting the business they set some goals to not lose sight of the purpose for contributing to the community.
They wanted to positively influence areas of impact including the reduction of localize plastic waste since Flint was using more than 20,000 bottles of water per day. The plastic waste crisis is also a nationwide issue with Americans using 1,500 to 2,000 water bottles per second.
Their mission statement has the following goals: reduce localized plastic waste, create living wage wage jobs, encourage circular economy, and give back to Flint. They also focused on creating a job anyone can do so anyone can work there and provide equal opportunity. The importance of this to the Flint community is huge since 54 percent of their population live below the poverty line.
For more on this amazing and innovative company check out the video above.
