Bali-based PANGEA is an outdoor gear company that is transforming trash into high-quality, unique products using a carbon-negative, circular economy model.
Bamboo was used in the company's first products, the PANGEA Travel Towel and Eco Towel 2.0, which funded global cleanups and river barriers. PANGEA's next product was an eco-jacket made from recycled urban plastics. Sales from PANGEA items are used to install fish-safe river barriers in heavily polluted coastal rivers that capture up to 75% of the trash before it reaches the ocean.
The company's newest product, the PANGEA Mangrove Sunglasses, will fund what is planned to be a Guinness World Record-breaking mangrove cleanup. The plastic collected will be recycled into sunglasses. Each sunglass will collect 25kg/50lbs of trash and plant one new mangrove tree, which captures 4x the amount of CO2 than an average tree.
Circular Sustainable Apparel
The PANGEA Mangrove Sunglasses Help Fund the Mangrove Cleanup
Trend Themes
1. Circular Economy Model - There is an opportunity to create products using circular economy models, where waste can be transformed into high-quality and unique products.
2. Carbon-negative Products - There is an opportunity to create carbon-negative products, where the production of the product results in a net reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
3. Environmental Product Funding - There is an opportunity to fund environmental cleanup efforts through sales of sustainable products, creating a positive environmental impact through commerce.
Industry Implications
1. Outdoor Gear - The outdoor gear industry can incorporate circular economy models to create sustainable and carbon-negative products, as well as use sales to fund environmental cleanup efforts.
2. Fashion and Apparel - The fashion and apparel industry can adopt circular economy models to use waste and recycled materials to create sustainable products and reduce textile waste.
3. Sustainability Consulting - Sustainability consulting firms can work with businesses to incorporate circular economy models and environmental product funding strategies into their operations and product offerings.