Interview: Alec Coiro
All Images Courtesy of Genusee
I just typed upcycle into this Google Doc and the it has been underlined in red. Upcycling is a concept that is ahead of the Google knowledge base. Upcycling advances the familiar concept of recycling beyond giving a used material a new life; it transforms that material through craft and expertise into something with a higher value, giving it a more luxurious second life. At least that’s how I’m defining it, and Google can go ahead cite me when they get around to learning the term.
A few months ago I was myself introduced to the term upcycling when I spoke with the Ali Rose VanOverbeke and Jack Burns, two designers in the process of creating an eyewear line purely made out of the . They were still in the prototyping phase when we spoke with them, but now the prelude is over and VanOverbeke and Burns have begun chapter one of the endeavour with the launch of the line eyewear made from upcycled plastics.
The news moves so fast these days, people might have lost track of what’s happening in Flint. What is the status of the crisis that you initially confronted in 2016?
Flint still does not have clean water. Coming up on April 24th will be the 4 year mark since the start of the water crisis. I wrote an open letter to Michigan Governor Snyder HERE that answers this question in length.
Here is a quick summary via our Instagram last week: Flint residents shut down Michigan’s capital last week protesting in the wake of Governor Rick Snyder’s decision to shut down the PODS providing free bottled water to the city. It has almost been 4 years since Flint had clean water! The city is still working to replace the pipelines, and it is anticipated the project will not be complete until the earliest of 2020! During construction there is an increased risk of lead exposure due to the vibrations dislodging lead particles. How is this an acceptable time to stop providing the city with free bottled water?We do not accept this. It is time to collaborate and locally organize to make sure free bottled water stays available until every single pipe is replaced and every part of the city has tap drinkable clean water.
Now that you are up and running, do you have a sense of how much plastic Genusee will be recycling?
It is not just about being able to recycle materials but we want to be able to upcycle single use plastic into products that have more value and purpose. We are able to upcycle 15 water bottles with every purchase. Our goal is to have upcycled more than 1 Million water bottles in the first 2 years of business. Eyeglasses are not single use and have a longer lifespan as a product.
We are also focused on educating our customers on how they can reduce their plastic consumption in practical ways and start thinking of ways they can reuse and repurpose the things that they buy.
Our business model is based on circularity so from the onset we designed our glasses to be easily broken down once the user is done with them and we can recycle them back into our material stream through our Buy-Back Program. Basically we will pay you for your used glasses. It allows us to partner with our customer in taking responsibility for our product in the ecosystem.
I understand that in addition to recycling Flint’s plastic, it was also important to you that the glasses be manufactured in and around Flint. How successful have you been in bringing your production jobs to Flint?
Our goal in the next 2 years is to be fully vertically integrated in a facility in Flint so we can create as many jobs as possible and build a closed loop facility. That means we will be doing our own collection and processing of materials, manufacturing the frames, and installing the lenses.
To get to launch with this first production run we have set up our supply chain all within in 80 mile radius of Flint. Currently there is one company that is doing the majority of the collection and processing of the water bottles in Flint – and then selling the material out of state and the country. Other people are profiting off of the fact that Flint has had to use bottled water for almost 4 years. This didn’t make sense to us. At the height of the water crisis the city was using upwards of 20 million water bottles a day. What we have been able to do is source this material and bring it back to Flint so the right people are profiting from it. All of the assembly and post processing of our frames, lens installation, as well as shipping, logistics is all happening in Flint. We are hiring and training our first employees in the next few months with the success of our crowdfunding campaign.
It is really important for us to be as transparent as possible about our production process and supply chain – and our efforts to bring everything under one roof in Flint.
Our goal in the next 2 years is to be fully vertically integrated in a facility in Flint so we can create as many jobs as possible and build a closed loop facility. That means we will be doing our own collection and processing of materials, manufacturing the frames, and installing the lenses.
What is your plan for the eyewear launch? Is there a store where the glasses will be available? Will they be available online?
We are launching April 19th through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. You can exclusively pre-order them through the campaign HERE.
Now that you’ve launched Genusee, what are the next steps that you’re working on?
This is just the beginning. With the success of our Kickstarter campaign we will be able to start our first production run, hire our first employees in Flint, and begin working towards launching our expanded collection and product offering through an e-commerce platform. We hope the success of Genusee is a proof of concept for closed loop manufacturing everywhere – and that our business model can be replicated around the world bringing sustainable jobs and industry to cities and communities who need it most.
