My solution for diverting LIVESTRONG’s silicone wristbands from the landfill is to upcycle them into fashionable statement rings.
The material used to create this business comes from the discarded waste stream of LIVESTRONG. My company, SAVVY, will donate the proceeds from sales back to the LIVESTRONG foundation. They would be marketed as wearable fashion.
This business plan is viable, not only from up-cycling an outdated product that is unsellable in its current form, but also viable because of the ease of start-up. I’ll be utilizing already established website and brand retention from LIVESTRONG. The upcycled rings will be linked for immediate sales. Product sells will mainly stem from ecommerce online orders via Paypal. Companies with a social mission are more viable because consumers are selectively shopping for products that are either socially focused or environmentally sustainable, but preferably both which is SAVVY’s mission.
The current plan is to hire a team to remove the silicone wristbands for the packaging. There are 100,000 packaged wristbands. Once the LIVESTRONG wristbands have been upcycled and sold, other non-profit or company wristbands can be utilized in a similar process. This makes this business scalable and on-going.
My mentor, David Bradley, designs web sites and software for online retailers at his company, Patterns In The Cloud. Prior to starting Patterns, David was an eCommerce and implementation consultant for NetSuite. He explains the 'build with patterns' approach as: "helping brands and marketers be smart about what they should build on the web. His team has experience working with a lot of software across marketing and eCommerce. Analyzing & leveraging existing solutions helps to narrow the focus on what actually needs to be created. David works on his passion for startups and continuing education as a volunteer mentor at PeopleFund and a workshop instructor at General Assembly.
I’m the lead organizer of the Austin Zero Waste Lifestyle meetup group. Have developed contacts to promote business in vegan groups, zero waste groups, and recycling/reuse groups.
100,000 packages will require a team of people to be contracted to remove the silicone wristbands from the plastic sleeves. Sort the plastic sleeves, cardboard packaging into appropriate bins for easy recycling and transport.
A different set of skilled artisans for trim down the wristbands into the wrap rings into shapes of aesthetically pleasing shapes or animals. Color appropriate to the silicone material, can be added to enhance this appeal.
The cardboard on the packaging will be recycled, the plastic sleeves will be collected and recycled at the Recycle & Reuse Drop off center where they accept plastic bags for recycling.
The diversion of silicone wristbands from the landfill means that this business plan would increase the City of Austin’s zero waste goal percentage. It would reduce the risk of chemical leaching into the soil and potentially polluting the aquifers. Sending waste to the landfill can create methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. The more that we can divert, the cleaner our air will be.
LIVESTRONG foundation will have economic gains not paying disposal fees and generate revenue through earning profits from our company selling their up-cycled material. Increases business opportunities from customers who are environmentally driven.
This business model would hopefully inspire other environmental entrepreneurs to start something that matters. The more green jobs created out of diverted landfill waste, means we all get a cleaner and happier city.
This business will work with the City of Austin to get the zero waste status. Whatever material accumulated from up-cycling LIVESTRONG’s wristbands into wrap rings that can’t be used in the manufacturing process with be stored for future shredding. Our company will consult with Austin Materials Marketplace once a sizeable accumulation of scrap shredded silicone is stored.
For the rings that are purchased, the website will suggest re-gifting instead of tossing into the landfill.
