By collecting donated t-shirts and recycled paper bags, I was able to upcycle the material into a sustainable dog toy business with minimal waste.
If you have ever owned a dog, I'm sure you can relate to these pictures. You go out and buy a new toy for them, to find it destroyed just days, or even HOURS, later! Frustrating right?
While trying to brainstorm some ideas on how to solve this issue, an interview with a good friend of mine stated this. I thought the idea was genius, and so I took it and ran with it.
With that idea and thinking about how many times my friends, family, and I have been accidentally bitten by trying to play with other dogs, I wondered if there were any toys that protected peoples hands during play.
I began sketching out ideas for a 3-D printed handle that could be aesthetic, functional, durable, but also required a minimal cost to produce.
PART 1
From my first iteration to my last, there were several hours and weeks of printing and testing, jumping back and forth between 3-D printing and using the CNC to try HDPE, making small fillet adjustments, trying different color combinations and logo placements, I finally found the final design - about 25 iterations later.
PART 2
Next was the braiding process. The only braid I knew at the time was a typical 3-strand hair braid or french braid, so I started cutting up my old t-shirts and dove headfirst into an endless search of YouTube tutorials. By the very end, I realized there was a way to create "t-shirt rope", but they only used about 75% of the whole shirt. I was determined to figure out a way to use the ENTIRE shirt, but still be able to make a durable and strong enough braid to withstand a dog tugging on it.
After several hours and weeks of braiding, I figured out a braiding technique that I thought to be durable enough. So I decided to do a quick test before I finalized the design with some of my friend's larger sized dogs.
End result: Success!
PART 3
Lastly, was the marketing, packaging, and shipping design. To keep costs low, I decided to find a way to utilize recycled paper bags and leftover t-shirt strands to market my product. By weaving the strands in between the layers, it was able to be sealed - suitable enough for shipping, and printed on the paper itself to have a professional aesthetic.
Additionally, I wanted my customers to know how to make one for themselves, so I included DIY instructions printed on the paper itself with the logo and my signature (see below).
Two t-shirts = One tug toy AND one chew toy with MINIMAL waste.
After launching my business on Etsy, I received a total a 20 orders in about 2-3 weeks and my clients were loving the product! (See below). I was grateful to have this type of sustainable business plan, especially during the middle of COVID -19 where I had all the supplies I needed to make right in the comfort of my own home! I had already finished printing the handles at Georgia Tech before it closed (which was free to use the material), t-shirts were donated (free!), paper bags were from grocery stores (free!), and the only thing to account for was the cost for labor!
Click on the links below to check out my Facebook site, YouTube channel, and official Etsy business!
Check out the DIY tutorial on my YouTube channel to learn how to make one for yourself!