From the junkyard to the clothes rack

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41536265/ns/business-oil_and_energy/

Entrepreneurs recycle landfill trash and turn it into athletic apparel



Photo courtesy of LiveProud
Phil Tepfer, left, and Charles Bogoian started their business selling t-shirts, hats and polos to yacht clubs their sophomore year at Babson College.


By Jennifer Alsever
msnbc.com contributor msnbc.com contributor
updated 2/16/2011 8:15:53 AM ET 2011-02-16T13:15:53

One man's discarded cellphone is another man's polo ... or pants or T-shirt. At least that's how one Boston startup sees it. The LiveProud Group recycles trash taken from landfills and uses it in a line of athletic apparel. But unlike other clothing manufacturers who use recycled polyester, wool or plastic bottles, LiveProud grabs the electronic junk Americans toss out by the tons to produce its clothing line.


There’s the $210 "Gutter-Bunny" Flow Coat, designed for bike commuters, with a shell made from recycled cell phones, keyboards and computer shells. Its inner fleece is made of plastic bottles. Or you can buy the $75 “Dahlia Yoga Pants” made from 60 percent recycled nylon, 30 percent discarded coconut shells and 10 percent lycra.

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Tepfer didn’t start out as an eco-apparel maker. An avid sailor, he and buddy Bogoian started their business selling T-shirts, hats and polo shirts to yacht clubs their sophomore year at Babson College. But customers told them they wanted more ways to tout themselves as green.

In 2009, the duo began to explore recycled materials. A trip to a New England landfill sparked an idea to use products that were being thrown away instead of recycled. They borrowed $25,000 from family and friends and launched an eco-friendly line of clothes. Sales to small yacht clubs and athletic stores doubled to $210,000 last year and expanded to 30 different styles of polos and vests, plus coats and T-shirts made from e-waste and other materials.


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