At Oshki, we have shifted our production in 2019 and beyond into using all recycled polyester - reusing PET plastic waste from the Great Lakes and around the United States. However, this usage does not mean Oshki supports the use of virgin polyester and we see the effect polyester can have on the environment around us. Polyester is a synthetic fiber, made from petrochemical material in a process known as polymerization. Although polyester is breathable, easy to clean, and does not wrinkle - it has its side effects such as the usage of fossil fuels, microplastic shedding, and the usage of toxic chemicals in it’s production. 

Recycled polyester, when used correctly, can limit the effects of this synthetics fiber by:

1. Using significantly less energy usage (45%+ less) in its production, versus virgin polyester. These energy savings help reduce the carbon footprint of all Oshki products.
2. Diverts PET plastic from landfills and the environment, reusing the plastic in an innovative way. Oshki being the first company to use 100% United States plastic waste in all products also limits the need to transport plastic all over the world, reducing fossil fuel usage and contributing to a more circular economy. 

This polyester is created from PET materials from local recycling centers. This plastic is sterilized, heated, and split into plastic chips. The ships are then melted and spun using a spinneret to form polyester yarn. The yarn is then put into spools, passed through a crimping machine, and then knitted into polyester fabric. What was once waste turns into a usable material. 

In addition, there are critics of recycled polyester that preach the necessity of using natural fibers (cotton) instead. While this argument has merit, cotton is by no means a sustainable way of production around the world. The ample use of pesticides, chemicals, and fertilizers in the production of cotton clothing causes a range of serious diseases and illnesses such as cancer and respiratory diseases. In addition, the average cotton t-shirt uses about 2,700 liters of water in its production (900 days worth of drinking water for 1 person).  With the increasing scarcity of water across the globe, this water usage is unnecessary and unsustainable. Organic Cotton is a new development that can successfully reduce much of the pesticide and water usage, a trait many sustainable fashion companies have applied to their business model. However, Oshki’s production being in the United States was a huge necessity when redesigning our supply chain and only 4% of cotton production in the US is organic (found in an OTA study). Recycled polyester’s potential for reuse and overall lifetime is something that attracted me to use it in Oshki’s production. Once recycled polyester is used, it is one of the few materials that can be remade into what it once was - a recent development first made commercially available by a fantastic company called worn again. We are working on developing new ways to reuse other companies’ old recycled clothing as well as sending our customer’s old garments to streamline our production’s sustainability. 

Another misconception of sustainable production is that we are preaching our product is improving the environment in our products alone. Consumerism causes many issues when it comes to the earth and its ecosystem. For us, it is about limiting the effect our clothes have on the environment and developing new ways to innovate that no other clothing company has done. Clothing is a basic human necessity. Working to sustainably offer clothing to the average consumer puts us in the same battle of sustainable farming and reusing materials in building construction. A significant issue we are currently looking into is the shedding of microfibers. Synthetic fibers such as polyester shed hundreds of thousands of tiny particles known as microplastics in the washing process. These particles are difficult to filter out, and there is no washing machine currently on the market that correctly filters out these fibers from the water stream. Temporary solutions to this issue have come to market as research on this issue has heightened including wash bags and lint filters. These solutions can temporarily halt a long term issue that researchers have more recently uncovered. I just recently spoke with 2019 Google Science Fair winner Fionn Ferriera about this very issue and the best way to go about solving it. Fionn recently won the grand prize of $50,000 for his development of a ferrofluid that removes microplastics. We both understand the importance of plastic removal from waterways around the world and that our generation is the one that needs to solve it. In the long term, solutions we are looking into include:

1. Developing synthetic fibers such as recycled polyester that do not shed microfibers/plastics. 
2. Working with water filtration plants into developing new microplastic filters that limit the possibility of these plastics seeping into drinking water - an issue scientists have more recently studied. 
3. Washing machine companies working on filters that automatically collect microplastics during the washing process - where 99% of the issue exists.
4. Working with material science engineers at the University of Michigan and beyond to create durable, recycled garments that push the boundaries of what was previously thought possible - making apparel that will consistently last 60-70 years. 

Developing these issues at Oshki can not only help our company’s success and sustainability, but move the fashion industry and humankind forward. At Oshki, this is what matters most to me. We were founded under the ideology of keeping the earth clean and moving forward we will only get better at doing this. 

With love,

Jackson Riegler

Founder - Oshki

During my first year at the University of Michigan, I decided to redesign Oshki's supply chain entirely. I became more educated on the impacts of a company's supply chain and how to have the most sustainable product possible through a "Business & the Environment" course I took during my second semester. Companies preaching sustainability must work towards it across the entirety of their production. Not just within their corporate structure, but also their suppliers. Considering this universal impact is known as a circular economy. 

Sadly, not enough companies focus on the impact of their production across the board - from resource extraction to final product. A company may be using sustainable methods, but if they have to ship resources from halfway across the world 2-3 different times before their product reaches a consumer, what is their true impact? If a company produces in Vietnam, but 99% of their customer base is in the US - how sustainable is their product? The fossil fuels used to ship their materials across the globe offsets a huge percentage of their claimed "sustainable methods" used in their marketing. Oshki's customers are almost entirely in the United States. When considering this, I wanted to redesign my supply chain accordingly. 

Oshki's supply chain now consists entirely in the United States, from resource extraction to packaging to final product. I was inspired to use plastic waste from the Great Lakes in our clothing using recycled polyester. 22,000,000 pounds of plastic waste enter the Great Lakes every single year, a number set to triple by 2050. While recycled polyester has been produced overseas for about 25 years, it is a relatively new industry in the United States, as China just recently stopped buying plastic waste from recycling centers in mid-2018. Due to this recent development, Oshki is the first apparel company to use 100% United States plastic waste in every garment. Since we are using plastic waste from the Great Lakes and other US waterways, it would not have made sense to produce the clothing anywhere other than the United States. Below is a map with all locations within our supply chain, being transparent across the board to our customers is vital. 

• Muskegon, Michigan

This is where our design team and headquarters lies. On the shores of Lake Michigan, Muskegon give us the constant reminder of the importance of the Great Lakes. We run community beach clean-ups and serve as vendors in our local community. 

• New York, New York

All of our vinyl stickers are produced in New York, New York. A vinyl sticker comes with each purchase and is a way for our customers to market our brand what it means to join the group of passionate Oshki customers working to preserve the Great Lakes and beyond. 

• Louisville, Colorado

All of our sustainable packaging is produced in Louisville, Colorado through our partnership with packaging company Ecoenclose. Each one of our recycled paper mailers is naturally biodegradable, recyclable, and made of 90% post consumer waste. Our tissue paper used is also produced by Ecoenclose, a paper made entirely from post-consumer & post-industrial content and is recyclable and naturally biodegradable itself. This partnership has enabled us to greatly reduce the impact of single-use packaging, a huge issue in the shipping industry. 

• Hanahan, South Carolina

Our 1:1 shirts are produced in Hanahan on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Our manufacturer produces these shirts with a 50% recycled polyester / 50% cotton blend. The polyester is made of plastic waste from the Great Lakes and other US waterways, while the cotton is extracted from local farms within a 200 mile radius. 

• Yadkinville, North Carolina

The Repreve plant in Yadkinville is where the plastic waste is transformed into recycled polyester. This plant has relationships with recycling centers around the United States, specifically the Great Lakes and other US waterways - where the plastic waste is shipped from. This plant processes the plastic waste into tiny chips, tiny plastic beads, and eventually polyester yarn. 

• Los Angeles, California

Our hangtags and packaging postcard is produced in Los Angeles, California. This company (Uprinting) uses vibrant, professional printing to help tell our story in a meaningful way through artwork created by our design team. 

• Lakewood, California

Lakewood holds our manufacturer of polyester fabric made of the plastic waste from the Great Lakes and other US waterways. This manufacturer takes the polyester yarn produced by Repreve and transforms it into long-lasting, sustainable fabric. In addition, our producer of woman's leggings has their factory in Lakewood, these leggings made of recycled plastic are set to launch in early August 2019. 

The transformation of Oshki's supply chain is a moving ecosystem. We change according to the most sustainable practices we can find in the United States. Transforming to producing everything in the US is not about American exceptionalism, it is about creating the most sustainable product possible. Limiting the amount of fossil fuels needed to ship around our resources throughout their production is what apparel companies preaching sustainability need to do. The cheaper option may always be to produce overseas, but if companies are going to seriously consider sustainable manufacturing, they must consider the universal effect of its production. We hope the transformation of our supply chain inspires other companies to take the same initiative in creating a more circular economy. 

With love,

Jackson Riegler

Founder - Oshki. 

“What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another,” (Gandhi).

The destructive practices of the last 2 centuries reflect this thought by Gandhi entirely. Technology has improved hundred-fold, but so has destruction to our planet, to what gives us the possibility of existence. Where did this ideology shift? Were humans doomed starting with the agricultural revolution, the moment humans gained control over the nature around them 15,000 years ago? What has shaped humans into the ideology that they are better than the creatures surrounding them?

My answer of choice to this question is addressed by one of my favorite authors, Kathleen Moore,

“Not approaching, not avoiding, the seals rose and fell gently on the swell, as I rose and fell, the soft sounds of our breathing a language we shared. What would make us human beings think we’re something radically different from the other inhabitants of the natural world? Or if different, what grand leap of logic or arrogance would make us think we’re superior?” (Pine Island Paradox).

I challenge any morally sound human to enter our national parks, to snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef, or to develop a relationship with any living creature and not ask themselves the same question. It's an overplayed narrative. But what makes us think we are of greater quality? How did we blow this ideology so out of proportion?

Sustainable practices are a journey.

We have entered a new era. Instead of nature dictating human actuality, we determine the actuality of nature for the rest of time. What humans do now matters more than it ever has before. And so far, what we have done has left our planet irreversibly changed.

But enough of sulking in what has occurred. Enough dwelling on what could have been. Enough accepting planet earth as a doomed apparatus.

Instead, appreciate the now we are in.

We are finally on our way to success. For the first time in human existence, our population growth has slowed down. We have developed reliable sources of renewable energy. Social impact is accepted as necessary, now more than ever before. The doors have opened.

So do what you can. Find yourself captivated, inebriated in what you can do to improve the world around you. Find ways to reduce your fossil fuel usage. Find ways to increase your consumption of local cuisine. Phase single-use plastics out your everyday routine. If we put ourselves into this issue through the contribution of individuals, we can converse it in the same fashion. A reverse tragedy of the commons. There has never been a better opportunity.

Surrounding myself with an amazing network of individuals at the University of Michigan has made me appreciate this generation more than ever before. I have met the most incredible people, all who understand the necessity of doing their part in making this world a better place. The cliché terminology of "changing the world" can be done. Everyone must do their part.

I am applying this philosophy to Oshki. To be an agent for change in my local environment and the impact I am seeing to the Great Lakes on a daily basis. But my favorite part about the intersection between sustainability and business is the ability to scale one person’s desire for change. Because without my customers, what impact could I make? I could do my part, but business allows an exponential impact to be made on the planet, both good and bad. I am eager to share my passion for the Great Lakes in a more meaningful way this summer as Oshki is set to become the first fashion company of its kind to use 100% domestic plastic waste in the production of all products, including a portion of the 22,000,000 pounds of plastic that enter the Great Lakes ecosystem each year. Our supply chain is shifting to being based solely in the United States, with all members receiving fair wages. Not many companies can say the same thing.

In addition, this earth day, 100% of Oshki sales will go to nonprofits working to preserve the Great Lakes. My customers determine the impact I can make and I am thrilled to broaden this impact through the power of business as a change agent.

Have a happy Easter and an impactful earth day.

Jackson 

Founder - Oshki