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The Newest Trends, Recycled Materials ronment they are hiking, climbing, and adventuring in. Some
sports teams are even joining in, like UK’s Forest Green Rovers.
The applications for recycled coffee waste in clothing This football team lives up to its name and wears shirts made
and accessories is limitless. With hand crafted watch compa- from coffee waste and plastic bottles. Besides being sustainable,
ny Lilienthal Berlin, you can now wear your love for coffee the shirts are breathable and perform well under the pressure
on your wrist. After 3 years of material development with the of professional athletes. As sports teams around the world work
help of the team at Kaffeeform, another innovative German hard to become carbon-neutral, the demand for the best-per-
producer that turns recycled coffee into reusable cups and forming sustainable materials rises.
saucers, the company was ready to design the next thing in Max Havrylenko, founder of the sustainable Ukrainian
sustainable accessories. Lilienthal launched a successful Kick- sunglasses company Ochis, doesn’t see competition as an issue
starter and are now beginning production on the world’s first for the brands joining the growing circular economy. The
watch made from recycled coffee. To keep the carbon footprint public community is already eager to learn more and take part
of the watches as small as possible, bike couriers pick up the in sustainability. Havrylenko explains, “The community re-
used coffee grounds from cafes around the city. sponse in Kiev was great: cafes save their coffee waste for us,
Then the process begins. The coffee grounds are dried customers know and love us. Of course, they hesitate because
and processed with plant-based materials like waxes, oils, and it’s something very new and innovative. That’s why we like
polymers until it forms a fine granulate. The result is a mal- to share more information about and show the usage, factory.
leable material that can be used to create a premium minimal- We already have a community of customers, who believe in
ist watch. The days of associating eco-friendly alternatives us and share our story globally.” Ochis creates chic modern
with counterculture are gone. Sustainability can now be sunglasses without using any plastic. Instead, the company
synonymous with luxury. Jacques Colman, co-founder of collects old coffee grounds from local coffee shops in Kiev.
Lilienthal, believes “The Coffee Watch is the new status sym- The pulp is then dried before going through a CO2-free pro-
bol for a sustainable lifestyle that can also be worn on the duction process. Next the mixture of coffee grounds and
wrist. True luxury takes the environment into consideration natural oils is bonded with a vegetable-oil-based biopolymer
and focuses on understatement, not on showy and unnecessary glue to keep it all together. It is pressed into flat sheets and
details.” With sustainable fashion gradually making its way laser-cut into frames. This means everything but the glass
into mainstream markets, the competition is heating up. lenses are fully biodegradable. The coffee smell that stays with
Standing out from the crowds means not just having a truly the frames? That’s just a perk. Havrylenko adds, “There are a
sustainable product but having one that performs as well. lot of alternatively made eye frames: wood, cork, stone, recy-
Another successful Kickstarter making waves is the cled plastic, ocean trash. But we do not think that we are
Barrage Technical Shell. This performance sports jacket is made competitors – we are runners and pushers. We show that
from recycled plastic bottles and coffee grounds. Nature-lovers alternatives can exist and offer them to people. So we are
can now choose outdoor clothing that directly helps the envi- innovators and colleagues more than competitors.”

The days of associating

eco-friendly alternatives
with counterculture are gone.

Sustainability can now be

synonymous with luxury.

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