Sunglasses made from recycled Rx bottles
Check on Kickstarter
Cocoplum sunglasses are stylish, vintage-inspired, affordable, AND they are made from recycled medication bottles
Why medication bottles?
- Because most curb-side recycling programs aren’t able to recycle them.
- Americans send BILLIONS of this single-use plastic to landfills every year, contributing significantly to plastic waste.
- They are an untapped resource of high quality polypropylene that shouldn’t be piling up in landfills.
- There’s an endless supply of them. We’re getting more than we need from just one pharmacy!
- And last but not least, they look REALLY GOOD as sunglasses!
Our Process
- Step 1: Collect empty medication bottles.
- Step 2: Clean and shred the bottles.
- Step 3: Melt the plastic and mold it into sunglasses.
- Step 4: Add lenses and temples!
The Designs
We spent 2 years designing sunglasses that met our 3 guiding objectives of sustainability, comfort, and fashion.
We currently have the molds for 2 designs- ‘Sol Mate’ and ‘Trash Talk’
Sol Mate: A retro-inspired, modern take on the oversize styles of the 70’s.
Trash Talk: A 90’s inspired frame perfect for that effortlessly cool look of your 1990’s dreams.
Each of our frames can be made with 3 different lens colors for a total of 6 unique looks.
Key Features
- Frames: Handmade with love and 100% recycled plastic.
- Lenses: Zeiss sustainable polyamide lenses verified by REDcert certification system; 100% UVA/UVB protection; scratch-resistant.
- Lightweight materials for maximum comfort.
- Spring hinges that create a perfect fit for all head sizes.
- All sunglasses come with a protective pouch made of cotton and rPET.
- Designed, sourced, and manufactured with recycling in mind.
- Every pair of sunglasses is one of a kind as the pattern the plastics create when melted together is unique with every pair.
Product Development
Why we care about recycling
Since plastic started being mass produced in the 1950s more than 8 billion tons of it has been created and almost all of that plastic still exists somewhere on our planet. That’s because plastic doesn’t break down like other materials. Instead, it breaks into smaller and smaller pieces until it becomes what’s known as microplastics. These microplastics are everywhere and have quickly become one of the largest environmental threats to our planet. Yet, we continue to produce more than 300 million tons of virgin plastic every year. Why? Because our world functions on a take-make-waste economy. Products are designed to be used and then, when we’re through with them, thrown out. We want to change this.
Here’s how we’re doing things differently…
Cocoplum is a circular brand. We’re ditching the old take-make-waste model and replacing it with a circular one. We not only consider where our materials come from (ahem…recycled Rx bottles) but also what will become of our sunglasses when consumers are through with them. That’s why we plan to implement a take-back program in which we’ll reward customers for sending their used sunglasses back to us. Since we handmake all of our sunglasses at our small workshop in California, we’re able to shred the frames and enter that plastic directly back into our supply chain to create new sunglasses. We’ve also teamed up with TerraCycle to recycle the lenses and hinges so no part of your sunglasses will end up in the environment or a landfill.
Cocoplum sunglasses are made to be recycled again and again… and again. Because the reason plastic is such a burden to our planet is the same reason we’re able to use it over and over, it’s virtually indestructible!
