Fashion is notoriously fast. Clothing evolves each season and desirable items one day may not be shortly after. What happens to the used clothes?

Everyday-use plastic often lacks a long life span. For example, the water bottle we purchase when thirsty. When we are finished, what happens then?

What we are left with is an unfinished cycle, an incomplete circle. How can we close the loop so that the materials are used again?

Join us this Friday, November 17 at Fresh Start as we invite Heather Kaye, Co-Founder of FINCH Designs to discuss her innovative company’s quest to cut waste from fashion and create a circular system of consumption and reuse by converting recycled plastic material into fashionable swimwear. Additionally, she will discuss textile waste, plastic waste and insights and lessons from the recent Eco Design Fair.

Heather and her co-founder Itee Soni established FINCH Designs in 2010 with the goal of producing sustainable swimwear with as little environmental waste as possible. FINCH exclusively uses Repreve™ plastic, a textile material made from recycled PET bottles, to produce swimsuits.

Heather is currently assisting Green Initiatives, a non-profit for promoting sustainability, to initiate a Shanghai schools curriculum focused on raising awareness of plastic consumption. On Friday, Heather will introduce Green Initiatives’ new grass roots campaign: “Plastics are Forever.” Its goal being to convince people to refuse disposable, single-use plastic items in everyday transactions.

Heather has an extensive background in the fashion industry and her 12 years in Asia have been a backstage tour of the fashion industry. She is originally from San Diego, California.

Fresh Start warmly welcomes all to attend, learn and inquire about closing the loop on waste.