Born and grown at Enactus EUR, Reshirt Rotterdam gives a new life to unwanted clothing pieces.

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Launched right before the COVID-19 crisis in March, 2020, the founders of the social startup were worried that the project would fall flat before it had the chance to blossom. Despite the sudden difficulty of finding textile suppliers, sales channels, and increasing brand reach within the constrained circumstances of the rising pandemic, Reshirt Rotterdam's team did not lose hope.

 

We persevered, thinking back to why this project began; before Reshirt Rotterdam was planted in our minds. It was November, and we as a small innovation team at Enactus EUR had to pivot from a previous plastic recycling venture, but finding a new problem in a seemingly-sustainable Rotterdam proved difficult. After months of research, interviews, surveys, and hours of decision making as the Enactus Innovation Team 2, the we were a determined group of students with a problem to solve: textile waste. And the moment we fell in love with solving this problem, solutions started racing. Come February, it was time to start testing.

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Clothing drives were set up, and the flood of ideas came to fruition: upcycling workshops with children, upcycling t-textiles into rugs, headbands, pillows, placemats, pot holders, scrunchies, coasters, and more. As each potential direction was tested, we started knocking off business models one-by-one. By April we had finalized our branding, name, and mission. By May, we had fully functioning social media accounts running, and an Etsy shop with our listed products. Come end-May, we made our first buck.

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Why did we become so passionate about textile waste? Let's look at it this way:

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72% of textiles that are discarded

end up in household waste and

are burned in Rotterdam.

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According to Rotterdam.nl, this means that 9,088,677 Kg of textiles are burned each year in the city. That amounts to approximately 27,266,031 Kg of CO2 released in the air; the equivalent of charging 3,443,369,998 smart-phones for an entire year. Or powering the energy for 3,116 homes in one year (EPA.gov).

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So we continue with a small impact: we estimated that each month we upcycle the amount of textiles that one person would discard per year (9 Kg). Soon we hope to reach this same number per day, to have a total of 3,285 Kg of textiles upcycled per year. That means saving the annual textile waste from 365 people, 9,855 Kg of CO2, and 1,256,830 smart-phones charged in a year. But baby steps.

 

We would like to achieve this by mindfully growing to spread the little spark of joy that our products bring. Because it feels pretty damn good to buy something that comes from upcycled waste, and creates 0 waste. Not only are you treating yourself to a uniquely fabulous product, but you’re also treating the planet by supporting Rotterdam's circular economy. And that’s something to be proud of. So on behalf of mother Earth, we’d like to say thank you.