How often do you want to treat yourself with some jewellery, but have that nagging little voice in your head wondering how many trees and other earth-inhabitants suffered for it?
We found the perfect solution!
Recycled rubber bracelets made of… recycled inner tubes. Yeah, you read well:
You can go eco without having to choose between a cow’s skin bathed in some horrible chemicals or very costly materials.
These handcrafted bracelets offered by Paguro are actually upcycled, which makes them very sustainable jewellery indeed.
What is so special about them?
- They have a leather-like feel which makes them very comfortable to wear, and contain only 1% new materials,
- Each of them is handcrafted using reclaimed inner tubes
- They’re made from reclaimed rubber (the material used for inner tubes…), and are thus a stunning, vegan- and earth-friendly alternative to most other bracelets out there.
- They ship to the UK
- They are available in 4 different sizes, so you are sure to find yours;
About Paguro
So, Paguro. Is that just the Spanish word for bird misspelled, or…
Well, that’s a funny thought, but no. Paguro is actually the Latin name for the hermit crab – a little creature with big upcycling skills. Just like this little crab, Paguro (the company) aims to use whatever is no longer being used by others to best suit their needs and those of their clients.
This clever adaptation of nature into a company was first created by Yen, a fashion-enthusiast with a passion for sustainability, quality, and individuality… So basically everything you don’t really see in the (fashion-)world anymore. Frustrated by this fact, she took to the road and travelled most of the globe to find the best designers and the most sustainable materials that would together create the beautifully sustainable products that we now find in Paguro’s shop.
About the reclaimed rubber
Ever thought about what happens to all those billions of tyres we are using around the world once they are no longer suitable to serve their intended purpose? Right now your mind probably conjured up the word “landfill”, and that’s exactly right. Over at Paguro they didn’t like this thought, and decided to lend a helping hand in diverting some of that rubber away from the landfills.
So how did they manage to upcycle 3.360 inner tubes in just 5 years (meaning 12.810KG of rubber did not end up in landfills)? Well, like this:
The workshop responsible for creating the recycled rubber products for Paguro is located in Central Java – a place, like many others in the world, with no shortage of buses, trucks, and similar modes of transport that require some tyres to function. The workshop has found a steady supply of otherwise trash-destined tyres with a nearby transport company, to transform them into earth friendly bracelets and other upcycled products.
Once these tyres reach the workshop, they are usually full of more or less 50.000 miles worth of dust… Naturally, some light spring cleaning seems to be a good place to start the upcycling process.
Once sparkling clean, the selection process starts. All inner tubes have different patterns, printings, and marks, and not all might be suitable for certain designs. Each piece of tube is therefore hand-selected by the worker making the product, to ensure a perfect compatibility between product and design.
Once the material is selected, the crafting begins. From cutting and pinching holes in the rubber to attending to the final details, every single step of the process is done completely by hand. The whole process also takes place in one and the same workshop, which allows for a complete control of the (high) quality standard.
The recycled rubber bracelet that inspired us to tip our hat towards Paguro is by far not the only great product they sell, so go ahead and browse through their website. We promise you’ll feel a little bit more understood in this not so (eco-) understanding world!
This would be an ideal eco-friendly gift for your loved ones. Find more ideas of ethical gifts in our featured article.
