With the launch of our coconut padded, Eco-Conscious Laptop Sleeve you might be wondering, what inspired us to use coconut fibres (Enviro-Fiber Foam®) to protect your laptop, MacBook or iPad?
We started sharing ideas on the laptop sleeve all the way back in June 2020, in the middle of the pandemic. With global travel off the to-do list, we needed to adapt and agreed to design eco-conscious goods that could be equally functional, whether you are packing for global travels or to keep you organised in your daily routine.
Of all those items you carry when you leave home, your laptop, MacBook or iPad is likely to be one of the most valued. Whether it's the money you spent on that new MacBook, you run your business off a laptop or priceless photographs and other memories stored - your device needs protecting!
The Problem
Most laptop sleeves are padded and protected with a virgin plastic, Polyethylene (PE) foam which is a petroleum based material. When we design and develop new products we give equal consideration to style, functionality and environmental sustainability. Durability and long lasting fabrics are a key consideration when launching a new product but we are equally excited by innovations to use natural fibres and materials.
With the rise of fast fashion, the textile industry has a bad reputation and we're on a mission to prove that you can be a force for good.
We live in a throwaway culture today, garments are worn a couple of times and discarded. Alongside this, the textile industry has an environmental impact during the manufacturing process too. Increasing amounts of industrial chemicals and pollutants risk contamination of freshwater ecosystems. With this considered, we got to work researching and testing natural fibres. Coir coconut fibres or coconut husk is a natural and renewable source and has all the natural properties needed to provide protection and padding.
The Lowdown on Coconut Farming
The tall coconut palm trees grow throughout tropical regions of the world, in warm and humid coastal regions. Interesting fact - dropped coconuts can actually float in the ocean for over 100 days, carried
by ocean currents sometimes travelling a huge 3,000 miles away from their origin. Washed ashore, these coconuts then produce a new palm tree, amazing right?
Since the trees are so widely spread throughout the tropics, the exact native habitat is unknown but it is thought they originate in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean islands. The top three countries with the highest coconut production are Indonesia, Philippines and India and together they account for around 89% of world production!
Our coconuts come from the warm climates of Indonesia and The Philippines and are harvested by coconut farmers and then a machine mechanically removes the coconut husk and coir fibres. This method creates employment opportunities for the local community and crucially, avoids the cruel method for monkey labour to pick coconuts. If you're wondering what monkey labour is, you can ready more from PETA's 2021 report here.
Coconut Coir - Another Gift From The Palm Tree
With the increase of those eating a plant-based or vegan diet, the demand for coconut as a food crop has increased over recent years. The coconut is typically harvested and the inner produced into coconut oil, milk, water or desiccated coconut. Coconuts are also commonly harvested for the production of beauty and hair products too.
The outer shell and husk are often a waste or byproduct of this industry and they're burnt as a natural fuel, releasing clouds of unhealthy smoke and CO2. With our Coconut Padded Laptop Sleeve, we're turning trash into treasure! Each coconut has around 80 to 150 grams of outer husk fibres which are Mother Nature's way to protect the coconut when it falls from a palm tree. With these natural properties to protect a coconut from a 50-foot drop, the coconut coir is ideal to protect your valuable laptop, MacBook or iPad too. Coconut fibres have high shock absorbing qualities, the 100% organic material is compostable but it is equally tough and durable.
Before we learnt about the magic of coconuts, we explored a range of other natural materials to provide that natural protection inside your eco laptop sleeve. Here's some alternative materials we looked into:
Hemp
Hemp is typically grown in China, India and the United States. It is usually farmed by hand is quite labor-intensive. Workers will usually use shears or tobacco knives to cut the stalks and bring the hemp to a waiting wagon or trailer. Hemp is an extremely versatile and fast growing crop that
yields more fibre than cotton. Hemp has a load of uses in cosmetics, textiles, clothing, shoes and food. When we spoke to a number of hemp manufacturers nobody could supply it to us in the padded sheet we required to provide that padding inside the laptop sleeve.
On a practical level, there's still issues when it comes to advertising hemp based products via Facebook or Instagram ads, so we decided this was not going to work for our laptop sleeve.
Bamboo Fibers
Bamboo is most commonly grown in North America, South America, Asia and Africa with the largest producer of bamboo products being China. Bamboo grows quick and in abundance which makes it a great eco-friendly material. It is used for a range of things like toilet rolls, duvet filling or clothing. Like hemp, we found no supplier to create it in ‘sheet’ form that was thick enough to provide us with padding for the laptop sleeve.
Cork
Cork is harvested from the bark of cork oak trees in only two areas of the world- the Mediterranean region of Europe and North-West Africa. You can use cork without chopping down the tree so it is a natural and environmentally friendly material. No waste is created during the manufacturing process as the leftover materials are reused and bound together. Cork is a great natural fibre that can be manufactured into sheets, other companies are already creating bags from this eco-friendly material. Despite this, during our testing phase, cork didn’t have the shock absorbing abilities needed to protect your laptop or MacBook.
Algae Bloom
This innovative material, found in fresh water, salt water, and brackish (a mixture of fresh and salt) water all around the world. Algae Bloom has been used by a number of eco-conscious and planet first shoe brands to create the soles of trainers. For our eco laptop sleeve, it was too firm and rigid to provide the soft padding needed for your device.
If you want to get your hands on our coconut padded laptop sleeve, designed for 13-inch laptops, MacBooks or the new 14-inch MacBook Pro, you can
buy one here. Or if you want to learn more, take a read over our
announcement blog post here.
