A new Sheffield-based sustainability initiative is fundraising to recycle outdoor products into clothes and accessories.
The eco-friendly company, ReTribe, was founded by Lauren Mason, 35, and her friend Ben Harman, 33, in October 2023, after they witnessed hundreds of tents being abandoned at Creamfields Music Festival.
Lauren said: “We were shocked to see the sea of tents left behind, over 80% of people left their tents that year.
“People leave their tents at festivals due to convenience and a lack of knowledge of what happens to the tents after.
“Many festival goers think that they are leaving their tent for charities and the homeless, but this is not the case. Education is needed to show these tents are ending up in landfill.”
Knowing that all the unclaimed items were destined for landfill, the couple decided to salvage what they could and recycle it.
Both Lauren and Ben had previously worked together in the apparel industry as designers and product developers for 10 years.
Lauren said: “Together, we designed and developed technical clothing for men, women and children for several successful brands at Go Outdoors.
“Clothing and fabric waste is a bi-product of consumerism growth in the past 50 years, this has come from advances in manufacturing and is inevitable with the rate of that growth that we would have this much waste.
“What we need is solutions to reduce, repurpose and recycle this waste.”
The first item they designed was a bottle holder, but the range of items quickly grew to include bags, t-shirts, and fleece jackets.
They have set up a fundraiser to keep their project going, with the hopes of expanding it nationwide.
Lauren said: “We have so many plans and ideas. But we need to make our target on the fundraiser to keep our factory open, so one step at a time.”
