5Loops

Meet Andrea and Caro­li­ne, twin sis­ters hailing from the coas­tal beauty of Lima, Peru. They sha­red a chil­d­ho­od inter­twi­ned with natu­re’s won­ders. But as they ven­tu­red across the glo­be, the­ir eyes ope­ned to the devas­ta­ting impact of pol­lu­ti­on on our pla­net. Andrea, an oph­t­hal­mo­lo­gist, coul­d­n’t igno­re the issue. She tur­ned to her sis­ter for sup­port, and toget­her, they cre­ated ​“5Loops” – a brand that mar­ri­es sus­ta­ina­bi­lity and style in the eyewe­ar indus­try.

The­ir appro­ach is holis­tic, con­si­de­ring the enti­re lifecy­cle of eyewe­ar pro­duc­ti­on. All this wit­ho­ut com­pro­mi­sing on style or com­fort. This is what sets 5Loops apart.

5Loops is on a missi­on to make sus­ta­ina­bi­lity a cen­tral focus, aiming for a cir­cu­lar eco­nomy model. Here’s how they plan to do it:

Bio Ace­ta­te S70: Ins­te­ad of conven­ti­onal mate­ri­als, 5Loops opts for Bio Ace­ta­te S70, a sub­s­tan­ce deri­ved from cel­lu­lo­se, spe­ci­fi­cal­ly sour­ced from wood pulp or cot­ton. This mate­ri­al stan­ds out beca­use it boas­ts a hig­her cel­lu­lo­se con­tent than regu­lar ace­ta­te, which typi­cal­ly reli­es on che­mi­cal addi­ti­ves like plas­ti­ci­sers (pht­ha­la­tes). The­se addi­ti­ves can be har­m­ful, posing risks to repro­duc­ti­ve heal­th and gene­ral well-being. More­over, conven­ti­onal ace­ta­te con­tri­bu­tes to the alar­ming pro­blem of oce­an micro­plas­tics. In con­trast, Bio Ace­ta­te S70 con­ta­ins fewer che­mi­cals, pri­ori­ti­sing bio-based ingre­di­ents, and is biode­gra­da­ble. This means it poses no toxic thre­at and does­n’t add to the oce­an micro­plas­tics issue.

The Ide­al Raw Mate­ri­al: 5Loops has deli­be­ra­tely cho­sen to use Bio Ace­ta­te S70 exclu­si­vely in pro­du­cing the­ir eyewe­ar. This mate­ri­al tic­ks all the rig­ht boxes: it’s renewa­ble, recy­cla­ble, sus­ta­ina­ble, biode­gra­da­ble, and bio-based. The­se quali­ti­es make it the per­fect cho­ice for craf­ting gla­sses that are stylish and envi­ron­men­tal­ly fri­end­ly. It’s a safe mate­ri­al for everyo­ne, inclu­ding chil­dren, pro­vi­ding the con­fi­den­ce that its pro­duc­ti­on leaves no detri­men­tal impact on the environment.

Was­te Reduc­ti­on: To mini­mi­se was­te, 5Loops employs a smart pro­duc­ti­on met­hod. The­ir gla­sses are craf­ted using moul­ds, sig­ni­fi­can­tly redu­cing the amo­unt of was­te gene­ra­ted com­pa­red to tra­di­ti­onal ace­ta­te she­eting. Even the glass cha­ins, a vital com­po­nent of the­ir eyewe­ar, are pre­do­mi­nan­tly made using moul­ds, with only the ​‘ring’ that hol­ds the gla­sses cut from she­eting. This cho­ice ensu­res effi­ci­en­cy and mini­mal waste.

Eco-Fri­end­ly Pac­ka­ging: It does­n’t stop at the eyewe­ar itself. 5Loops exten­ds its com­mit­ment to sus­ta­ina­bi­lity to its pac­ka­ging mate­ri­als. Boxes, cases, and cle­aning clot­hs are all craf­ted from recy­cled mate­ri­als, making them envi­ron­men­tal­ly res­pon­si­ble and ful­ly recy­cla­ble thro­ugh indus­tri­al processes.

A cir­cu­lar eco­nomy model is at the core of 5Loops’ brand iden­tity. Once you’re 5Loops fra­mes need repla­ce­ment, you can send them back. Depen­ding on the­ir con­di­ti­on, they’ll bre­at­he new life into the­se fra­mes thro­ugh refur­bi­shing, com­pos­ting, or recy­cling. It’s not just abo­ut mini­mi­sing was­te; it’s abo­ut giving the­se fra­mes a second chan­ce to shi­ne. Even bet­ter, some of the­se fra­mes may be ear­mar­ked to sup­port soci­al ini­ti­ati­ves in Peru, cre­ating a posi­ti­ve rip­ple effect.

But the cir­cu­lar eco­nomy does­n’t stop at fra­mes. 5Loops exten­ds this phi­lo­sop­hy to the­ir acce­sso­ri­es. The­ir cases and cle­aning clot­hs are craf­ted enti­rely from recy­cled plas­tic bot­tles (RPET). This means they’re eco-fri­end­ly and ful­ly com­pa­ti­ble with exis­ting plas­tic recy­cling sys­tems. It’s a tes­ta­ment to the­ir com­mit­ment to sus­ta­ina­bi­lity, whe­re even the smal­lest com­po­nents are con­si­de­red with a gre­en mindset.

5Loops manu­fac­tu­res its eyewe­ar in Chi­ne­se fac­to­ri­es and sub­sequ­en­tly ships the fini­shed pro­duc­ts to its ware­ho­use in Ger­many, from whe­re they are dis­tri­bu­ted to cus­to­mers. Whi­le the­ir pro­duc­ti­on line may not be short regar­ding geograp­hi­cal dis­tan­ce, they are ste­ad­fast in the­ir com­mit­ment to sustainability.

They have taken pro­ac­ti­ve measu­res to ensu­re that every aspect of 5Loops’ pro­duc­ti­on alig­ns with the­ir sus­ta­ina­bi­lity goals. They’ve enlis­ted the ser­vi­ces of a com­pany to con­duct regu­lar audits and ins­pec­ti­ons at the­ir Chi­ne­se fac­to­ri­es. The­se audits are cru­ci­al to ensu­re tran­s­pa­ren­cy and uphold the­ir sus­ta­ina­bi­lity standards.

Howe­ver, they ack­nowled­ge that the cur­rent lan­d­s­ca­pe makes pro­du­cing Bio Ace­ta­te S70 gla­sses in Euro­pe chal­len­ging, pri­ma­rily due to limi­ta­ti­ons in the ava­ila­bi­lity and affor­da­bi­lity of raw mate­ri­als. The­ir aim is to relo­ca­te the pro­duc­ti­on of 5Loops eyewe­ar to Euro­pe in the near futu­re. This stra­te­gic move is dri­ven by the­ir com­mit­ment to redu­cing the­ir car­bon foot­print and fur­t­her alig­ning the­ir pro­duc­ti­on pro­ce­sses with the­ir sus­ta­ina­bi­lity objectives.

For all the ani­mal lovers out the­re, rest assu­red – 5Loops is enti­rely vegan. The­ir Bio Ace­ta­te S70 is non-toxic and envi­ron­men­tal­ly fri­end­ly, making it a win for both you and the planet.

5Loops fra­mes are built to wit­h­s­tand the test of time, than­ks to the use of cel­lu­lo­se ace­ta­te. This means that your 5Loops fra­mes won’t warp or beco­me brit­tle over the years. The­se gla­sses are desig­ned to last, ensu­ring they rema­in a reli­able part of your style and visi­on for years to come.

But 5Loops goes beyond just pro­vi­ding quality eyewe­ar. The­ir com­mit­ment exten­ds to giving back and making a posi­ti­ve impact. The­re’s a meanin­g­ful opti­on if you no lon­ger use your ​“old” 5Loops gla­sses. You can send them back to 5Loops, and they will put the­se gla­sses to good use. How? By refur­bi­shing them and then direc­ting them to com­mu­ni­ti­es in need in Peru. The­se refur­bi­shed gla­sses impro­ve visi­on and cre­ate a foun­da­ti­on for edu­ca­ti­on and pros­pe­rity, making a real dif­fe­ren­ce in people’s lives.

It’s wor­th noting that 5Loops’ foun­ders have deep ties to Peru, which is whe­re the­ir ini­ti­ati­ve begins. Howe­ver, the­ir ulti­ma­te goal is to expand the­ir reach across South Ame­ri­ca as swif­tly as possible.

5Loops is all abo­ut tran­s­pa­ren­cy. When it comes to the­ir ope­ra­ti­ons, they have not­hing to hide. In fact, they’ve ope­ned up to COSH!, and we had can­did conver­sa­ti­ons with the foun­ders, Andrea and Caro­li­ne. The­se dis­cu­ssi­ons pro­vi­ded a weal­th of insig­h­ts into the­ir pro­duc­ti­on pro­ce­sses and the­ir materials.

What sets 5Loops apart is the­ir recog­ni­ti­on that achi­eving 100% sus­ta­ina­bi­lity is a chal­len­ging jour­ney. They stri­ve to impro­ve daily, taking steps towar­ds the­ir sus­ta­ina­bi­lity goals.