Meagan Downey is a mission driven entrepreneur who needed a fabric that could keep pace with her eco-friendly ambitions. The founder of Shiki Wrap’s specifications not only call for a material that is soft and flexible to handle, but also printable, durable, reversable, and something else: a genuinely greener alternative for her alternative to traditional gift wrap. In other words, she needed sustainably-made fabric that carries its own receipts. A printing partner’s recommendation led to a conversation with TVF, which led to REPREVE® Recycled Polyester as a solution.

“Shiki Wrap is a company on a mission to reduce the hassle and the waste of gift wrap,” Downey says, adding “there are a lot of challenges when you’re trying to build a product sustainably and you’re using textiles… So, I started to research fabrics that were derived from recycled plastic.” As the Vermont-based company’s scale grew, she needed a base material and a supplier for her alternative to traditional gift wrap… One who could reliably deliver a fabric that features what Downey says is “the highest amount of recycled content possible in the fabric we’re using.” The yarns in REPREVE® fabrics are derived from recycled plastic with certifiable origins and a smaller carbon footprint than traditionally produced, virgin polyester. TVF carries multiple REPREVE® options. Her inspiration for fabric gift wrap draws on years of feeling guilt over mounds of holiday wrapping paper thrown away with yards of tape to seal it together when her family opened gifts. Longtime recycling database, Earth911, estimates that 2.3 million pounds of wrapping paper every year ends up in United States landfills. “I’ve been so impressed with the staff at TVF, the folks that I’ve dealt with,” Downey says, adding that several factors drove her to purchasing REPREVE® textiles from TVF, including:

• TVF’s U.S. location, decreasing the ecological impact of longer-distance shipping
• Fast fulfillment
• Transparency about the fabric’s certifications and credentials
• Dual-sided printability
• REPREVE®’s higher recycled content composition compared to other fabrics she investigated
• The comparatively lower volume of water needed to print on REPREVE®

Another factor driving Downey’s decision to partner with TVF on the purchase REPREVE® textiles? Standing up against so-called greenwashing or green sheen – the phenomenon of companies overstating the environmental friendliness of their products. “You have to be credible” in the customer’s eyes when it comes to selling sustainable products, Downey says. Because of the traceability of the fabric and the logistical advantages of TVF’s U.S.-based warehousing and delivery infrastructure, she says her customers have confidence in the sustainable nature of Shiki Wrap.

“Quite frankly, we’re the ones making it in the USA and that’s something that a lot of businesses are not doing anymore, sadly,” which Downey says also reduces her company’s environmental impact.

The next chapter for patent-pending Shiki Wrap could include growth, as more U.S. consumers suggest they intend to purchase products with environmental impacts in mind. “The next piece is going to be to scale, so that we can realize reductions in costs across the entire supply chain… The more volume we can do… the more efficiencies and costs we can see, and then pass those along to the customer.” The TVF Sales Team can help businesses of all sizes find their fabric. Start a conversation or find out more about TVF’s selection of REPREVE® fabrics at TVFinc.com. Connect with the Shiki Wrap story at ShikiWrap.com.