Renewables & Environment - New York, New York, United States
Introduction – what is IRRI, what are our products? IRRI is the name of the brand that my partner and I created over a year ago and it holds a special meaning to us. It represents to us our concept of using new ideas to face the problems of the future generation. We always believed in the green concept but that it also should be cost effective for the consumer and sustainable economically as well, so we decided to use bamboo as an ecofriendly alternative to plastic for our essential everyday household goods. Many of us already know about the environmental problems that we all face from the overuse of plastics, and because plastic is non-biodegradable it eventually ends up in huge piles within our oceans. Bamboo contrary to most peoples initial perception is not a tree but rather a grass, and because of this bamboo grows at an exponentially faster rate and is one of the world's fastest growing plants. Because of this, bamboo can be cultivated on farms which can be harvested seasonally like our food and vegetables. Bamboo has already started substituting hardwoods as an alternative solution to deforestation and soil erosion in the United States and we hope to take the concept one step further. (You can read about this in detail within the FAQ below) Our products consists of our own designs of everyday household goods using 100% biodegradable bamboo fiber material. We started with dining items (cups, forks, plates) etc and a children's set we are very proud of. We also made smaller standalone items such as coffee cups and compartment trays for organization and snacks. We hope to expand to much more categories as we grow and mature.