We recently connected with Michelle Holm Vicky Manivanh and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle Holm, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

At the beginning of RecoopedPNW, our goal was always to have a positive influence on our community. Our journey started with repurposing materials that would have otherwise ended up in landfills. We built chicken coops from reclaimed fence boards and old decks, and sourced hardware and accessories from local Habitat for Humanity stores. Soon after, we were introduced to super sacks which we now use to create our bags and totes. These durable plastic containers are typically used for industrial shipping once and then discarded by businesses for various reasons. Through our efforts, we have prevented over 1,000 lbs of plastic from reaching landfills, offered waste management solutions to local businesses, and supported our local economy. Our mission to be have positive impact on our community came to fruition. Being a part of our city, small business and market community fills us with pride, especially when we see the things come full circle.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hello all! We are Michelle Holm and Vicky Manivanh the co-owners of ReCooped PNW based in Everett, WA. We make sustainable bags and totes that are 100% handmade with up-cycled industrial plastic. Much of our backstory is mentioned about but overall we want to help people live more sustainably while having a positive impact on our community. As our business has grown we have been a source of wastemanagment for local businesses and city groups by upcycling items destined for landfills or sitting in warehouses of years. We focus on sustainable textile conversion and are so proud to be able provide that to our community on a local level. Our mission extends beyond just selling products; we aim to inspire a movement towards a more sustainable lifestyle.

How’d you meet your business partner?

We met as neighbors! For a few years we lived next door to one another always enjoying one another’s company but it wasn’t until when Vicky adopted baby chickens that the partnership really began. Michelle was already a chicken keeper and had all the know how and the next thing you know we are revamping Michelle’s old coop for the new chicks. From there this lead to several chicken coop projects using up-cycled materials. We ventured into crafting bags and totes from up-cycled industrial plastics and after discussions about participating in the well-known garden event Sotriculture in Everett, WA, receiving the acceptance letter, we successfully launched our business RecoopedPNW!

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

At Recooped PNW, only the two of us handle the raw materials and sew the bags. We both already knew how to sew, are quite creative and resourceful in our regular lives. Once we went through the trial and error period of designing the bags and totes it was production time! We started hand processing, cutting and sewing bags from Michelle’s living room. As our business expanded, we transitioned to working from inside our homes into a garage which significantly increased our ability to produce more by having more space for product and upgrading to industrial sewing machines. A key takeaway for us was the importance of acquiring the right tools to enhance efficiency and speed and establishing a consistent processing standard for every stage of bag and tote creation that didn’t feel daunting or unattainable when producing large quantities. A lesson we have learned along the way is being willing to adapt to changes and pivoting when things don’t work out as planned.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.recoopedpnw.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/recoopedpnw/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/100091318006596/
• Other: We now have podcast on:
  Spotify
  

  Amazon-
  https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8b1bab99-12bf-42f9-831e-0c31627c0860/episodes/49dcce46-5704-449c-b02a-2a83f196f0a4/recooped—the-podcast-episode-1—what-is-sustainability

Image Credits

Photographer: Natalka Kolosok; Ears and Noses photography