News

May 06, 2023

Massachusetts native turns ocean plastic into umbrellas

By Sarah Wroblewski May 19, 2023 / 6:08 PM

By Sarah Wroblewski

May 19, 2023 / 6:08 PM / CBS Boston

BOSTON - New England is known for all types of weather, and living here, we encounter some of the best and some of the worst.

"I was on my way to work in Boston, my umbrella had flipped inside and out and snapped," Massachusetts native Deirdre Horan explained.

From that moment, Horan was not discouraged but inspired to develop an eco-friendly product.

"I had just learned about ocean plastic, and as I was throwing the umbrella away, I remembered you can make polyester from recycled plastic bottles," Horan said. "I had no plans to be an entrepreneur. But ultimately, I thought the cause was worthy enough."

On a windy, rainy day, Horan showed a sea-cycled umbrella, a product from the company Dri, which she founded.

"This is a crowd favorite - the turtle - good test on a windy day," Horan said while battling the onshore wind from Boston Harbor. "So, the canopy is made out of 100% ocean bound plastic."

Really garbage - plastic waste and bottles that end up on beaches and in waterways impacting the water we drink, the air we breathe and the food we eat.

"It's disproportionately impacting people that live in southeast Asia, who rely on seafood as their primary source of protein," Horan explained. "These people in these countries have to deal with plastic waste that often isn't theirs. It's ours or other countries', but they don't have the waste management infrastructure to deal with it."

Most plastic waste is managed and recycled within countries but exporting it helps manage the cost of plastic emissions and reduce pressure on landfills and recycling facilities. According to an analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau export data, the United States exported 1.21 billion pounds of scrap plastic in 2021 with some of that plastic waste sent overseas.

"So, we pay local workers in those areas to clean up the plastic from beaches, coastlines and riverways to prevent it before it enters the sea," Horan said.

The plastic bottles are then sent to recycling centers, sorted, cleaned and from there cut into small pieces to turn into a specialized yarn that is then turned into the canopy of the umbrella. Each Dri umbrella consists of eight plastic bottles plus other eco-friendly materials from the tip to the handle.

"This canopy here is what's made of our ocean-bound plastic; the tip is what's made of aluminum. We have the shaft that is made out of stainless steel and the bamboo handle here, which is one of my favorite features," Horan said proudly.

The first of its kind, a sustainable umbrella that helps protect our ocean. To get the company going, Horan started a Kickstarter campaign that runs through May 21st.

"I think humans as a whole understand climate change, and we know there are individual actions you can take, and I just wanted to present Dri umbrellas as an option," Horan said.

Sarah Wroblewski is a meteorologist at WBZ-TV. Sarah holds a bachelor's degree in atmospheric science from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM) from the American Meteorology Society.

First published on May 19, 2023 / 6:08 PM

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