TRMTAB upcycles landfill-bound leather remnants into one-of-a-kind sleeves for laptops, tablets, and cellphones. TRMTAB’s solution for the variety of mismatched scraps is simple yet beautiful: By weaving its accessories using different combinations of shades, textures, and grains, the company gives each product a unique personality.
TRMTAB is more than just an accessories brand. It also exists to create change, according to founders Mansi Gupta and Cassandra Michel, who bonded over their love of cowboy boots, sustainability, and Buckminster Fuller in graduate school.
Waste not, Want not
True to TRMTAB’s name, all pieces include an extra-wide tab that makes pulling out your gadget an easy feat.
TRMTAB’s work with Prachi Leathers, a factory located in Kanpur, India, is only the beginning. Gupta and Michel want to extend their reach, and by extension, their impact.
“With scale, suddenly, this small change has the potential to make a bigger impact. Upcycling in one factory equals 4,000 [pounds] of waste saved from a landfill. With two factories, we can double the impact. With four factories, we can transform over 16,000 lbs of waste.”
TRMTAB is already influencing change in different ways. For every case sold, Prachi will contribute $5 to an education fund for the daughters of their factory workers. In fact, the TRMTABs sold on Kickstarter alone were able to send 42 girls in India to school.
Like Fuller’s epitaph—”Call Me Trimtab,” a reference to a tiny surface on the end of a ship rudder—turning small actions into big shifts is TRMTAB’s cri de coeur.
Source: Ecouterre
