Globe HopeGlobe Hope products are made of a wide variety of recycled materials such as hospital and army textiles, worker uniforms, advertisement banners and flags, recycled sails, seatbelts and vintage home textiles such as curtains, tablecloths and bedsheets. The major part of the materials used in production comes from Finland. The materials that have been left unwanted or unnecessary from their previous purpose are often still perfect for Globe Hope?s production. For example, a pair of worker overalls that have a tear on the knee can still be used for making small purses or bags. The production aims at industrial quantities so that the production costs can be kept reasonable. Therefore the same goes for the end product ? when the price level is kept reasonable the ecological product is a real option in comparison to the non-ecological one.
Globe Hope has developed a vast network for material sourcing and the variety of different materials used is quite vast. We are on the search for new materials all the time. The latest new material found is a hot air balloon that is no longer used for traveling. The hot air balloon is now waiting for to be turned into something new.
Producing something out of recycled materials is a process with many stages. First all the material has to be sorted and washed or cleaned. Oftentimes the materials have to be stored for long periods of time because we have to take the material when it is available ? otherwise it will end up in a landfill and not be available when we might need it. We always try to take the details that are in the original product and use them in the new product as they always make the product more interesting. The old materials that we consider raw material are turned into new design byre-cutting, re-sewing, re-dyeing and printing. With some Globe Hope products it is sometimes really hard to know what the original material was but with others it is obvious.
Army Textiles
Globe Hope uses a wide variety of both used and unused army reserve textiles. Majority of the army textiles we use come from the Swedish army and are often decades old. The army materials are excellent because they are of good quality that is made to last. Another excellent quality about the army materials is that they come in large quantities that allow us to make large series of products. The material we probably use most is the navy sack from the Swedish army. The thick and heavy grey canvas sacks have been taken into use around the 1930-70?s and each sack has unique markings and signs of its past life on it. The original mouth of the sack with its metal rings that were used to tie the sack shut can now be seen in many of the Globe Hope army sack products. Other army textiles that Globe Hope uses are different kinds of army uniforms: grey felt pants and jackets, the beige snow camouflage suit, the blue and green uniforms, nightdresses, scarves, mittens and gloves, parachutes and tent covers ? there are limitless possibilities!
List all products made of army textiles
Seatbelts
Globe Hope uses recycled seatbelts in many of its products. A seatbelt is perfect for a shoulder strap of a bag so many of our bigger bags have a seatbelt strap or handles. We cooperate with five different car wreckers around Finland and buy the seatbelts straight from them. The majority of the seatbelts is black but there are some blue and grey, even red and beige ones in there too. The more uncommon colours make up unique and rare products. The average running age for a car is 17 years but most of the seatbelts from the wreckers look brand new. The seatbelt material is super durable and can be used for many different purposes making it a very interesting material that suits many tastes.
List all products made of seatbelts
Sails
Sails are normally made of durable nylon or kevlar fabric and after a sail comes to the end of its life it is considered almost toxic waste. Luckily we at Globe Hope have started to collect the retired sails that have seen numerous nautical miles and can now be turned into quality design. The heavier sail fabrics are great material for three-dimensional products such as big bags and the spinnaker sails make up great durable but light tote bags. We cooperate with the Finnish Sailors Association and the sailmaker WB-Sails and donate a share of the profit to WWF to help save the Baltic Sea. If you would like to donate your old sails to us you can either ship them straight to us or to WB-Sails.
List all products made of sails
Advertisement Flags & Bannerst
The giant advertisements that colour the walls of buildings or travel around the country on the side of a truck are usually made of heavy vinyl that does not decompose. Luckily Globe Hope gathers them and makes new design out of them. The advertisement banners are great for making paper folders as well as big weekender bags. The lighter advertisement flag material is perfect for small purses or tote bags. The colours live on in the new products ? could there be a better way! Globe Hope collects the used banners and does this in cooperation with businesses that print and hang the advertisements. Each banner product is always unique as it is always taken from a different spot of the big picture.
List all products made of flags and banners
Vintage Textiles
The patterns from the past few decades can be seen in many bright and colourful Globe Hope products. Especially the retro patterns from the vibrant 60-70?s are very popular and brighten up the everyday life. Globe Hope gets its vintage fabrics straight from fleamarkets? and recycling centres? sorting departments. Some of the vintage fabrics are also dead stock from factories or batches of fabrics from auctions and such. Therefore some of the vintage fabrics we use are unused even though they are old. We also use a lot of vintage leather in many of our products. The leather comes from leather jackets that we source the same way the other vintage materials. Other popular vintage materials that you can find in many of our products are crocheted lace tablecloths and curtains.
List all products made of vintage textiles
Hospital Textiles
Hospital textiles have been made to endure hard use and a lot of washing. Therefore they are great material for us even after they have finished their career at the hospital. Hospitals and hospital laundries change their stock from time to time and this is when we step in. We use surgical sheets, bedsheets, terry towels as well as nurse and surgeons? uniforms that we transform into something new. Hospital sheet is great material for many things as they are easy to dye and print. Nurse uniforms have been turned into skirts, jackets, handbags and purses.
List all products made of hospital textiles
Worker Uniforms
Like army uniforms the worker uniforms have also been made to last and they come in large quantities. The worker uniform fabrics are usually materials such as thick cotton, enstex or cotton-polyester mix that can easily be reused. The worker uniforms also usually have a lot of detail such as pockets and other interesting bits and pieces that can be moved straight into the new product. We have changed worker shirts eg. into skirts, tunics and tops for our seasonal collections. The heavier materials like overalls can be used for weekender bags or laptop covers.
List all products made of uniforms
Organic Cotton
Globe Hope uses only GOTS-certified (Global Organic Textile Standard) organically farmed cotton in its production. The organic cotton is the only 100% new material we use in our production. Growing so-called conventional cotton is a heavy burden on the nature in every stage of the process. The naturally grown cotton we use is harvested from farms that do not use polluting artificial fertilizers nor repellents that destroy insects and plants that can harm the cotton. Organic cotton is also picked by hand and therefore the use of chemicals to dry the cotton leaves is unnecessary.
