Resploot for play and sleep with good conscience
Musti wants it to be easy for pets and their parents to make sustainable choices. The big idea is to broaden the share of sustainable products in the assortment step by step. An important element in this ambition is a brand called RESPLOOT® that offers a selection of pet beds and toys made of recycled PET bottles.
From bottles to textile
The Resploot beds look like common beds but possess almost superpowers. Available in several spacious sizes, they accommodate cats and dogs from small to very big. And importantly particularly with big dogs, the recycled PET fabric is highly wear-resisting.
Recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, create 75% less CO2 emissions during the manufacturing process than freshly produced polyester. The bottles are shredded into flakes which in turn are melted and shaped into pellets. These pellets are then lengthened and extended to make polyester yarns from which the final products are woven.
Kristiina Moilanen, Product and Sourcing Manager responsible for dog beds, says that whenever a sustainable alternative for a certain type of textile exists, Musti aims at choosing that option. “Our direction is clear.” She describes the recycled PET used in Resploot beds as highly suitable for the purpose: “The fabric is very resistant. It survives more than many conventional materials. And as the sizes are generous, Resploot beds can take also the challenges of big dogs’ weight, wear and tear. The washability further emphasizes the sustainability of Resploot beds. As the linings are removable, they fit into any washing machine. So it is super easy to lengthen the sustainable life of the Resploot products”, she confirms.
In addition to giving birth to new final products, recycling has numerous advantages along the whole value chain. To these belong energy conservation, reduced water and chemical use and CO2 emissions as well as reduced waste production and oil dependence.
Against biodiversity loss
Living together with pets and their parents, Musti has a special relationship to biodiversity. The world is changing at an unforeseen speed and numerous animal species are in danger. Through Resploot, Musti is commenting the rapid decline in biodiversity. PET bottles contribute to one of the causes, threatening to reduce land and aquatic biodiversity. Resploot products are trying to change the statement that “By 2050 the ocean will contain more plastic by weight than fish”.
The resistant Resploot soft toys come in shapes of animals from endangered species to remind pet parents about animal species in danger. Through the shapes of for instance the Indonesian Orangutan or the Finnish Wolverine, they also point out that the loss of biodiversity is a global challenge. Resploot products are made in India, where the manufacturer is co-operating with WWF to support local nature conservation work.
Sustainable stretching
Behind the brand name Resploot lies a code to crack. Maybe obvious for fluent speakers of pet, “a sploot is a type of stretch that some pets do. This special stretch is defined as a pet laying on their belly while stretching their legs out behind them. Splooting also allows the animal to cool themselves by pressing their belly into the ground.” Or into a resistant bed made of recycled PET bottles.
