Earth Month Special: The Retold 10 with Carmen Olsen

In this edition of The Retold 10, we’re thrilled to introduce Carmen Olsen, founder of Park + Coop! Carmen is on a mission to transform textile waste into thoughtful, functional products, and her work is a powerful reminder that reuse can be both beautiful and impactful.

We’re excited to be partnering with Park + Coop on our very first circularity project, a collaboration that brings our shared vision of reducing textile waste to life. Carmen’s dedication to building a circular economy. Read more about Carmen below!

Carmen Olsen, founder of Park + Coop, wife, and mother of three!

Park + Coop is all about finding ways to reuse textiles to make new products, so sustainability is at our core. I believe a circular economy is the right thing for our people and planet. If we can find a way to inject what has already been used back into the production stream as our raw materials rather than processing new we can slow down natural resource use, reduce energy use, and reduce pollution. 

I always supported recycling and some of the more basic things we can do, like keeping a reusable shopping bag in the car to reduce plastic bag use. It wasn’t until about six or seven years ago when I read an article with some staggering waste statistics like the 17 million tons of textile waste per year in the US, 85% ending up in landfill, that triggered more thoughtfulness about how much waste I personally produce. At that time I switched to Stasher bags and Thinx, two of my favorite swaps. I also try to carry a little box of silverware around with me so I can use less plastic silverware on the go. It’s a journey and I’m very far from perfect. Sometimes you forget your shopping bag or buy that item from the dollar store that will probably break and end up in the garbage in a few months. We are human. Things happen. But I’m trying and getting more thoughtful as my awareness grows.

Park + Coop reused about a 1/4 ton of textiles last year. I’d like to grow our sales so we can reuse 1/2 ton. And then keep doubling that.

You mean other than Retold and Park + Coop? I really love Ecoenclose for eco friendly shipping supplies.

I’d like to see an increased focus on reuse over recycling across the board. Recycling is great, too, and plays an important part, but reuse requires way less processing, which means less water, energy, and pollution.  However, the reuse struggle is real. It’s a tough business model because it is expensive and hard to scale.

For example, to make a laptop bag out of new denim I can just cut 2-3 pieces of fabric and start sewing. To make the same bag by reusing jeans I need to launder the jeans, break them down, find two jeans that match, and cut 13 pieces before I can even start sewing. There isn’t a large swath of fabric to work with and each jean is different, so it’s like a puzzle to get all the pieces we need. Then I’m sewing way more pieces than if I had just used new fabric. It takes nine times longer, which means it costs much more to make. You really have to care to take on that challenge. 

I appreciate consumers that recognize this and show support by buying from companies trying to make a difference. Being willing to pay more and buying from reuse companies shows they understand the struggle and want to make a difference, which makes this kind of business possible. It’ll take everyone, both businesses and consumers, to turn the ship. 

One article from way back was from Real Simple magazine and it introduced me to Stasher bags. That is when I stood up and took more notice, and started looking for ways to improve. Lately, I’ve been paying more attention to circular economy principles. There is some great information about that at ellenmacarthurfoundation.org.

I was searching for other likeminded companies that may be interested in partnering with Park + Coop to make a difference and I found Retold! I was so excited to hear about what they’re doing to make a difference in textile waste. Partnering with them was a no brainer. The Retold folks are awesome!

Definitely annual, big clutter. We use the scrap bags and fill a bunch all at once.

The Park + Coop laptop bag, of course!! I use mine for my tablet on the go.