DP3D: Sustainable, 3D-printed fashion

DP3D uses upcycled plastic to 3D-print unique, conversation-starting products! We reinvest in our local school communities, countering throwaway culture while empowering the environmentalists of the future.

Our solution takes a two-pronged approach, centered around the belief that holistic and grassroots approaches can simultaneously be harnessed to tackle the global plastic problem.

Zooming out: sustainable bowties

At its heart, our manufacturing process is inherently circular. We give raw materials a second life and reimagine plastics through the lens of 3D-printing technology. Here's how it works:

1. Plastic pellets are used to manufacture products like synthetic clothing fibers.

2. At the end of their lifecycle, these products are taken in by our filament suppliers and upcycled into 3D printer filament.

3. We use this upcycled filament to 3D-print all our products. Our process keeps plastic in the loop. That means we also keep plastic out of oceans and relieve stress on landfills.

4. Our products are fully-recyclable at the end of their lifecycle, restarting the process.

Zooming in: grassroots change

Paradigm and culture shifts begin at the roots. That's why profits from DP3D are used to furnish sustainability initiatives like:

• School cleanups and awareness campaigns, empowering students to recognize and counter throwaway culture in daily life
• Repair Workshops, where we work with curious, young environmentalists to repair broken household objects which would otherwise be disposed of

The global plastic problem:

• The fashion industry is dominated by the trend of "fast fashion." Rapid lead times and seasonal designs lead to mass wastage and mind-boggling CO2 footprints.

• Biodegradable materials have been substituted for cheap, synthetic fibers.
  • These can break into smaller, ingestible microplastics in oceans, affecting marine life and disrupting already-stressed food chains.

• By 2050, microplastics will outnumber fish in our oceans

Localized throwaway culture:

We started DP3D after witnessing the global plastic problem take root on a highly localized level. Within our schools, we noticed:

• A shockingly prevalent usage of single-use plastics
• Disposal of plastic bags and broken appliances rather than repurposing them
• Reusable cups and bowls from the cafeteria being left in bushes and stairwells (our peers even discovered cups miles away from school!)

The drivers of these issues:

• Not enough awareness about recycling policies
• Complacency among the student body
• "Climate anxiety" - many students reported feelings of helplessness / insignificance (e.g. "my contribution won't make a difference") when it came to addressing climate change

Consequences:

• Propagation of a toxic culture, where students expect others to clean up after them
• Throwaway culture affects everyone on our campuses (~3000 students and stuff in total)...
• ...But the brunt of the impact is shouldered by those who are underrepresented, marginalized, and lock power within school administration
  • E.g.: Janitorial staff (who are outnumbered 10-to-1 by students) put in many hours of extra manual labor to find and clean lost cups

On a macro- level, the implications of reduced plastic waste are vast and wide-reaching. The proposition of repurposing plastic into new products can impact millions worldwide. Here's an example of one of our many impact chains:

• Plastic used in DP3D product = plastic kept out of oceans ---> less exposure to plastic toxins when consuming seafood ---> fewer health risks

On a micro- level, our workshops and community initiatives are designed to spark high-impact action, incorporating stakeholders ranging from administration to staff and students. Here's how out solution addresses some of the "drivers" we mentioned above:

• Hands-on machining and engineering skills are often taught at the college level. Repair Workshops not only allow us to counter throwaway culture, but also democratize access to the lexicon of "resourceful engineering."

• We hope this will increase adolescents' social and technical mobility while psychologically addressing climate anxiety (to the point where student participants realize that small, sustained changes can make a difference).

• Our service initiatives and awareness campaigns not only nurture sustainable and socially-responsible habits among students, but also harness the voices of the underrepresented. 
  • Janitorial staff currently play a minimal role in sustainability initiatives on-campus. It is difficult for them to communicate their concerns across a language barrier. 

(Images of staff are excluded to respect their privacy)

• Throwaway culture marginalizes these specific populations on-campus. By, for example, encouraging students to responsibly return cups and plates, we hope to relieve pressure on overstressed and underrepresented janitorial staff.

One of our team members developed a product survey to engage our target consumer and gauge the appeal of our DP3D line of products. Based on the data and feedback we gathered, we were able to rapidly prototype and tailor new designs towards specific customer tastes.

Simultaneously, our other team member was immersing himself in LEAF GC - a service which tackles sustainability-oriented issues around his campus. This allowed him to gain direct insight into his school's "hidden" sustainability woes and the systemic barriers which perpetuate them:

• Interviews allowed him to understand the challenges faced by underrepresented sectors of campus staff
  • E.g. The effect of student negligence and throwaway culture on janitorial staff and how language barriers prevent them from vocalizing the cup and plate disposal issue

• Student surveying allowed him to identify and quantize the aforementioned "drivers"
  • E.g.: Many students felt that, due to their lack of social and economic power, even minor lifestyle changes would be negligible in the larger scheme of things

• He even went "dumpster diving" and found the e-waste bins on campus being used to dispose lightly-broken and easily-repairable objects!

We are proud alums who participated in the Circular Economy challenge in 2019! When we last applied, we were in the "prototype" stage. However, in the past 1.5 years, we have gone from rough designs and theoretical plans to completed products and tangible service initiatives.

Hence, we are now in the pilot phase. In fact, we have already launched the DP3D brand via Kickstarter. Despite not reaching our funding goal, we gained critical lessons on marketing and campaign timing while also building up a following of loyal backers. 

Currently, DP3D is focused on disseminating and establishing our products in the minds of consumers. As we speak, we are building an online platform (independent of third parties) to sell and market our products. Once completed, we hope to harness our customer list from Kickstarter to initiate the "Growth" phase, which will be marked by a turning of profit.

Our service arm is also currently in the pilot phase. We are currently deploying our awareness campaigns, sustainability services, and Repair Workshops directly on one of our team member's school campuses (UWC Dover Singapore), where they are being trialed by our target population (young adolescents).

The key technology used in our solution, as can be expected, is that of 3D printing. 3D printing works by heating up a small plastic filament to the point of melting. The molten plastic produced by this process is then extruded onto a heated plate, where it adheres and quickly dries. Once the plastic has dried, the printer can then move up a layer, printing another layer on top of the freshly-printed one. This process continues layer by layer until a full 3D object has been produced.

Our product is a new application of 3D printing technology, as 3D printed clothing has never been properly developed, despite a reasonable amount of interest and the proliferation of 3D printing technology in recent years. We hope to expand upon this technology, not just by using existing printers to make our products, but by designing a new process to create microfibers using 3D printers. We will then weave these fibers into fabrics and clothes, allowing us to compete with traditional fashion companies in feel, while also being completely sustainable. Overall, through development of our solution, we hope not just to push 3D printed fashion forward, but 3D printing as a whole.

On the business side of DP3D, without a doubt, our Kickstarter campaign was a pivotal stepping stone and learning experience for our company. The Kickstarter platform enabled us to reach:

• 439 consumers who clicked onto and viewed our campaign page over a time span of 30 days
• Consumers were located across 44 different countries on all 6 major continents
• 12 backers pledged $1022, for an average pledge of $85/backer

Even though our Kickstarter campaign did not reach it's ultimate funding goal (resulting in all pledges being refunded to backers), it is our service arm which has enabled us to truly serve and give back to our local community. This year:

• Our Repair Workshops after-school initiative enrolled 7 students for 2 terms
• We convinced our school administration to air an infomercial for freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors regarding the careless disposal of cups around campus - this awareness campaign was mandatory viewing in advisory and reached all of our (roughly) 1000 high school peers 
  • Our campaign helped relieve some of the pressure on our cleaning staff of around 100 employees

In total, our service initiatives served approximately 1100 students in this year alone.

Next year, we plan to double our impact to ~2000 students and staff by expanding our outreach campaigns to other schools on campus (e.g. Middle and Elementary). We also hope to organically grow our Repair Workshops enrollment with relaxed COVID guidelines.

1. Goal: Cut reliance on third-parties and become a self-sufficient organization. For instance, in order to initially secure the replacement parts and specialized tools necessary to start Repair Workshops, we convinced Administration to contribute a portion of funds from the school-wide activities fund. Although we eventually received the funding, the process was a logistical, time-consuming hassle. 

How we'll achieve it: By further integrating our business and service arms, which are currently discrete entities. As we bring in more profits, we hope to gradually phase out our reliance on third parties like these and become a self-sufficient organization which can focus on both financial sustainability and social good.

2. Goal: Bring our service efforts to more underprivileged populations. Our broad, hands-on learning style not only shapes eco-conscious engineers of the future, but also equip youth with vital engineering skills. These skills are particularly in-demand in today's job market and can be effective in helping youth escape the poverty cycle.

How we'll achieve it: Expand our service arm's reach with a specific focus on targeting students in Singapore local schools with Repair Workshops (these students often have limited economic mobility and come from low-income families).

3. Goal: Expand sales of the core DP3D bowtie line to, at minimum, 300 units over the fiscal year. Profits will be reinvested in growth of the company and, most importantly, future service initiatives.

How we'll achieve it: By translating our website prototype into functional online store, allowing us to sell products without reliance on third parties.

Our solution primarily focuses on a few key aspects: sustainability, circularity, and personal impact. In order to measure our progress, each of these aspects is tracked using a specific indicator, although some do not yet actually apply to our business practice.

In terms of sustainability, we hope to be far ahead of the curve in terms of achieving net zero. As soon as we begin producing products for our customers, our carbon emissions due to our business will be continually audited and offset. We will ensure the electricity we use for our printers is renewable, we will ensure that shipping emissions are offset, and we will ensure that the plastics we use are 100% recycled.

Meanwhile, in terms of circularity, we plan to begin measuring the percentage of our products using the recycled plastics from our old products as soon as we begin our consumer recycling program. While this number will likely never reach 100% due to us expecting more demand than can be sustained by recycling our old clothes, we believe it will be a relevant metric to measure to demonstrate our company's commitment to being a part of the circular economy.

Finally, in terms of personal impact, we hope to measure how our service projects affect participants, and to measure how effective our marketing impacts are. The former will be measured using surveys succeeding said service projects, while the latter will be measured using Google Analytics . These should demonstrate if our projects achieve their intended upskilling effect.

In terms of financial barriers for our team at the moment, the primary barrier preventing us from beginning production is that of startup capital. As soon as we receive the $10-15,000 needed to start production, we can begin to upscale our online presence, selling to consumers via an ecommerce platform. However, another more subtle financial barrier our team may face is the fact that the economy seems to be experiencing somewhat of a downturn at the moment. With the pandemic having made many workers redundant, and even more workers quitting jobs due to poor working conditions or bad pay, it is likely that the average disposable income for consumers will decrease. This could impact our company negatively in the startup phase, as we are inherently a cosmetics company, and the first thing to be cut from budgets is generally unnecessary cosmetics. 

Meanwhile, as is further detailed in our mentorship needs section, our original target market is quite small. Additionally, our products are made to last, meaning that repeat customers are likely going to be somewhat rare. This means we either need to expand in our own market rapidly, or we need to expand to other markets as soon as possible.

We currently partner with Repair Kopitiam - a Singaporean community initiative aimed at countering buy and throwaway culture in Singapore. The RK team runs workshops all across the island where individuals can drop off items to be repaired by volunteers or learn to repair items themselves. We work closely with the RK team to develop and deploy the curriculums utilized in our Repair Workshops (which is a spinoff of RK workshops). In fact, our Repair Workshop pilot on-campus is ongoing proof of our deep ties and friendship with Repair Kopitiam!

Although we do not "partner' with them per say, we source our filament from Filamentive, a filament brand based in the UK which produces 3D printer filament spools made from 50-60% recycled plastic.