Plastic

The Dork Project is launching a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.com for its first product, Dork

Dork is a simple, easy-to-use electric cord storage solution for small appliances made from 100% recycled plastic sourced from the ocean

8 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean each year

95% of plastic packaging is only used once (single-use)

Value of single-use plastic thrown away each year is estimated at over $80 billion USD

SYDNEY, NSW. - 5 November 2019 - The Dork Project announced today that it is raising funds via a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.com to produce the first batch of its debut product, Dork, a simple kitchen and bathroom electric cord storage tube made of 100% recycled ocean plastic. The Dork Project is the brainchild of self-proclaimed dork and nerd, Brad Arsenault, a career marketer and entrepreneur who is no stranger to small business start-ups. With the help of Sydney design and engineering team, People & Things Brad has created the Dork to help fight the war on plastic ocean waste.

Having spent nearly five years living in Taipei and now nearly six years in Sydney, Canadian-born Brad and his partner have become avid scuba divers and the pair enjoy spending summer weekend mornings on their kayaks.

“There’s nothing more confronting and frustrating than diving over what is or was a pristine coral reef only to find plastic bags, bottles and fishnets choking off growth and killing sections of it,” Brad says. “It is equally disturbing seeing bags and plastic bottles littering shorelines or floating free in the harbour.”

The Dork almost never saw the light of day. When the idea first came to Brad several years ago, 3D printers weren't as widely available and crowdfunding wasn't even part of the lexicon. Not to mention, Brad was vehemently opposed to adding to the plastic trash that was already a major and growing problem. So his idea was shelved indefinitely.

Fast forward to late 2018 and the success of crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo along with the development and wide-scale use of 3D printing and availability of ocean plastic led Brad to see an opportunity emerge.

Living plastic-free simply isn't possible for most nor is it environmentally viable, according to Brad.

“The reality is we've collectively created a global plastic problem,” he says.“What we must seek to do, is find a use for the mess we've created. Most plastics are recyclable and can be turned into other products. We need to find clever ways of closing the loop in recycling. We need to continue to pressure businesses and government to be more environmentally focused and provide programs and solutions that close the loop."

Each year over 8 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean and it is estimated that by 2050 plastic will outweigh all of the fish in the ocean. The total value of all of the single-use plastic tossed out each year is estimated at USD $80 billion, according to Oceanworks, a non-profit global marketplace for recycled ocean plastic materials and products founded by Rob Ianelli in 2016.

Oceanworks has developed a guarantee program by which they certify products made using ocean plastics they've helped source. The certification mark ‘o/w’. applied to products is designed to give consumers confidence in knowing that the product they've purchased is made with recycled ocean plastics.

Brad and his team at Dork have recently signed on with Oceanworks and expect to become part of the Oceanworks marketplace following the successful completion of the Dork's crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter launching this week.

"When I tell people about the Dork, most often they're amused and intrigued and then when I tell them that we'll be using ocean plastic to make the Dork, that 's when their response turns into a 'Wow;,” Brad says.

If all goes well for the Dork during its crowdfunding campaign Brad and the Dork team expect to see production and worldwide shipping of the product by Q1 2020.

The Dork Project The brainchild of entrepreneur Brad Arsenault a Canadian-born marketer and businessman who has been living and working in Sydney for nearly six years. The Dork Project aims to create household lifehack products using recyclable materials including ocean and beach plastic. Dork is the first product to launch. The company expects to leverage the power of crowdfunding to market and sell the initial production run of the Dork.

About Oceanworks® Oceanworks® is the global marketplace for recycled ocean plastic materials and products. Our sourcing platform provides a range of recycled ocean plastic resins, yarn, materials, and products from our global network of trusted suppliers.

Oceanworks® Guaranteed assures that the product meets Marketplace Standards for source authenticity, supply chain transparency, and social, environment, and legal compliance. Today's consumers demand to know the impact of their purchases, and our process gives customers that confidence for all products marked Oceanworks® Guaranteed.

About People & Things People & Things is Sydney-based design and engineering company that works with entrepreneurs and businesses to create products that are fundamentally new, delight users, and create opportunities that didn’t exist previously.

The company have an impressive and growing portfolio of products including a couple of previously successful crowdfunding projects already in production.

Nearly a decade ago I had a crazy idea for a simple household product. The idea pre-dated the existence of the crowdfunding platforms that exist today. I wasn’t sure where to go with the product or idea so I shelved it. Thus the Dork Project has been an idea for a long time. Fast-forward to today!

The development of platforms like Indiegogo and Kickstarter for example, have breathed new life into my little kitchen solution idea. Roughly two years ago while flipping through a decade old notebook, I found the original sketches for the Dork - it wasn’t called the Dork then. The branding hadn’t yet been created and it was really just a sketch on a page with some notes. Having worked with a friend to promote her film on Indiegogo led to the resurrection of the idea and offered up a new direction. But I wasn’t happy.

We’ve known plastic was a problem for a few decades and many of us felt like we were doing our part. We were recycling or reusing but for many - myself included - our use of single use plastics continued to increase. As a scuba diver I was noticing plastic waste appearing in places where it just shouldn’t be, on coral reef systems and wrapped around sea animals. I needed to change what I was doing.

My experiences diving and snorkelling and what I had witnessed left a sour taste in my mouth and the Dork was once again about to be shelved - possibly indefinitely. Creating a product from virgin plastic would only contribute to the growing problem and further add to the stresses already being experienced by reef systems and wildlife around the globe. Then a solution presented itself.

I connected with a design team in Sydney Australia and together we workshopped the idea for the Dork. That’s when the solution appeared. The design team were already connected to local organisations that were collecting beach plastic. And the cool part was that the groups and design team were looking for clever ideas so they could use the recovered materials.

We’re finding a new life for ocean plastic!

For news about the Dork Project and our upcoming crowdfunding campaign, please follow, share and subscribe!

Thanks in advance for help and support!

Brad