How an engineering student turned red Solo cups into stylish sweaters: ‘A lot of trial and error’

Lauren Choi wanted to give plastic a second life. Her experiment turned into The New Norm, a sustainable textile startup

If you’ve been on a college campus in the last 30 years, you’ve likely come across red party cups. Made by brands like Solo and Hefty, the iconic cups are beloved by frats, crucial to drinking games like beer pong – and very difficult to recycle because of the type of plastic they’re made from.

But Lauren Choi, an engineering student at Johns Hopkins University, saw an opportunity: she wanted to turn these problematic cups into fabric. In 2019, during her senior year, she led a team that built an extruder machine that could spin plastic waste into textile filaments. They partnered with campus fraternities to gather thousands of red cups that could serve as the raw material.

Why This Matters

The story of Lauren Choi's sustainable textile startup, The New Norm, highlights the growing importance of creative solutions to plastic waste management in the face of increasing environmental concerns.

This article is part of Tagtaly's ongoing monitoring of UK Politics coverage across major outlets.

Coverage Snapshot

Key Insights

Tone & Sentiment

Context

The trend of repurposing plastic waste into valuable materials has gained significant attention in recent years, with various outlets covering innovative approaches to plastic recycling. The Guardian's coverage of The New Norm emphasizes the potential for sustainable textiles to transform the fashion industry. Meanwhile, other media outlets have highlighted similar initiatives, such as companies turning plastic waste into roads and building materials. This shift towards creative plastic reuse reflects a broader shift in consumer attitudes towards environmental sustainability.