A high school science teacher has invented the Evolve Adventure Towel – the world's first sand-repellent towel made from recycled plastic bottles.
The towel was created by Wayne Goodwin, from Australia, who spent his career working in international schools around the world. Goodwin was inspired by the passion he sees everyday from students in his classroom, which led him to create an environmentally-focused travel brand.
The Evolve Adventure Towel launched on Kickstarter on 14 August
“Outside of the classroom, I spend my time travelling, surfing, diving and camping,” Goodwin explains. “A towel is always an essential accessory, but I've never found one that’s perfect. They’re always too bulky, too sandy and they take too long to dry. When my students inspired me to start an eco-friendly brand for travellers, this was the first problem I chose to tackle.”
The towel (63” x 31.5”/ 160cm x 80cm) is made from an innovative fabric developed by Evolve Travel Goods, called Ecolite Microfibre, which is made from 80% recycled polyester and 20% polyamide. By using recycled polyester this reduces water usage by 90% and energy usage by 70%. This recycled fabric makes the towel eco-friendly, sand-repellent, antimicrobial, light weight and fast drying.
“Fast forward months of researching and designing, and I really think I’ve found my perfect towel. Best of all, we’ve been able to make it in a way that is environmentally positive, by recycling an estimated 20 plastic bottles for each towel, that otherwise would have ended up in landfill or polluting our oceans,” Goodwin adds.
The towel is made from an innovative fabric developed by Evolve Travel Goods,
called Ecolite Microfibre
Beyond its eco-friendly credentials, Ecolite Microfibre is an innovative, high-tech fabric that boasts several ‘breakthrough’ features:
Sand repellent – The fabric allows sand to slip off easily, without becoming lodged in the fibres like a traditional cotton towel
Antimicrobial – This property means you don’t have to wash the towel as often, therefore reducing water and detergent use over the product’s lifetime
Super absorbent – The fabric can hold three times its weight in water
Ultra-portable – Engineered to be light weight, allowing the full-sized towel to be folded up to about the size of a large burrito. Making it ideal for travelling, when space is at a premium
Rapid drying – Evolve’s towels use increased solar absorption and a unique weave pattern in the fabric that allows water to escape faster, significantly enhancing drying speed. Each evolve towel also has a dark side. Once exposed to the sun, the dark pigment enhances the absorption of solar radiation. This heats up the water molecules, priming them for evaporation.
The towel was launched on the online funding platform Kickstarter on 14 August, with five designs to choose from.
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