Icycle
thoseglassesfromkickstarter.com
@icycle.eyewear
IntroductionStory
Project modelProductTeam bio
Introduction
The team behind Icycle has spend a year
crafting a product and its supply chain that
fulfills the aspirational goals of environmen-
tal, economic and social sustainability at
once. The team of Icycle has worked together
with local initiatives in India as well as op-
tometrists and eyewear manufacturers
throughout the UK to develop a product made
of 100% recycled plastic, handmade and de-
signed to contribute to the development of a
circular economy.
Fixing the planetis our Job.
Story
It was in summer 2017 when Jonathan, Icycle’s
co-founder, was travelling through India to
immerse in and learn about a new culture.
While doing so, no matter where he went, he
saw plastic waste everywhere, and people
struggling to deal with it. When he started
talking to people about it, he realised that the
problem is not the people themselves, but the
means they have in order to deal with the
piles of plastic that comes with previously
unpackaged goods. Without proper recycling
facilities and waste collectors, but growing
plastic consumption and simple inexperience
about its consequences, the locals emerged
as the victims of a lifestyle forced upon them
for which they were not ready to deal with.
He witnessed waste-pickers spending their
day going through trash only to sell it for
almost nothing, not being able to feed their
families or themselves. So he left with an
image of India etched into his mind that por-
trayed the country as deeply struck by a det-
rimental problem. So he decided to make it
his mission to do something about it.
Coming back from his trip, he found a team of
cliche students looking to imprint their good-
will on this world. As a team, they then real-
ised that what Jonathan was telling them
about is as much a problem as it can be an
opportunity. This marks the beginning of Icy-
cle’s journey to create what turned out to
become an attempt to revolutionise how con-
sumer goods are manufactured.
After brainstorming what could be the perfect
product to start for Icycle, we came to the
conclusion to follow our own passions and
design a literally visionary product. We
hopped on to a growing market trend of sus-
tainable eyewear and saw opportunity to de-
velop the underlying supply chain behind Icy-
cle’s sustainable manufacturing process as
a result.
Project Model
Having an engineer on Icycle’s team, Paul, we
are able to both model as well as prototype
several pairs, continuously reiterating our
design and quality, while crafting a supply
chain that can provide Icycle with recycled
plastic throughout. In order to do so, Icycle
formed crucial partnerships with initiatives
onsite in India and began planning production
together with them. Taking into account the
lack of technical knowledge in underserved
communities Icycle has tailored the process
towards their abilities while allowing them to
upskill during the production of its high-qual-
ity eyewear.
Solution: make our own glasses. For good.
> Locals collect household plastic waste
throughout Pune, India before it enters
the local landfills
> The plastic waste gets sorted, washed and
shredded into recycled flakes ready for fur-
ther processing
> The plastic flakes are processed via semi
auto matic injection moulding, cnc milling
or 3d printing nearby the plastic collec tion
points
> The processed plastic parts are returned
to the recycling facilities for assembly and
finishing
In the end, Icycle seeks to learn from the expe-
rience of producing sustainable high-quality
eyewear, learn about the way manufacturing
and engaging a local community works, and
expand to ever new use-cases for its mission
to make this planet a happier one. Because in
the end, it is not only about using less plas-
tic, but about reusing, repurposing and recy-
cling what is already there, and that is Icy-
cle’s mission.
Sourcing
Recycling
Redesigning
we go broke once the planet is fixed.
Product
Icycle’s glasses are designed to be timeless
and still unique, everyday and still special,
consciously handpicked and sustainable
throughout. Its design is simple and sleek,
without additional kitsch, to draw and keep
attention to the unique process it went
through and the unique materials it is made
of.
Every pair of glasses is just alike itself only.
Being comprised of an individual mixture of
plastics sourced and moulded into a particu-
lar pattern, none of Icycle’s glasses is the
same. The handpicked process of manufac-
turing each pair leaves its mark on every
product.
Regarding the lenses available, Icycle wants
to serve a broad customer base that uses
eyewear mainly for protection from sun
and/or digital surfaces. The glasses thereby
comes in twp different versions:
> as dimming-the-lights glasses, and
> as blocking-the-screen glasses
All parts contain 100% recycled plastic saved
from the environment. The glasses are de-
signed to be recyclable thereafter. Production
involves mostly manual work and teaches
real craftsmanship. As a result, those work-
ers involved learn how to add value to their
everyday work by not only collecting plastic
waste, but by producing something from it.
See the next two pages for further details.
Round Glasses.
Round Impact.
Dimming-the-lightsGlasses
polarised
UV 400 Protection
multicoatedanti-scratch
recycled
resilient
handmadeunique
hypoallergenicreadingdiopters
blocking-the-screenGlasses
hypoallergenic
blue-lightprotection
anti-scratch multicoatedresilient
recycled handmadeunique readingdiopters
Team Bio
jonathan Karlstrategy and marketing
Initiator, Runner, Dreamer but in the end just
a guy from Hamburg.
We all ask ourselves that one question all the
time. Who am I? What makes me? While I can
tell you what I do and what I believe, I can't tell
you who I am as the answer to that question
is constantly evolving. One shall stay in
motion, try to do the right thing, stay hungry
for more and never stop working towards
making this world a better place...in the end,
what else are we here for?
And you know what I stand up for? Sleep. It
sounds boring, but there is so much more to
these hours that we spend every night lying
around. Trust me, you need 8h a night to get
rid of all the adenosine that piles up in your
brain, so you function like a decent human
being the next day.
Paul TanuMechanical engineering
I chose mechanical engineering as my destiny
because I like making things, I help turn peo-
ple’s ideas into the 1000 words image.
I am the team’s resident wizard (a.k.a engi-
neer), my team gives me a few poorly drawn
sketches and after a while they get through
their letter box a prototype. They see it as
magic, psst don’t tell them that my computer
does all the heavy-duty work. The rest of the
time I share with them war time stories about
how one turns plastic bottles into wearables.
And my recommendation: Adam Savages’
“Every tool’s a hammer”. One thing I took
away from it is his definition for a maker, “(a
person) putting something in the world that
didn’t exist before”. Every body should take
permission from this book to go try the thing
that they are afraid to try or to explore that
hobby that you might consider weird.
Aaron BawSoftware engineer and design
Coffee eccentric, tinkerer, and an avid cre-
ative. Not afraid to break the rules. and chal-
lenge conventions.
What really motivates me is the thought I get
to do it with a team of incredibly talented,
fun, and awesome people. I knew early on that
I'd be involved no matter what we ended up
doing - the energy we all bring makes me feel
like we could accomplish whatever we set our
minds to - whether that was designing fash-
ionable crocs or changing the world through
recycled plastic.
I recommend: bulletproof coffee. It's jet fuel
for the mind. Try this and thank me later:
1 cup organic mycotoxin-free coffee (fair
trade sources if possible).
2 tbsp organic grass fed butter.
1 tbsp MCT oil.
Shake (not stir!!) to satisfaction.
Mads HoeferStrategy and Design
Resting in restlesness, constantly on a jour-
ney towards becoming a professional world-
backer
Although we call ourselves homo sapiens
still, I think we should emerge from the posi-
tion of being an intelligent being, to becoming
a conscious one, a homo sentiens. I can't help
but picture a world in which people care, and
push towards a more sustainable life, simply
by making it easier and more beautiful to do
so. With Icycle, it feels like the first stepping
stone for me into the right direction.
I can recommend the book “Zen and the art of
motorcycle maintenance”. It is a clash be-
tween those with a romantic viewpoint to life
focused on being "in the moment"; and a clas-
sic viewpoint with application of rational
analysis, vis-a-vis motorcycle maintenance.
Helps you figure out what you want from life.
Nabeel Sroya-Varaeywear specialist
Eyewear Enthusiast, DJ, Enterpriser, Joan Miró
admirer and Aimé Leon Dore wearer.
Our "Round Glasses, Round Impact" initiative
is my motivation. Giving back glasses made
out of recycled plastic to communities which
don't have access to basic eye-care, whilst
correcting their visual acuity drives me. This
will help improve productivity levels tenfold -
which in return contributes towards a growing
community and economy.
Part-time, I am also the group’s DJ. Therefore,
here’s a cult classic for you: "Slum Village -
Fan-Tas-Tic Vol 1". For an education on the
birth of Neo Soul featuring J Dilla’s intoxicat-
ing production along with T3 and Baatin’s
silky smooth flow. The album is a journey of
raw beats, heavy bass-lines and grandiose.
Together, weCreate.
g the worldWhy Not?
Savin-