Day Owl Uses Upcycling Plastic Bottles to Create Sustainable Jobs and Products

In episode 37 of the Disruptors for GOOD podcast, I speak with Ian Rosenberger, Founder of WORK, First Mile, and Day Owl on upcycling plastic bottles to create sustainable jobs and sustainable products.

Listen to more Causeartist podcasts here.

He has spoken about his work at SXSW, Harvard Business School, and the United Nations. He is a 2016 Barclay’s Unreasonable Impact Fellow and currently sits on the Ocean Conservancy’s Technical Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Plastic Waste.

To date, he has directed nearly $10 Million to need-based communities with too much plastic and not enough jobs. He is a brand new dad and believes that ending poverty and the plastic crisis is all but certain by the time he and his wife Raashi have grandchildren.

In the podcast episode, Ian speaks about his journey to Haiti, starting a non-profit there, and eventually his original business THREAD International there that has become the foundation for his new ventures.

After much innovation and partnerships with some of the largest brands in the world, including Ralph Lauren, Converse, and Timberland, Ian and his team have decided to go all in on making sustainability products for a new generation of consumers.

WORK places the poor into jobs in landfill communities. First Mile has redirected over 96 Million plastic bottles from landfills and the ocean and transformed them into consumer goods for global brands trying to find value in authenticity, transparency, and responsibility.

The Day Owl Backpack

Minimal on the outside, functional on the inside, sustainable all around. The Day Owl backpack is designed to carry you through your day, wherever it may take you. Every detail and material has been carefully curated to create the most functional backpack made in the most sustainable way.

Also, Day Owl is completely circular. When you’re ready for an upgrade, send this bag back to us and we’ll find a way to give it new life.

Not only does this keep what we make out of landfills, it ensures that the story—of you, all the people that made this bag, and whoever owns it next—lives on for as long as possible.

About Day Owl

Day Owl is a direct-to-consumer brand that has created a backpack out of First Mile materials that the team feels will prepare everyone to take on the world. Ian works most in landfill community assessment, sourcing strategy, understanding how to translate impact into economic value, and leveraging impact in storytelling.

Full Interview

[00:38] Grant Trahant:

What’s up everybody, this is Grant with Causeartist. Today is episode 37 of the Disruptors for Good podcast, and I’m speaking with Ian Rosenberger, founder of some amazing companies. You might know him from Thread International, one of the original companies that created materials out of plastic water bottles. Their first big partnership was with Timberland to create apparel and shoes with materials Thread International developed.

Over the past decade, Ian has really focused on creating sustainability around jobs, products, and using something detrimental to the environment—plastic waste—and turning it into a positive force. His companies now are First Mile and Day Owl, which Thread International has evolved into. First Mile partners with brands like Puma, Nike, and Converse to use upcycled plastic bottles in their product lines, while Day Owl is Ian’s direct-to-consumer brand, starting with an incredible backpack made from recycled materials.

Ian’s journey began when he visited Haiti and saw the waste crisis there firsthand. Initially, he thought he would start a nonprofit to create jobs, but this evolved into creating materials and products. To date, they’ve redirected over 96 million plastic bottles from landfills and oceans, transforming them into consumer goods for global brands and their own brand, Day Owl. Ian has spoken at South by Southwest, Harvard Business School, and the United Nations. He’s also a 2016 Barclays Unreasonable Impact fellow and sits on the Ocean Conservancy’s Technical Advisory Committee for eliminating plastic waste.

Ian’s work has directed nearly $10 million to communities with too much plastic and not enough jobs, making a profound impact on poverty and plastic pollution. I’m excited to dive into this conversation and hear more about his incredible journey.

[05:16] Grant Trahant:

What I usually like to start with is the journey. Before you started these companies, can you talk about how everything first manifested, and how your experience in Haiti sparked this?

[05:40] Ian Rosenberger:

Yeah, it’s funny, I always say I’m a little thick-headed, so it took a while for me to figure out what I was meant to do. The journey really started with the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, almost 10 years ago now, which is wild to think about.

[06:05] Grant Trahant:

So you went down there as a volunteer, right?

[06:10] Ian Rosenberger:

Yeah, I went down initially as a volunteer after the earthquake. I didn’t have a clear plan—I just hopped on a plane thinking I could be helpful. I remember when 9/11 happened, I was in college, and I regretted not doing something then. So, when the earthquake happened, I didn’t want to miss another opportunity. I got to Haiti with no clear idea but hoped to connect with an NGO and find a way to help.

[07:28] Grant Trahant:

That’s where it all started, but how did it evolve from there into a business?

[07:44] Ian Rosenberger:

It took a while to get there. Initially, I went for a week, made friends, and kept returning. One of the trips led to meeting a boy named Tassy, who had a tumor on his face. He asked for help because he couldn’t get medical care locally, and that led to raising money to bring him to the U.S. for surgery. After that, I realized that helping one person wasn’t enough. Dropping Tassy back into his neighborhood after surgery wouldn’t change his long-term prospects. That realization set me on a path to figure out how to help communities sustainably. After talking to people in Haiti, I realized what they needed wasn’t aid—they needed jobs.

[10:06] Grant Trahant:

I went to Haiti a few years ago, and the poverty is unlike anything I’d seen. It’s not just about economics, it’s a lack of opportunity. Once people have access to opportunity, they can build their communities. Is that what led you to focus on creating jobs?

[11:25] Ian Rosenberger:

Exactly. Poverty is about access and opportunity, and our mission became figuring out how to provide that. But before offering jobs, you need to ensure people have their basic needs met—health, safety, shelter, and freedom from debt. I started a nonprofit to help with that, filling those gaps so people were ready for jobs. That took about four years. Once people were ready for jobs, I realized, “Okay, we need to figure out what business to start.” And that’s when I noticed all the trash around us in Haiti.

[14:09] Grant Trahant:

That brings us to fashion, one of my passions. The fashion industry is a huge polluter, second only to oil. So, figuring out how to prevent waste from reaching oceans and turning it into products is a big deal. How did you start connecting those dots?

[15:14] Ian Rosenberger:

Initially, it was about just getting trash off the ground. Then we realized we could recycle it and turn it into textiles. But there’s more to it—creating durable goods that can store that plastic long-term, and helping brands tell their sustainability stories authentically. We didn’t just want to make products out of recycled materials; we wanted to ensure that the process empowered people and dignified the work of collecting waste.

[18:28] Grant Trahant:

So, people just started picking up trash, but how did you figure out what to do with it?

[18:53] Ian Rosenberger:

We started by talking to the people collecting trash, asking them what they needed to make more money and enjoy their work more. We created microloan programs to help them, built schools to get kids off landfills, and developed safety and business training. Over time, we figured out how to get the trash processed and turned into textiles. Our first big client was Timberland. That partnership was a learning experience, and it showed us there was a demand for what we were doing.

[23:26] Grant Trahant:

Timberland was a big deal. I remember when you announced that, and it felt like the start of something huge. What was that collaboration like?

[23:26] Ian Rosenberger:

Timberland was our first big break, and they were very patient with us as we figured things out. We learned so much from working with them. The response from consumers was also incredible—it showed us that people care about sustainability, and that was the catalyst for us to start thinking bigger.

[25:02] Grant Trahant:

It’s clear that people care when they know they have options. You mentioned earlier that your company evolved into First Mile and Day Owl. Can you talk more about those transitions?

[34:20] Ian Rosenberger:

First Mile is what we call the entire supply chain work we do—collecting waste, creating jobs, and processing materials. We wanted to be one of the best customers of First Mile ourselves, so we launched Day Owl as our own direct-to-consumer brand. We started with the most versatile product we could think of: a backpack. We call the people we serve “Day Owls”—the hustlers, the people who work hard to make an impact. The backpack is made from 100% recycled materials, and we’ve tried to make it as durable and sustainable as possible.

[39:05] Grant Trahant:

Can we geek out a bit? What exactly are First Mile materials made of?

[39:05] Ian Rosenberger:

Sure! The canvas for the backpack is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. We chose this because it’s durable and sheds fewer microfibers. The other parts of the bag are also made from sustainable materials, like repurposed neoprene and recycled zipper tape. We even decided to use leather, but it’s ethically sourced from the Leather Working Group because vegan leather is often just PVC, which is terrible for the planet.

[50:28] Grant Trahant:

What’s your biggest lesson learned from the past decade?

[50:28] Ian Rosenberger:

The more you think you know, the less you actually do. My experience has shown me that the system isn’t set up for everyone to succeed, and we have to be intentional about creating access and opportunity for those left behind.

[51:24] Grant Trahant:

What’s your vision for the next 10 years?

[51:24] Ian Rosenberger:

I want Day Owl to become a brand that leads by example, not by being perfect but by trying to be better every day. If we can help consumers make better choices and push companies to do the same, we can make a real difference.