Introducing: Recycled Plastic Mono Keychain
Meet our latest gift-with-purchase item, 'Recycled Plastic Mono Keychain'!
In 2021, Singapore generated 982,000 tonnes of plastic waste, taking up 15% of the total waste generated on our little red dot; however, only 6% of the plastics made it to the recycling process.
"Sharing a little piece of MORI" was the key idea when we started working on the gift-with-purchase project for this year. It has to have a story. It has to have an informative element to it. It has to represent what The MORI Club stands for. And most importantly, we were also especially firm about not calling it a day with our logo slapped on a ready-made product.
We started exploring the idea of creating something using plastic waste.
The reasons were clear:
(1) It was the most accessible for us - in terms of gathering the readily-available materials and technicalities in production.
(2) The waterproof, durable properties of the material aligned perfectly with the product's core concept.
(3) The world (100%) needs to hear more about plastic waste.
After months of research on the proper and safe way to remould plastics and craft moulds from scratch, plus weeks of collecting the amount of plastic we needed - we got the first piece of our MONO tag, fresh out of the $5 second-hand panini grill.
The first step to our Recycled Plastic Mono Keychain begins with collecting the right plastics. We only use HDPE plastics, also known as #2 plastic (identifiable by a little number 2 surrounded by the 'chasing arrows' symbol + 'HDPE' labeled underneath).
This particular category of plastic is the most commonly recycled and environmentally stable of all plastic - HDPE can be melted and reformed over 10x with minimal effects on its properties and gives off no harmful fumes when heated to its melting point.
The plastics we use in our Recycled Plastic Mono Keychains are from community donations, self-initiated park/beach clean-ups, and our friends at Kurasu Singapore.
My dad specifically designed and handcrafted a set of timber moulds for the iconic monogram logo. We carefully press the warmed-up, melted plastic mixture into the mould and clamp it down until it hardens completely. To think about it, it's a lot like the candy-making process.
We finish the tag by giving it extra TLC (a.k.a sanding the rough edges) before drilling a hole and fitting a silver stainless steel ball chain to complete the makeover.
And now you have a sweet piece of MORI everywhere you go, 100% proudly handcrafted with recycled plastic waste sourced locally from this little red dot.
We hope you enjoy this little gift as much as we did making it. *big hugs*
The Recycled Plastic Mono Keychain is now complimentary with every MORI order. No two-piece is alike, and we cannot guarantee the availability of a particular colour/marbling as it depends on the collected plastics we have on hand.