My notoriously unsleeved laptop has seen its fair share of abuse, but it knows nothing in comparison to the approximately 17,000 people who are sex-trafficked into the United States each year. Laptop dents and scratches and the plight of sex-trafficked women might seem completely unrelated and a somewhat insensitive correlation to make, but due to the recent launch NYC’s the Longitude’s Hello Rewind social enterprise, the two actually have a lot in common.
For $49, Hello Rewind will send you a pre-paid envelope in which you are to place one of your most cherished old t-shirts. Think: high school musical, class of 2005, or the obligatory annual polar plunge t-shirt commemorating your bravery. Upon receiving your t-shirt, Hello Rewind will cut out the design material, sew it up with batting, felt, and velcro and transform it into a brand new laptop sleeve in just a few weeks.
Not only will you get a new use out of your old t-shirt that you could never bear to part with in the first place, but you will be helping the plight of the formerly sex-trafficked in the U.S. Proceeds from your purchase will go to Restore NYC, a non-profit organization that focuses on teaching English, marketable job skills, and other needs to recently rescued sex-workers in hopes that they can build a normal life. Many of the laptop sleeves are hand-crafted by these sex-trade survivors.
So why Hello Rewind? “Our name…is a nod to objects and lives – made anew,” the founders explain on their website. Only launched this month, people are already asking for custom-designed lap top covers, ipod sleeves, and other products. It is a amazing how such a simple idea can go such a long way for so many. We really can – as their slogan states – “move the world forward one laptop sleeve at a time.”
Hello Rewind
Recycle old tees in cozy computer clothing
- Organizatio n Type: For-Profit
- Website: http://www.hellorewind.com/
- Founder(s): The Longitude
- Founded: 2010
- Location: New York City, NY, United States
- See complete company list here
Pingback: Social Entrepreneurship Weekly | SocialEarth