Sustainable by Design - Reduce, Reuse, (Re)Mix

Have you met the (Re)Mix Unbelt? It’s our friendly-but-firm clapback to the Amazon (et al.) dupes we found online last year. It’s also our most sustainable stretch belt yet. As we cap off Earth Month, we’re breaking down why we’re pursuing higher-than-ever standards for environmental impact, and how the (Re)Mix embodies long term changes in Unbelts’ products and services.

NEW: Insourcing Unbelts Components

Remember when we started making all our belts in Canada? This time, we wanted to source our components here, too. Here’s what that looked like:

• Steel hardware cut and powder-coated in South Edmonton

• Surplus rainbow-hued Unbelts disassembled by team members in Edmonton and Kansas

• Elastic rejoined into “rainbow reels” in North Edmonton

• (Re)Mix belt bands sewn from those reels

• Scraps repurposed into packaging

• Assembled and sold from our Edmonton HQ

As a result, we got to:

Upcycle Our Overstock

We had cartons of COVID-era super-bright surplus belts that didn’t quite match with the vibe of the restrained matte silver buckles. It was a true joy to reallocate that hardware to our more neutral Classic belts, which make up the highest volumes of our sales.

Experiment with Small-Batch Sewing

With rainbow reels on hand and locally-made buckles with a minimum order quantity of hundreds instead of thousands, we’ve been able to manufacture in response to demand instead of in anticipation of it. It’s an art and a science, and it’s really fun.

Minimize Our Carbon Footprint

By deconstructing the surplus belts where they were warehoused (Edmonton, Canada and Lawrence, KS, USA), and keeping the manufacturing process in Edmonton, within a few kilometres of Unbelts HQ, we’ve been able to dramatically reduce the time (Re)Mix components spend in transit. 

Reduce Waste

Moving sewing to Edmonton allowed us to measure our fabric waste, and find ways to eliminate it. That brings us to…

NEW: Even Deeper Circularity Measures

With the (Re)Mix, just about nothing goes to waste. Here’s the breakdown:

• Hardware from the surplus, very bright Classics is sewn onto our more neutral, fastest-selling colourways

• Cut rainbow elastic is sewn into multicoloured (Re)Mix reels

• Tags that were originally on the inside of surplus Classics are resewn into super cute minimalist packaging

• Leftover (Re)Mix elastic is upcycled into no waste accessories such as our Double-Duty Key Fob

• Bands and hardware that aren’t quite up to snuff hit the market as Almost-Perfects

We want every inch of elastic, and every piece of hardware we commission to be in use as much as possible, for as long as possible. That means upcycling our waste, but it also means…

NEW: Designing for Repairability

We’ve been repairing Unbelts through our Belt Hospital program since we opened our Edmonton sewing studio in 2017. It’s given us a lot of time to reflect on repairability in design. Because the hardware is sewn into our Classic, Intrepid and Kids’ belts, replacing the band or hardware requires disassembling and reassembling the belt - sometimes completely. Customers need to come to us not just for a replacement component, but for the skillset and equipment the repair calls for. 

When dupers swiped our original buckle designs, it gave us the kick we needed to go in a totally new direction. It was finally time for modular hardware. 

• (Re)Mix hardware is engineered to be threaded onto its belt band without any sewing required. If one component wears out before the others, you can order a replacement instead of having to send your whole belt back to us.

• Broken, well-loved and no-longer-for-you components can be returned to Unbelts HQ for credit towards a replacement. We guarantee that everything returned to us will be upcycled, recycled or refurbished and resold.

• Stay tuned for our first pre-loved sale, in which good-as-new, freshly cleaned pant-keeper-uppers will be available for resale.

• Our Belt Hospital repair program now includes the option to upgrade repairability by re-speccing broken Classics and Intrepids into (Re)Mixes.

We’ve changed a lot over the last  years (as any frequent visitor to our Bonnie Doon store can attest - “You reorganized again? Ooo, there’s a couch now!”). Every period of growth comes with lessons, and here’s a big one:

Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.

One of the biggest heartbreakers of the deconstruction process was unpackaging the surplus belts. Every belt came in a clear plastic box with cardboard backing. This process forced us to reckon with bags and bags of paper and plastic waste. Why?

• The plastic shell packaging was a compromise. It protected the Unbelts from damage and debris as they travelled, first from Ms. Ou’s sewing studio to our Edmonton and Kansas warehouses, and then to retailers across the continent who needed our belts to weather storage, distribution and display. 

• The packaging was compact and lightweight, but it wasn’t perfect. It increased the storage footprint of each belt, and reduced the volume we could ship at a time.

• As our Edmonton sewing studio grew, we took on the packaging problem - with mixed results. It took years of evolving our supply chain, skillsets and workflow to make more minimalist packaging viable.

• Our current “Unpackaging,” consisting of paper tags and an elastic loop made from production waste, comes with its own compromises: our belts can get dusty in transit, they don’t stack and pack as neatly, and it’s harder for customers to read belt info from a tag than from a box.

After putting our all into transitioning away from plastic, staring down that pile of old packaging stung. It felt like *so much.* But - we couldn’t not face it; we didn’t want those surplus belts to sit in storage for five more years, even if it meant confronting a past fail now. We recycled everything we could and doubled down on our commitment to package and ship without plastic forevermore.

 

We’re so proud of our team and new Edmonton supply partners for pulling off a hyperlocal production run that allowed us to turn overstock into a new resource. The (Re)Mix is the best of Unbelts circa April 2025, and we’re beyond excited to see where it goes from here. Happy Earth Month.

Ready to pick out your first (Re)Mix? Here’s the deal:

• Within Edmonton - Check out the DIY Belt Bar in our Bonnie Doon Headquarters.

• Within Canada - customize a (Re)Mix from our curated selection here

• Everywhere else - we aren’t quite ready to spread (Re)Mix far and wide yet. The quickest way to find out when (Re)Mix is launching in your area is to sign up for emails. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.