Why Dusty?
It seems like every company under the sun makes 'the worlds best charging cable'.
Let's get e-wasted!
Not to be that guy, but we are running out of space to hold all this stuff once it breaks or becomes obsolete. And by stuff I mean our old phones, the chargers that came with them, the cases we bought for them. Not to mention our gadgets: our electronic clippers, oil diffusers, smart speakers, cordless drills, electronic toothbrushes, gaming systems and the charging or power cables that come with them...
To give you the 30,000 foot view, many of the materials inside our old electronics are poisonous. It's easy for these materials to leak into the environment if not properly recycled. This can seep into water sources and into the air when burned. It's easy to disregard this in developed nations, as we dump most of our old electronics on poorer nations.
Sustainable:
There seem to be a few ways to start fixing this.
We can produce technology that helps us use less energy in our daily lives (e.g. solar power, electronic vehicles) or find ways to better use the materials at our disposal (e.g. bamboo straws, recycled plastic clothing).
The rope we use to cover our cables are made using 100% recycled plastic water bottles (rPET). In the future we plan on incorporating even more sustainable elements to our design and manufacturing processes.
But what else?
We can also consider what happens when our we don't need our stuff anymore or when, let's be honest, it breaks.
Planned Obsolescence?
What is planned obsolescence?
Planned Obsolescence is defined as: a policy of producing consumer goods that rapidly become obsolete and so require replacing, achieved by frequent changes in design, termination of the supply of spare parts, and the use of nondurable materials.
Sound familiar? Granted, many companies make high quality products. But very few of them have a policy in place for what is referred to as 'end of life'. i.e. what do I do when my thing breaks or becomes irrelevant?
Some brands, like North Face and Patagonia allow customers to send in old items for repair or in some cases replacement.
We like this... we like this a lot. So much in fact we want to offer a similar policy, one we call Planned Obsolescence Protection or POP.
Think of POP as an insurance policy for your product and the environment.
POP
- If you get a new phone or device that requires a different type of connector, send your old cord back and receive a new one (with the correct connector) for free.
- If your Dusty cord breaks or becomes defective we will send you a new one within 4-days of being notified free of cost.
- In this scenario, we ask that you please send your old one back to be recycled/repurposed. Honor system here, team!
- POP is included automatically with every purchase of a Dusty.co product (no subscription fees).
- POP lasts forever
- In both POP scenarios the buyer is entitled to one free 'future' cord per purchase.
- Proof of purchase is required to invoke POP.
THICK AF!
If you take a look at a Dusty cord, you will notice something... they are chunky. I mean these bad boys are thicccc.
Most braided cords you find on the market are made by tightly weaving small threads around the cord.
Dusty cords are hand sheathed in a thick and soft rope. The cords hang relaxed and break in over time (kind of like your favorite hoodie or pair of jeans!).
The rope we use to cover our cords comes from local manufacturers here in New England. Most of our ropes are made from 100% recycled plastic water bottles (rPET).
Our cords are 3-5x thicker than your run of the mill cable. Not only does this thickness provide an extra layer of durability, but it also makes them stand out in a crowd.
Assembled in the USA!
I am not going to lie to y'all. I spent a long a** time trying to find a way to get the cables themselves made in America, but it's more or less impossible (for now). Most of the materials and factories they need to make cables only exist abroad (mostly in China).
That said, besides the naked cables themselves, Dusty cords will be assembled, packed and shipped here in the USA. Big win!
Conclusion
We want our community to love our products as much as they love their favorite hoodie.
When you love your cord, you're less likely to just chuck it in the trash when it's no longer relevant or forget it when it's plugged into the airport socket.
While it may not seem like much, when you don't forget your cord at the airport you:
A. have better chance of not being Uber-less at the Arrivals section because your phone died and you didn't have a charger on the plane.... that sucks
B. do the environment a favor by diverting that cord from the trash (you think the airport keeps those chargers for when you come back?).
We believe, when done at critical mass, can make a difference in the future of our planet.
Love your cord, save the world ;)
Peace,
Dusty
