‘Dress well, do good.’ Parker County resident’s idea turns plastic bottles into shirts.

Everyone likes to wear good clothing. And when that clothing is also good for the world around us, that’s a bonus.

That’s the idea behind Katie Boydstun’s company Project Good Apparel. Using recycled plastic bottles, the Parker County resident has created a line of shirts that follows the company’s “waste to wear” philosophy. The shirts are stain resistant, wrinkle resistant and quick dry.

”The original idea of the company started back in June of 2020. At that time, we had picked out a different name, and the company’s look was different from what it is now,” said Boydstun, a 2006 graduate of Weatherford High School. “Like any good company, we pivoted for the better and came up with what we are today. “Our motto is ‘Dress Well, Do Good.’ That is what sets the bar for our customers and us.”

The product utilizes recycled material, and the company donates 10% of each shirt sale to a carefully vetted charity that it has chosen to pair up with each design.

”We want to encourage our customers and people around us to get out and do more good in the world. Volunteer, donate, help out,” she said.

Boydstun is one of the company’s five founders. The rest of the team includes members in Colorado, New Jersey and Illinois.

”We are all so different, with unrelated backgrounds, but we all have a love of fun shirts and, more importantly, the drive to make a difference in the world,” she said. “Even if we change one life, we’ve changed the world forever, and that is what is so exciting.”

The brand officially launched on Feb. 2, but Boydstun and her partners have been hard at work getting the company on its feet since 2020.

”We have spent a lot of time and dedication on the research and development of the material, packaging, etc.,” she said “We could have quickly pushed a product out sooner, but we wanted to make sure we had the best quality on the market today.”

Surprisingly, none of the founders have any background in the apparel industry except for their love of fun, unique, conversation-starting shirts.

”When our team initially came up with the idea that evolved into Project Good Apparel, we were focused on creating exciting, sustainable shirts that we’d want to wear ourselves and that people like us would enjoy,” co-owner Matt Brosseau said. “It wasn’t long at all before we realized that, through partnerships with charities across the country, we had a unique opportunity to turn our love of fun, patterned apparel into something that could truly impact the world.”

Project Good Apparel is strictly online for now at projectgoodapparel.com. However, Boydstun said they hope to expand to storefronts across the United States.

So why do they use plastic bottles in their clothing?

”It is proven that recycling plastic reduces air, water, and land pollution,” she said. “Buying products made from recycled plastic bottles indirectly helps create sustainable living and environment.”

The single-use plastic bottles are cleaned, shredded into flakes, and the flakes are melted into pellets. The pellets are then extruded into yarn that is woven into each Project Good Apparel shirt.

Even the hang tag on the shirt is made from recycled material, and the packaging is 100% curbside recyclable.

“We formed this group as a company desiring to make a change in the world, both through our products and our actions. Once we all realized we were on the same page with what we wanted out of our company, we knew we had the right group to move forward,” co-owner Stan McGraw said. “We all bring different backgrounds and abilities to the table, and that is what makes us work together so well.”

Though an infant in the business, their best seller so far is the “Oh My Geode” shirt. Like all of their shirts — which are all button-up — it features a unique pattern. In this case it has a pattern that resembles leaves on a frozen surface.

”The pattern is just so unique and intriguing,” she said. “But I am curious to see what comes up on top throughout the year. We have some really great designs planned to release.”

As of now the company is 100% shirts, but Boydstun said there are some ideas in the hopper for other releases, so stay tuned.

”I always tell myself and the ones around me at the end of the day, we will all pass on. What we do for ourselves in our lifetime will die with us,” she said. “It’s the good we do for others that lives on. I wanted to create something to pass on for generations to come.”

This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 6:00 AM.