Innovation

Terra Philippines started as a high school project that the students had to accomplish in St. Scholastica’s College. The founders were contemplating ways to have a fashionable, yet sustainable product that every person on the go would love to have. It stemmed from their experience witnessing unused scattered coconut husks outside their school campus. They came across a coconut vendor who throws away the coconut coir when making and selling buko juice. Hence, they wanted to turn these by-products into something more useful. As bags are necessary to store every belonging of an individual, the women founders thought of ways to incorporate the coir in creating everyday bags with a bit more flair and much more sustainability.

“We are committed to being environmentally conscious. Terra’s mission is to diversify and redefine the bag industry by creating a bag that merges style and versatility with eco-friendliness. With purpose in every detail, Terra is committed to creating sustainability in our value chain, supporting SMEs, and providing quality bags. Terra envisions a sustainable and environment-conscious bag that will redefine fashion.” – Co-Founder of Terra, Alaina Tria

Their innovation won several awards and accolades, all while supporting the livelihood of coconut farmers, by obtaining the material from them. Aside from coconut husks, they are also using used fabrics that would make up the body of the bags. So this entails the mission of Terra Philippines, which is committed to being environmentally sustainable and conscious of compromising fashion in their products. By also ensuring that the livelihood of coconut farmers from the Pilipinas Eco fiber Corporation is supported, and local sewists get to collaborate with crafting the bags, there is meaning behind every bag purchased or crafted, and the purpose of Terra Philippines is met beyond expectations.

Inspiration

With the product idea being founded by a group of women, they had a lot of insights regarding the needs involved in fashion items. The ladies' pre-existing interests inspired the inclusion of the coconut coir with the bag in sustainability and design and their observations of the coconut's discarded components after vendors outside their high school extracted the juice. Additionally, they were keen on standing out by using unique materials and manufacturing techniques rather than adhering to trends. Following much research and discussion during the design process, the team decided to employ recycled textiles and eco-friendly fibers as the primary materials for their bags. In the words of Alaina Tria, one of the founders, part of their innovative measure during the whole process was trying to integrate as much sustainability as possible considering the adverse effects of fast fashion. They sought to incorporate careful consideration, instead of prioritizing based on the rate of market-driven fashion items manufactured. Instead, Terra concentrated on moving steadily to give the bags more appreciation.

"There is a huge potential for coconut core material in the philippine industry considering the abundance of the plant in the country. We believe climate action stems from changing the disposable culture in society towards a more sustainable behavior. Terra aspires to form a platform for connectivity in the environment and people in every bag we create." – Co-Founder of Terra, Alaina Tria

Overall impact

At the forefront of who Terra and its co-founders are, is the passion for environmental preservation and sustainable fashion. Terra’s business values align with their tagline, “Purpose in every detail”, making sure that take make positive impacts through their business, creating a product where fashion merges with function and sustainability. With that, they have taken an effective business model that guides its sustainability goals of addressing responsible consumption and production and advocating for gender equality.

To achieve their goals, Terra has partnered with Pilipinas Eco fiber Corporation, which has partnerships with coconut farming communities in the Philippines. Their bags are then pieced together by local sewers from Metro Manila, providing them with livelihood opportunities. Since the inception of Terra, they have sold hundreds of bags, promoting the usage of 100% upcycled or recycled textiles and an awareness of the importance of ethically sourced materials for fashion pieces. Additionally, Terra aimed to promote the Philippines and preserve the culture with its design. Coconuts can be commonly found in Filipino households but are often thrown out after the initial use, resulting in the wasted potential of coconut coir. Terra wanted to use the second underdeveloped textile in the Philippines and show its potential to the international community.

Through working with coconut farming island communities in Laguna, Quezon, and Albay, Terra supports the development of the Philippine Coconut Coir industry by using high abrasion resistance, and relatively waterproof material in producing high-quality and long-lasting bags.” – Co-Founder of Terra, Alaina Tria

Currently, Terra is working on releasing new lines of products to open to a new market segment, hoping to reach a larger audience and further spread its advocacy of providing sustainable fashion pieces to the market while helping local workers, simultaneously.

Business benefit

Terra has been created out of a school project aimed at repurposing scattered coconut husks around the vicinity of their school, and eventually through the assistance of Pilipinas Eco fiber Corporation, along with the local sewers who are helping create their bag. Hence, the business expanded the purpose of Pilipinas Eco fiber Corporation and helped employ Filipinos, especially women, since the company is composed of mainly women entrepreneurs. However, since university students primarily manage the company, they have difficulty sustaining their operations because of the growing demands of the founders’ respective lifestyles, such as school and extra-curricular work. Despite these constraints, they are eager to expand their base further in continuing their fight for a sustainable fashion industry locally.

“Right now, we are trying to bounce back with the operating capital and launch newly designed marketing strategies and initiatives that may align with the market trends. What makes Terra is the grit to continue and see how beneficial its action is to the community”. – Co-Founder of Terra, Alaina Tria

From a business point of view, the company would need to create more products other than the bag. It is highly possible, given the funding they may get and their level of expertise, given their personal and undergraduate experience.

Upon dominating the 2019 Asia-Pacific Student Entrepreneurship Competition, Terra has acquired possible investments into their business, prompting them to pursue further social innovation to better cater to its target audience. They want to be at the forefront of social innovation to continually provide employment to local sewers and turn waste into something fashionable that can be used on a day-to-day basis, without sacrificing sustainability measures in the process. When the pandemic struck, they were able to immediately digitalize their operations, prompting them to reach more consumers and become a part of the growing trend in the fashion industry.

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Social and environmental benefit

The products they use to create their product are arguably all sustainable and do not cause harm to the environment and community when used correctly. For one, the main inspiration for their product is the scattered coconut husks around their school; hence, they repurposed this unused coconut coir into something else. They integrated coconut coir as an accent to their design. It is 100% organic and a renewable resource, especially since coconut is one of the most important crops in the Philippines, with the country being the second largest coconut producer in the world. As the planet's top producer and exporter of extra virgin coconut oil, these coconut husks are left in dumpsites; hence, repurposing such is helping the circular flow of the environment. Not to mention the used fabrics they employ in their manufacturing process, as upcycling is now becoming a trend in the fashion industry.

"The recycled textiles were introduced to our product through the inspiration given by online videos turning recycled shirts into a tote or canvas bags. I realized then that we wanted to incorporate a similar concept to our product. We asked our bag manufacturer if we could have their discarded textile and utilize it as our bag inner lining. "– Co-Founder of Terra, Alaina Tria

On the other hand, with the growing impact of industrialization and digitalization in almost every process of large corporations, local workers are left to fend for themselves. In addressing this, Terra is partnering with Pilipinas Eco fiber Corporation to provide a livelihood to local sewers who are pretty delicate with their services. They tapped these local sewers to do the job and opted not to reach out to large manufacturing companies because the company believed in the advocacy of supporting locals. These benefits, alongside using their platforms to raise awareness of environmental concerns altogether, put them at the forefront of responsible entrepreneurship and citizenship.

Interview

Alaina Carlize Tria, Co-Founder