FROM THE SHORES OF MALAYSIA TO YOUR CHILD'S BATHTUB

Acquired by Carter’s in 2017, Skip Hop is a global brand providing families across the world with diaper bags, travel gear, toys, home necessities, and other items for families with babies and toddlers. Its reach has only multiplied since joining Carter’s, which is the largest branded marketer in the United States and Canada. (Market research reveals that 90 percent of millennial parents and 80 percent of baby boomer grandparents have made purchases from Carter’s, a family of brands that includes Skip Hop.) 

As a part of Carter’s – which has committed to making sustainable apparel and products and to reducing the impact its products and manufacturing processes have on the environmental and vulnerable communities – Skip Hop has in recent years sought out a new solution for reducing global plastic pollution and in keeping plastic waste out of the world’s oceans. It engaged the help of Oceanworks to redesign and relaunch its MOBY Baby Bath Bundle, a three-piece bath essentials set that comes with a Stowaway Bath Toy Bucket, Waterfall Rinser, and a Stack & Sort Boat Bath Toy, using reclaimed ocean plastics.

Together, the teams jumped into design and testing to identify the best reclaimed plastic resin to incorporate into the MOBY Baby Bath Bundle, which aims to make bath time a breeze through products that make washing up fun for babies and young children.

Using Poly Propylene (PP) resin created from ocean-bound plastic waste sourced from Asia – specifically collected from Malaysian communities living within 50 km of the coast and without formal waste management – Oceanworks and Skip Hop recreated the MOBY bundle using a new blend of injection-molded plastic that replaces 70 percent of its virgin plastic components with reclaimed ocean-bound resin. 

This type of PP resin, made of 100% reclaimed plastic, has been sourced and developed by Oceanworks and its network of plastic collectors and suppliers to offer Oceanworks partners durable and consumer-safe solutions for incorporating reclaimed plastic into products such as bins, crates, outdoor furnitures, and certain types of footwear. After validation testing using the new blend was completed, the MOBY x Oceanworks Baby Bath Bundle launched for consumers in March 2023.

By giving reclaimed plastic a new life during bath time, Skip Hop is making an important step towards Carter's promise to provide the next generation with planet-friendly products for everyday life.