the beginning

Dear visitors to Confluent Goods online shop,

Thank you for stopping by! First off, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Reese, and I am the founder of Confluent Goods, a mission driven outdoor company that designs, makes, and markets plastic-free products that help people enjoy the wonderful places on this planet. Our company started from a conversation with my brother (who works in the non-profit space on coastal plastic pollution issues) about an article in High Country News regarding how our synthetic clothing sheds plastic fibers when we wash them, which end up in rivers, oceans, fish, etc. I thought about how much of my wardrobe consists of synthetic clothing, and found this a bit unsettling.

Down the rabbit hole I went, reading and learning more about the global impact of textile manufacturing on human and environmental health, and needless to say, I was not stoked about the facts. Textile dyeing is the second largest producer of water pollution globally, and there are an estimated 1.4 million trillion plastic fibers in the ocean from our clothing. As self-described outdoor people (surfers, river guides, trail runners, wildflower enthusiasts), we spend a lot of time immersed in nature, and generally pride ourselves on minimizing our impact on the planet. I soon began to see my plastic-based clothing like plastic bags or plastic water bottles; generally not fitting into the environment that I felt most comfortable in. I thought about all of the broken plastic buckles and zippers, and melt holes in my jackets from campfires. I thought about sticky, smelly, worn out baselayers that I washed after each use.

So, we began to wonder; is there another way? Can we play outside in challenging environments and conditions without the synthetic gear that makes up the majority of outdoor products? We didn't have the answer, but decided to give it a go. Confluent Goods was born, with a mission to research natural fibers and design products that have the performance characteristics that we need to stay comfortable while outside. We indeed found that natural fibers, when used in the right way, tick the boxes for high-performance characteristics (moisture-wicking, quick-drying, durable, insulating, etc). Over the past 9 months, we narrowed our focus to to give our best effort to develop one product in several versions as our launch point. Our towels are plastic-free, from fibers and thread, to labels and packaging. They are designed as an alternative to synthetic microfiber towels and bulky cotton terry towels (which never worked well for us for hiking to the beach, hot springs, or on river trips). We plan to design and produce products that fit a variety of outdoor activities for year-round adventuring, and hope to build a community of outdoor people that will help make this happen. Join us!