April Showers Bring Upcycled Eco-Friendly Goods to Passyunk Avenue

    PHILADELPHIA, PA, April 02, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Local designer, Taryn Zychal, announced this week that she will be launching a line of her unique dog raincoats fashioned from discarded broken umbrellas to Passyunk Avenue's newest pet store, Amelie's Bark Shop- located across from the Singing Fountain in South Philadelphia.

Taryn's company, Recycling Zychal, unofficially began in 2005 when the designer purchased a whale print umbrella from a thrift store that wound up having a broken frame. Unable to justify throwing away the material, Zychal stripped the nylon from the skeleton and held on to it while collecting other trashed novelty umbrellas that she and her friends would find on the streets of Center City after a storm.

As her inventory continued to grow into the hundreds, Zychal came up with a dog raincoat design that took full advantage of the water-resistant properties of the nylon umbrella fabric and fused it with a soft recycled felt made from spun plastic bottles. She submitted the design into an upcycling contest run by a popular crafting publication at the time, came in second place, and was almost forced to start a business as the demand for the repurposed raincoats became very high. She launched an Etsy shop in 2008 to sell the custom, made-to-order rain coats followed by a YouTube tutorial video explaining how to "Strip and Ship A Broken Umbrella" for under $2. Donations of broken umbrellas from as far as Australia came pouring in and the business has been thriving ever since.

When Jackie Starker of Amelie's Bark Shop got word of these coats being made just a few blocks away, she approached Zychal about doing a line for her boutique, which focuses on sustainable, local and handmade pet items and features other eco-friendly products such as all natural dog treats made in-house, cotton organic cat nip toys and handmade eco-fill dog beds, just to name a sampling. Zychal who had just left her management position at Era Atomica to focus more on retail product expansion for Recycling Zychal, jumped at the opportunity and said "She couldn't have asked me at a better time!"

All of the raincoats are made by hand and will come in a range of sizes and colors with adjustable and removable straps for easy cleaning. Recycling Zychal will continue crafting custom made-to-order dog raincoats, along with her other products which include babushkas, beverage cozies and aprons from her home studio to be sold on her Etsy shop. The limited run of standardized size dog coats will be available this April at Amelie's Bark Shop located at 1544 East Passyunk Avenue.

For more information please visit http://www.recyclingzychal.etsy.com

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