Building its own stuffed solution

In 2023, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Executive Director Chris Kuhar wanted to find end uses for its recycled plastic and challenged the retail and guest services managers to come up with a solution.

That solution came in the form of the zoo’s new Build-an-Ecokin station in the front of the gift shop that invites customers to make their own 12-inch stuffed animal filled with recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) provided by Unifi Inc.’s Repreve of Greensboro, North Carolina.

While the solution seemed fun and simple, the project took almost two years to complete and required the collaboration of many teams and companies to make sure the zoo’s recycled plastic potentially could end up back where it started.

“We wanted to figure out something that would be impactful for the guests and try to educate people on why it’s important to recycle plastic, and we wanted that to come full circle,” says Patti Cunningham, general manager of retail for Aramark Sports + Entertainment at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

Since stuffed animals are one of the gift shop’s bestselling items, Cunningham says it made the most sense to incorporate rPET into plush.

But getting the right people involved on this project required both research and time. In addition to having at least one team member from each of the zoo’s departments contribute to the project, the zoo also collaborated with Repreve, Republic Services, Wild Republic and Teddy Mountain.

“Originally we wanted to debut this on Earth Day 2024, but we realized that wasn’t realistic,” Cunningham says. “With all the people involved—Unifi Repreve, Wild Republic, the zoo—we agreed, let’s not rush this. Let’s get it right and move it to Earth Day 2025.”

Sara Porter, brand manager at Unifi, says it is valuable when companies come together on sustainability stories such as this one.

“This is a very important project with the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo,” she says. “It shows community support for sustainability and how plastics can be turned into durable products that people can enjoy for many years.”

Making connections

When first challenged by the zoo’s executive director to find a circular solution for the zoo’s plastic materials, Cunningham says she wanted to take time to research and make connections in the plastics and recycling industries to learn about end markets and opportunities for postconsumer plastic. She and two of her colleagues attended AMI World Plastics Expo in November 2023 in Cleveland to learn about plastic recycling processes and manufacturing.

“Our minds were blown with all the things you can do with plastic,” she says. “We were ultimately intrigued by the process of taking a plastic water bottle and turning it into fibers or filling for plush.”

Republic Services’ material recovery facility (MRF) in Oberlin, Ohio, collects materials from the Cleveland Metro-parks Zoo and surrounding communities. Cunningham says she wanted to find a plastics recycling partner that could collect rPET from the Oberlin MRF to turn into recycled fibers for stuffed animal filling. In late 2023, Cunningham and her team reached out to Unifi in hopes that the company could help with this project.

After some back-and-forth emails and phone calls, she says Unifi agreed to help by collecting the rPET then providing the zoo with its Repreve brand, which the company introduced in 2007. The textile technology uses rPET to make fibers for a variety of end uses, such as apparel or, in this case, plush filling.

“They were super excited to partner with us on this mission,” Cunningham adds.

In 2024, Unifi collected almost 1.7 million pounds of rPET from Republic Services’ MRF in Oberlin. Repreve fiber is sent back to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo for its new Build-an-Ecokin station. A small station at the gift shop even explains the Repreve technology for curious guests.

Cunningham estimates each stuffed animal made at the station is filled with the equivalent of four recycled plastic water bottles. But, she adds, her team wanted to ensure the entire stuffed animal is made of recycled materials, including the plush skins to hold everything together. Her team turned to Independence, Ohio-based Wild Republic, a stuffed animal manufacturer and longtime vendor to the zoo, for help.

More than fluff

Wild Republic focuses on making nature-related plush toys, with zoos being one of the primary buyers. Offering eco-friendly toy options always has been important to the company’s founder, too.

“We’ve made a concerted effort to try and produce toys and plush in a sustainable way,” says Doug Snider, global impression director at Wild Republic.

All Wild Republic plush toys incorporate recycled materials, but the Ecokins line is made entirely of rPET.

“The Ecokins line has been active for probably six years,” Snider says. “We’ve always filled our plush with recycled plastic fill. This was our first attempt at trying to make the rest of the product of recycled materials. The fabrics outside are also recycled plastic. The eyes are stitched on with thread, not plastic button eyes. Even the hang tags we use more natural resources such as soy inks, trying to avoid single-use plastic and trying to be as eco-conscious as possible with the line.”

Wild Republic manufactures its Ecokins plush toys in part in China, and Snider says the U.S. team works closely with the Chinese offices to make make sure the rPET used in the Ecokins is sourced correctly.

“We ensure that we are indeed sourcing certified materials, and there are a few extra steps you go through in order to reassure and certify the materials,” Snider says.

In 2024, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo reached out to Wild Republic to see if it could customize the Ecokins plush skins for its Earth Day project.

Snider says the account manager, John Wilde, was very excited about the custom project.

“He has a well-established relationship with them, so he actually brought them to our headquarters,” Snider says.

Seeing the manufacturing process firsthand helped Cunningham and her team envision a miniature plush manufacturing station in the gift shop, where guests could pick an Ecokins skin featuring their favorite animal and fill it with Repreve fiber fill.

“Using the Ecokins line skins is where the name ‘Build-an-Ecokin’ comes from,” Cunningham adds.

The Ecokin skins also are made of rPET, with each using 12 recycled water bottles, Cunningham says. The zoo team selected three Ecokins skins that would work for the project—an elephant, a gorilla and a tiger—and incorporated a patch with the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo name on each of the skins.

“We’ve done custom experiences with other customers before, but this is the first time we’ve worked with a customer on a build-your-own plush experience,” Snider says, noting that sustainably made products tend to be popular at zoos overall.

“People who are visiting attractions where sustainability messages are reiterated, it’s top of mind for them,” he continues. “It’s important to be able to deliver that to customers with more sustainable products.”

Connecting dots

With partnerships set, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo ordered a build-a-plush station from Teddy Mountain, an interactive plush teddy bear products provider, that arrived in February.

Knowing that the station might be a hit, Cunningham ordered a second station that arrived in March to ensure there would be enough Repreve material in the store to meet customer demands in the busy summer season.

The zoo’s creative team then put custom graphics on the new machines, and everything was ready to debut the new recycled plush to guests on Earth Day.

After promoting the new Build-an-Ecokin station on social media, Cunningham says she noticed some people came to the zoo just to try it out.

“We had a lot of great feedback,” she says. “One thing some guests loved was that these stuffed animals have our name on it and a logo that says, ‘Make a difference.’ And it’s been a great educational experience as well, telling the story about how the recycled goods from our community are being picked up and transformed.”

Cunningham says she loves telling kids who make their new stuffed tiger or gorilla that they are making a difference for the planet with that purchase.

The seemingly fun and simple Build-an-Ecokin solution to the challenge of using the zoo’s recycled plastic has worked well, but Cunningham adds that it’s just one solution among many others the zoo is hoping to embrace. Currently, its retail team is wearing uniforms made of Repreve materials. The gift shop also sells two adult T-shirts made of Repreve materials.

Cunningham adds that the zoo always is on the hunt for other vendors offering apparel, headwear and accessories made of recycled materials. The zoo’s retail gift shops also only offer reusable shopping bags made of recycled plastic or paper.

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and its leadership team are hoping to reduce the zoo’s reliance on single-use plastic and instead shift to using more recycled materials across its operations, including retail. While this type of switch is difficult, Cunningham says she and her team are hopeful that the Build-An-Ecokin product is one way to reduce reliance on virgin plastic.

“We want to keep building within our store and showing how things can go full circle,” Cunningham says.

Megan Smalley is a freelance writer based in the Cleveland area.