Danish brand Sinful has created a range of three sex toys using ocean plastic collected in Southeast Asia.
The Ohhcean collection comprises a wand and two vibrators — all made entirely from ocean-bound plastic. A thin layer of silicone covers the products to make them waterproof and pleasurable.
"The question was how to take something that already exists and put it to new use?" Mathilde Mackowski, co-owner of Sinful told Dezeen.
"The answer for us, at this moment, was ocean-bound plastic – we want to focus on different ways to approach production and think in new ways concerning material," she said.
The brand worked with Tide, a Swiss manufacturing company that turns waste plastic into products, to create the Ohhcean range.
In collaboration with local fishermen, Tide sources thermoplastic polyethene terephthalate (PET) plastic from shorelines around oceans, streams and lakes in Thailand.
For Ohhcean, the company collected plastic bottle lids that were then washed and shredded into small pieces before being processed using renewable energy.
The resulting sex toys – a magic wand, vibrator and body massager – are available in a variety of hues, from sea green to royal blue.
As well as being made from natural materials, the sex toys have an organic look, with curved shapes and a smooth feel. They are all fully rechargeable and the vibrators come with seven different vibration patterns.
"The ocean has been our inspiration from day one so naturally, we've been influenced by soft shapes," explained Mackowski. "The organic meeting of the waves when they clash and the curves of a drop."
Mackowski embarked on creating the range after noticing that there was nothing available on the market that was made fully from recycled plastic.
"The ocean plastics emergency has never been so widely reported, and rethinking plastic production within the sex toy industry had to arrive sooner or later," she said.
"We just weren't ready to wait for anyone else to get moving," she added.
Eventually, Mackowski hopes that the same material will be used to expand the range, but she believes that it will take time for recycled plastics to be as easily accessible as those typically used for sex toys.
"Reducing the impact of my products on the planet became an obsession, but it also proved to be a long and complex journey met with many challenges, but consideration for the environment was first and foremost," she said.
"The products from Ohhcean by Sinful had to be nothing short of a luxurious sex toy but this is just the beginning," she added.
Plastic has long been used to produce sex toys, but the material's environmental impact has led some consumers to opt for less damaging options across products of all kinds.
In response, designers including Shahar Livne have turned to ocean plastic to create fossil-like jewellery for Balenciaga, and brands such as Adidas have used the recycled material for a range of apparel.