Lake fashion: Turning plastics from Pere Marquette Beach into clothing

An early July morning. Fifty-five people of all ages. An hour-long cleanup of a two-mile stretch of Muskegon’s Pere Marquette Beach.

The result? Nearly 44 pounds of waste collected—half of it plastic that will be turned into sustainable clothing.

Behind this transformation was University of Michigan student Jackson Riegler, who defines himself as a “Great Lakes lover.”

The 19-year-old is founder of the first company to use 100 percent U.S. plastic to produce clothes: Oshki, which means “fresh,” in Native American Ojibwe. His ambition is to shift the fashion industry and help preserve the coast of Lake Michigan.

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