What is Rendered Inc.?
RENDERED INC. is a sustainable solution for the clothing marketplace that works to combat large “fast-fashion” companies by vending quality & rarely used apparel – and also educating our following about different sustainable practices. At Rendered Inc., we pride ourselves on being sustainable through many avenues. Primarily, our inventory- we vend quality clothing that we receive locally from thrift stores and consignment shops in the area. By doing so we are recycling clothes to a new home, developing a unique wardrobe, and keeping clothes out of landfills. We host a number of programs and events to allow our customers and community to fulfill our mission of making the world a more sustainable place with every thrifted purchase. All-in-all, Rendered Inc. is a 100% Women-owned, Black-owned, College student-run social impact business that works to sell unique apparel vended from thrift stores & consignment stores in an effort to raise awareness about the environmental impact of the fashion industry.
Who is behind Rendered Inc.?
We have a group of very dedicated individuals, all in college, and all dedicated to sustainability! Our team is made up of our CEO, an economics major & general business minor who loves all things business that works part-time downtown as a server - Saba Tshibaka. Our CCO, an architecture major whose made it her mission to find and exploit the creativity in all things, Yasmine Hardy-Njie. Our Webmaster, a plant sciences major who focuses on finding us the most pertinent and up-to-date information on sustainability and keeps us all as sustainable as possible, Kelli Webster. Our outreach chair, a Biochemistry major who uses his five years of customer service experience to articulate everything we work for eloquently while having the creativity to create partnerships with everyone from elementary schools to our own county’s government, JB.
Why are you doing this?
The world is addicted to cheap, crappy clothes. Thanks to low-wage manufacturing in poor countries and the rise of fast fashion, clothes have morphed from being valuable possessions to disposable items that we chuck out at the end of the season. Production, marketing, and consumption of fashion products result in negative environmental impacts due to the massive production volume of fashion items, which directly contributes to the decline of our environment as we know it. The fashion industry is responsible for 10 percent of the carbon footprint in the world as well as it being the second-greatest polluter of local freshwater. In most of the countries in which garments are produced, untreated toxic wastewater are dumped into the rivers. There are extremely harmful for the health of the millions people living by the rivers banks. Also, huge quantity of freshwater are used for dyeing and finishing process for all of our clothes while many people do not have access to drinking water.
What is your solution?
Through channel of direct action, Rendered Inc. is working to promote sustainability by vending quality & rare used apparel, thus recycling and making our community less environmentally harsh. Specifically, we find the best rare & unique apparel from second hand/consignment shops to vend to our customers, while giving them the education they need to make more educated and sustainable choices in their everyday lives. At Rendered Inc., we pride ourselves on being sustainable through many avenues. Primarily, our inventory. We only vend quality clothing that we receive from thrift stores and consignment shops. By doing so we are recycling quality apparel to a new home, developing a unique wardrobe and keeping clothes out of landfills. The very idea of a secondhand store is eco-friendly because theoretically, clothes can be worn forever, or at least until the threads are literally worn through. We have a number of programs to fulfill our mission of making the world a more sustainable place with every thrifted purchase. First is our awareness program, we have a PR director whose primary goal is to increase awareness of the "fast-fashion" industry with different social media and blog posts. Next is our donation program, where our customers & followers can easily sign up to drop off (or have us pick up) their items to be given to the thrift stores. Lastly, we have an assortment of events that we host such as group field trips to thrift stores, community service clean-ups and pop-up shops celebrating creativity in awareness of different issues. All-in-all, rendered does, and will continue to inform the public about the waste that is produced by "fast-fashion" industries and vend quality & rare used apparel.
What happens to the clothes you don’t sell?
We recycle them! For the items we don’t sell in a certain amount of time allotted by our team, we take it to a thrift store to allow someone else to take advantage.
How can I support Rendered?
We genuinely appreciate each and every single one of our customers and supporters. The biggest way you can support us is by telling your friends. You can also donate to us through our website, funds raised will go to our operating costs & inventory only.
Rendered Inc. Founder - Saba Tshibaka
Saba Tshibaka is the Founder & CEO of Rendered Inc. A senior Economics major, with a double minor in General Business & Technology Entrepreneurship at The University of Maryland, she established Rendered Inc. at the age of 19. She found the intersection of environmental impact and a viable business plan in Rendered Inc., and has been focusing her business education on it ever since. Her vision for Rendered is to never let another item of clothing see a landfill or ocean. She believes she is a part of the first generation to feel the sting of climate change, and the last generation that can do something about it. (LinkedIn)
Saba can be reached by email at saba.tshibaka@gmail.com