Philosophy
Vy&Elle (a play on the word "vinyl") was founded in 2002 by two designers dedicated to eco conscious products. Nicola Freegard and Robin Janson have been designing award-winning products for the past decade for use at home and for travel.
Our products represent the blending of urban hip with a strong social awareness of the environment. The Vy&Elle philosophy includes the vision of renewal through reclaimed resources. By refashioning giant images produced by a disposable culture into smaller individual works of art, our products make a strong personal statement of style for their owners, and a stronger voice about sustainability. Our customers are all unique individuals and likewise, no two of our products are alike.
Vy&Elle is a minority-owned company and an equal opportunity employer. Our goal is to educate through recycling, contribute through community involvement, and assist businesses and customers in making more environmentally conscious choices.
Product
Vinyl billboards are used nationwide as temporary banner advertisements and are usually discarded into landfills where they create toxic pollution. Instead, the strength of PVC vinyl makes it an ideal material for reuse. And because of the different images printed on the vinyl, it's even more interesting as a fabric. It offers colorful graphics that take urban art into everyday living. Each bag and accessory item has it's own unique "one of a kind" look without the high designer price. With random colors and designs, every bag made is different, offering a chance to carry a piece of art on a shoulder, in a pocketbook or in the home.
We hope you share our enthusiasm for this recycled product. So far, we have recycled more than 100 tons of billboard vinyl and this project is helping to reduce waste in our landfills and to encourage recycling programs within the billboard industry. Vy&Elle continues to develop new products regularly and sees a bright future for the development of a more environmentally conscious billboard industry.
Process
We arrange transportation of billboards from selected locations through the U.S. and handle the pickup and preparation, cleaning and cutting to ready for production. The prepared material is then delivered to our freight warehouse in California for shipping overseas where our products are made.
We make our products in China, in factories, which are audited and follow strict guidelines issued under U.S. regulations in regard to human rights, equal opportunity and environmental quality. These factories are inspected regularly.
Our recycling program is unique because it includes 100% recycling of all our scrap and waste materials, which are turned into garden hoses and flooring by other manufacturers working with us to create a full service reclaimed product. By recycling billboards, companies are not only helping eliminate unnecessary waste, but are encouraging responsible waste disposal of materials that otherwise contribute to toxic pollution within communities.