What is your name?
Kevin Hoerauf Jr
Where are you from?
I grew up in the beautiful town of Granville, was a Columbus local for 10 years and now live in Newark, Ohio
What is the name of your business?
Desco Collective
What do you make or sell?
We are a zero-waste, 100% sustainable, and focus on reducing & the reuse of products. Everything is hand-crafted and nothing about us and our products are outsourced. We have a line of Reusable Paper(less) Towels and Beeswax Food Wraps. Also, we specialize in certain cosmetic products such as natural soaps along with lotions and body butter. This winter time we will bring our line of different styles of handbags and clothe items.
Would you describe your products? Ingredients, types of fabrics, etc.
All our products are made from materials that are ethically sourced, we strive for our products to be biodegradable and/or compostable as well.
The cosmetics are always made with 100% natural ingredients including oils, wax, butters, and colorants.
Do you do this full-time or as a side hustle?
This is completely a full-time job and there is no other corporate-style job in my future. I take pride in what we’re about and in leaving a green footprint on this planet.
How did you come up with your business name?
The name came out pretty simple because we were all about designing products for not just the average person but for everyone. Desco came to be with the mash-up of Design Company. So in turn chopping it and making it simple and not like anyone else, it became Desco Collective. For future phases, we plan on working with multiple companies and artists to become a collective of businesses to help everyone out in the end.
What got you started doing this?
A simple brainstorm of how we can be a part of cleaning up this planet. The single-use paper and plastic items have had a devastating impact and it seems that people are still turning a blind eye. It was an easy start for the beginning phase of the company to help people reduce and have the ability to reuse their household products instead of basically paying for products that go straight into the trash. Showing and being able to educate people on the fact that it is easier than you think to make a switch which then in turn eliminates so much waste with something as simple as reusable paper towels.
What is your creative process like?
It really came down to what can we do to actually clean up not only people’s households but towns and cities altogether. Creating a strategy to pinpoint people’s needs and wants and turn those into a completely sustainable source.
Diving into the waste facts of the U.S blew our minds and the numbers didn’t even seem real. From how much money is spent annually just on paper towels (an average of 5 billion a year) to the unimaginable plastic waste we have that is now devastating the earth’s soil, oceans, and even the human genome. Our waste is washing up on the shores of third-world countries that can’t even deal with and process trash products like other countries can and it is really sad and pitiful that this continues to happen on a daily bases.
Do you have a website?
How about instagram and facebook?