Repurpose - Designing a Better Future With Plants, Not Plastic
The Story of a Brand Show
Ramon Vela
4.9 • 147 Ratings
🗓️ 4 December 2025
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, I sit down with Lauren Gropper, CEO & Co-Founder of Repurpose, whose purpose-driven mission truly inspired me.
From surviving a life-changing moped accident to questioning why we use forever-lasting materials for five-minute products, she shares how her passion for sustainability has turned into a movement to redesign everyday essentials from plants rather than plastic.
What I loved most about this conversation is how honest she is about the realities of building sustainable products — the cost, the manufacturing challenges, the misconceptions, and the grit it takes to keep going.
Her story is a reminder that with the right design, intention, and team, we can create healthier products for our homes and the planet.
Key Moments From the Episode:
* A near-fatal accident that reshaped her purpose and commitment to impact.
* The flawed logic behind single-use plastics and the question that sparked a new approach.
* How everyday products can be made from sugarcane fiber, cassava, corn, and bamboo.
* The hard truth about sustainable manufacturing and why affordability is still a hurdle.
* Tracking impact: over 700 million pieces of plastic replaced.
If you care about better materials, planet-friendly innovation, or the real journey behind building a sustainable brand, join me, Ramon Vela, in listening to the episode. You'll enjoy this conversation.
For more on Repurpose, visit: https://repurpose.com/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We make all of our products from plants, so our products are non-toxic. And I think that's the |
| 0:05.2 | other piece that people don't realize and actually care a lot about is, are there microplastics |
| 0:10.4 | in these products? How do I avoid pro-plastics in my home? You know, our products don't contain |
| 0:15.6 | microplastics or won't break down into microplastics and don't have toxins like forever |
| 0:20.7 | chemicals called PFAS. So that's |
| 0:23.7 | been huge, just trying to get that word out because for whatever reason, I think people do care a lot more |
| 0:29.3 | about kind of their home, their family, their health and like what's going to happen out there at the |
| 0:34.5 | landfill or the environment. They're less compelled to change their |
| 0:38.1 | habits. So I think really giving people the information that they deserve around what's in |
| 0:44.3 | conventional products versus what's in our products is huge. And so being able to partner up |
| 0:49.7 | with an incredible team like an actress Brie Larson and her partner, Courtney Makes Room, they were launching |
| 0:55.8 | a book called Party People, and we are partnering with them to create products for party people |
| 1:00.7 | that, you know, meet their requirements that they had. They don't want to have a party with a bunch |
| 1:06.4 | of toxic, single-use, you know, plastic. They wanted to use products like ours. So we did an amazing |
| 1:12.2 | collab and that's fantastic to get the word out and create awareness around what we're doing. So we love |
| 1:18.3 | doing work like that. Hey everyone, this is Ramon Vela, and this is another episode of the story of a brand. |
| 1:35.6 | Like always, we have an amazing guest in brand that we're going to feature on today's show. |
| 1:39.6 | But before we do, imagine 100 influencers constantly talking about your brand. |
| 1:45.0 | Sounds great, right? |
| 1:46.0 | But getting there seems hard. |
| 1:48.0 | Not with Searle. |
| 1:50.0 | Soral is the all-in-one influencer platform that finds brand-aligned creators, |
... |
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