Visibly Toxic is an apparel brand doing things a little differently. Born out of a desire to “rebel against the mundane”, the headgear company’s cheeky (sometimes outrageous, always amusing) slogans are proving a hit with the public.

In 18 months they’ve made waves on social media, sold out inventory on more than one occasion, and built a cult following across the US.

More importantly for the planet - their Ecodrive powered mangrove forest in Kenya has passed 10,000 trees planted, created over 100 work days for local communities, and sequestered over 3,500 tonnes of C02.

And like Visibly Toxic, the forest is growing. Quickly.

We were keen to learn more and were thrilled to have the opportunity to sit-down with the unruly e-commerce brand’s founders. We talked through their approach to sales and marketing, the effect of their Ecodrive integration on growth, and discussed Jeff Gordon, of course.

Check out the full conversation below.

‍

---

‍

Ecodrive: Hi guys! Thanks for joining us today and providing us with a glimpse of your business. ‍

Visibly Toxic: Our pleasure!

‍

First up, could you give us a brief rundown of who you and your company are, how you got started, and how you're doing?‍

Sure - we're two best friends, Jonathan and Rupp, and we wanted to make funny hats for our friends to wear at bars. Soon, people started asking where they could get the hats, so we started Visibly Toxic.

‍

You've grown extremely quickly in your first 18 months in business. Can you share any advice around marketing and sales for our community?‍

Digital advertising works but we’ve noticed putting our hats on the right people in the right places can get a big buzz going organically. Our approach to streetwear marketing is to get people to talk about our products in the “street” - whether that’s a bar, concert, or beach. Anywhere people are having fun, our hats follow.

‍

‍

‍

Who comes up with the witty slogans for your hats and social posts?

We slam a few beers and just start riffing back and forth with jokes. Once one of us belly laughs, we write it down.

‍

10,000 trees planted is a huge achievement, congratulations! How has partnering with Ecodrive to plant one tree for every order helped grow your business?

To be able to create a product that people enjoy and at the same time give back to the Earth is a win-win for everyone.

‍

‍

‍

‍

You've integrated Ecodrive into both your website and your Amazon store. How easy was setting-up and managing that process?

Effortless. If you can make a Shopify or Amazon store you’ve already done the hard part.

‍

We love the line at the bottom of your website, "You can be toxic but your impact shouldn’t be. With every order, we plant 1 tree." I also saw that you have some Ecodrive banners at the checkout stage of your website. How important do you think sustainability is to your customers?

Honestly I don’t think it's on our customer’s minds all the time while shopping, but when they see the Ecodrive banners I think that people are more inclined to purchase, because who doesn’t want to help the planet?

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

Do you have any tips for implementing sustainable practices in your everyday life?

Yes. You hate Mother Nature if you don’t buy our hats.

‍

Who is your dream celebrity to see wearing a Visibly Toxic hat?

Jeff Gordon

‍

‍

‍

What's next for Visibly Toxic?

Toxic Home Goods for the new generation of home buyers, and expanded apparel selections. Watch this space!

‍

Awesome, we can’t wait to see what you come up with! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us today guys, and good luck with everything moving forward.

‍

—---

‍

Visibly Toxic have chosen to support mangrove tree planting projects in Kenya.

Mangrove trees have a high survivability rate and are hand planted, one at a time, by our team with devices that capture key verification data such as timestamps, lat/longitude, and image/video content of the trees.

The mangrove is one of the most efficient tree species for carbon capture due to its heavy and dense roots. In restoring mangrove estuaries, which are rich in biodiversity, this project will provide fishing grounds for local people, helping to create additional income streams, including sustainable harvests from the forests themselves.

Learn how you and your company can participate in tree planting projects around the world by booking an Ecodrive demo here.

‍