Los Angeles, CA — November 1, 2015 | Dodd Harris, owner of the L.A. based Toy Company, Perisphere & Trylon has decided to test the water (sorry) with a very unconventional new pool float.

“I’m a huge advocate of filtered tap water and reusable bottles, I find myself bristling at the egregious waste and expense wrought by bottled water consumption” said Harris.

“I know it’s a losing battle to try to fight a product delivery system so widely embraced by consumers. I found myself thinking about the repurposing of these ubiquitous leftovers”

The Internet has images and stories of art projects, rafts, even an island made from discarded water bottles. Harris imagined something more immediately useful, maybe even competitive with products currently on the market.

He had an idea: What if you organized enough water bottles to create a usable pool lounge? As a pool owner himself he hasn’t actually been thrilled with all the offerings available to consumers. “They tend to run either cheap and disposable or expensive and bulky,” He also noted “sadly most of the current products on the market are difficult to recycle”

He kept his idea to himself until he established that it would actually work. “I didn’t want to be made fun of” he admits that plenty of inventors have pitched him some forgettable product ideas in his 12 years in the toy business (including six years as the VP of Uncle Milton Toys, makers of the Original Ant Farm) “I’m a salesman, not an engineer” He admits. Doing the basic math on displacement and buoyancy, Harris calculated that about 120 or so 500ml water bottles (the most common size) would be enough to support a large adult. Coincidentally, this is approximately the number of bottles the average American fails to recycle annually of the 168 they use (about 20% are recycled) the rest wind up in land fills, as litter or worse: end up in the Great Pacific Trash Patch.

After several prototypes were created and modified, it was confirmed that a stretchy and strong series of baffled chambers sewn from thick bathing suit material would indeed offer a usable structure for blissful aquatic lounging. “If a blend of nylon and lycra kept my Aunt Minna’s formidable girth in check for years in the Catskills, it can handle anything a recreational user can throw at it” He joked. Bathing suit spandex also has some real practical advantages. “It can be woven from recycled plastic, it’s chlorine and UVA resistant and doesn’t get hot, sticky or slippery”

The resulting product was dubbed “RePorpoise” a pun referencing the aquatic mammal and the current trend towards repurposing used items.

“We looked at this item and decided that a conventional trade show and catalog roll out would not be nearly as fun and interesting as offering it up to backers and early adopters on the crowd funding site: Kickstarter” Harris said. “When every third or forth person who saw it suggested it would make a great Kickstarter item, I started to think it might be the perfect platform”

The project has just gone live and Harris is closely watching the campaign. It’s a family affair with his college freshman daughter, Piper serving as spokes-model and his 23-year-old son Remy doing the testing and QC. “Even my Parson Russell terrier, Skeeter made it onto the pitch video, he has his own Facebook page and gets more hits than any of us!” Harris conceded.

“We stayed away from being too slick, the RePorpoise is one of those items that doesn’t need too much explaining, when people see the picture of the float being filled with empty water bottles, the response is “I get it! Cool idea Bro.”

The RePorpoise Water Bottle Pool Lounge is scheduled to start shipping in April to the first round of backers and eventually make it’s way to retail sets in time for summer, the suggested retail price will be between $39.99 and $49.99. “We’ve already received a request for the item from an Australian retailer who was hoping to get it in by December for summer in the Southern hemisphere.” Harris said. “We regretfully won’t be in production until February or March but it was a nice affirmation”

“Ecologically themed items are never slam dunks” Harris explains “There’s an open secret that the consumer products industry knows: People talk green, sustainability, and Eco-friendliness, but for most consumers there’s a catch: “What’s in it for me?” In terms of value and function, most consumers want an item that’s equal or better than the item they’re replacing. The truth is many consumers are not willing to accept or pay a premium for sustainable goods unless the item exceeds expectations. We think this product does that. Look, we’re asking them to collect over a hundred bottles before they get to use their item, it’s skin in the game” That said, Harris was surprised how quickly and easily the bottles are to find and save “They really are everywhere, when we did our first photo shoot we had literally 45 minutes to find 130 bottles. One of my neighbors had more than that in their garage!” Harris has decided to include a breathable net bag to aid in collecting bottles and to neatly store the float while it is filled.

For more Information (product only)

Contact Information

Dodd Harris
(818) 515-5130
cs@perisphereandtrylon.com

Websites: www.reporpoise.com, www.perisphereandtrylon.com
Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com