DETROIT (WXYZ) — One Detroit entrepreneur is taking his idea to make products out of raw material to help clean city streets in Detroit.
It was back in 2018 that Thomas Hamilton decided to turn glass bottles into household products. His only issue was finding those glass bottles, but it didn’t take him long to discover they were littered throughout Detroit streets.
CLEANING STREETS: Thomas Hamilton got the idea to take old glass bottles and turn them into household products. It didn't take him long to learn he didn't need to buy the bottles, he could find them in the streets of Detroit. @wxyzdetroit pic.twitter.com/qkBIEh4oee
— Ali Hoxie (@ali_hoxie) October 3, 2019
“I found so many over the course of two days and I decided from there that it didn’t take sense just to pick what I need out of the trash and leave all of the rest of the garage on the ground,” says Hamilton.
That is how Hamilton came up with the concept for "Simple Synergy Designs," a company that takes trash off the streets and turns them into household products.
When Hamilton finds something he can turn into a household item, he takes it from the street and puts it through a sanitation process. Once the items are clean, he can turn them into products including lamps, candle holders, soap dispensers and more.
Last June, Hamilton got his LLC for the business, and is currently working to keep the company growing. His goal is to eventually hire employees to help in his efforts to clean streets while making products to sell.
I hung out with Thomas yesterday near The Lodge and Greenfield and found four glass bottles for him to use in the small space he cleaned @wxyzdetroit https://t.co/O4zi6QfWLb pic.twitter.com/7hJnmrz6QT
— Ali Hoxie (@ali_hoxie) October 3, 2019
“The goal is to not just do business but solve critical social issues while doing business, in other words we are going to be cleaning up Detroit completely,” said Thomas.
People can buy his products on Simple Synergy Designs Facebook page, or look up products on the companies Instagramaccount.
A GoFund Meaccount has also been created for people who want to donate to the company.
