Finally, we can wear rubber without being called a freak or a perv (not that I’m above either of those things – remember, I like latex).

Rejoice my fellow eco-geeks! A new, stylish fund raising opportunity has hit the market. Much better than having a closet full of t-shirts, the I’m Tired bracelet collection is chic, affordable, and sustainable. The bracelets are made from recycled rubber and metal, cost only $10, and half the profits are donated to specific charities.

You might recognize the names behind this swank idea – Dan Hoffman and Carrie Pollare. They’re the talented brother-and-sister team that bring us White Apricot and all its fabulous deals.

I chatted with Dan recently about the launch of this exciting new project, how it came to be, and why it will change the way we think of style. Read on to get inspired!

Victoria Everman: The obvious question – how did the idea for I’m Tired come about?

Dan Hoffman: My sister Carrie & I actually came up with it over a year ago, but it took a long time to put all the pieces together to make it work.  We had always done more than our share for the “green” movement & for a few other personally important causes, but we wanted to do something that could potentially be huge & make a difference in the world when it came to fighting disease & other social problems.

In our own lives we’ve been touched by so many awful things and I’m sure there are millions of other people who can relate. When I was 7 and my sister, Carrie, was 10 years old, we lost our father to heart disease. He was only 37. As adults, we watched our stepfather fight through melanoma cancer and leukemia, and eventually die from the latter. Most recently, our mother succumbed to dementia and slowly deteriorated for eight years, until she was finally freed from her suffering.  At some point, disease touches everyone, whether it’s you or someone you love.  We just thought it was our time to do something!

We wanted to do a fashionable version of the Lance Armstrong bracelet that was eco friendly & then, instead of being about one cause (like the Armstrong bracelet), it would be about several causes.  We wanted to raise huge dollars to fight some of the world’s most important problems.  We thought it was a fun idea to call them “I’m Tired of” bracelets & make them out of recycled tires.  Then, each bracelet would say “I’m Tired of Cancer” or “I’m Tired of Global Warming” or Animal Cruelty and so on … it’s a fun double entendre.

If we wanted to really make a difference in the world, not only did the bracelets need to be really cool looking & eco friendly, but they had to be inexpensive (so everyone could afford them) & still allow us to give a huge portion of each sale to the charities & causes.  We hooked up with a friend and jewelry designer named Joseph Bortoli & gave him the task of designing the bracelet.  When we told him it had to retail for $10 & that we wanted to donate half of that to charity, he laughed.  I don’t think Joseph had ever designed a piece of jewelry for less than $200, let alone $10.  Once he got up off the floor, he got serious about it & actually pulled it off.  He helped us design a fashionable piece of jewelry, made from recycled tires & metals, that we can sell for $10 & donate $5 each to the causes & charities that our customers choose.

Where do you source the recycled tires and metals from to make the bracelets?

From various companies all in the USA.  In fact, the entire bracelet is made & assembled in the USA.  That was important too.

How did you decide on the first 10 causes to support?

Except for a few obvious ones, it wasn’t easy.  Originally we were going to start with 6, but the more people we surveyed & the more research we did, we knew we had to add more & 10 became the number.  We made the decisions based on various criteria.  Global warming, cancer, animal cruelty & world hunger were no-brainers.  Heart disease & Alzheimer’s are not only huge problems (heart disease is our country’s number one killer), but also touched our lives personally, so they were easy.  AIDS, diabetes, child abuse & autism are all big issues worldwide and are growing, not shrinking.  We probably could have started with 20 or 30, but that would have probably been unmanageable right out of the gate.

Which causes will you be adding bracelets for in the near future?

We’re not entirely sure yet, but we plan to add 10 – 15 more by February 2009.  Right now, we address cancer as one big category, but we’ll probably start adding some specific types of cancer like breast, colon, pancreatic … etc.  Also, poverty, illiteracy, genocide, pollution, poor education, oil dependency, asthma, arthritis, deforestation, etc.  I could go on and on.  There’s actually a great feature on the website called “Vote for a Cause.”  It’s already hugely popular.  You can also suggest a cause there if you don’t already see your cause listed.

What sort of response have you gotten from businesses and consumers so far? You just launched in October, no?

So far, it’s been amazing, but it’s been a very short time!  We just launched on October 21st at Maria Shriver’s Women’s Conference. The reception there was incredible & it was a great way to start.  Then, the “word of mouth” is awesome!  The website, which is the only place you can purchase the bracelets, is already buzzing and lots of bracelets are being sold, even though we launched only 10 days ago.

I really think people get it.  You can make a small purchase & make a big difference, when you team up with hundreds of thousands or maybe millions of other like-minded people.  People get to wear a cool eco friendly bracelet (or more than one at a time) and do good!  When they tell all their friends and relatives and also buy them as gifts, it will explode and millions of dollars can be donated to important causes.

Do you have any particular goals or hopes for the brand?

Oh yeah!  We want to see people wearing the bracelets everywhere, because that will mean we’ve done our job.  We want to hear those magical words from organizations like Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation or the Diabetes Research Institute, that the efforts of the I’m Tired project helped find a cure. I know that sounds far fetched, but we’re sure going to give it our best!

[Image courtesy of I'm Tired]