company seeks to give discarded plastic bottles a new purpose and flint a clearer future1

The two former college students hope their idea of glasses will not only take off, but also jump up.
Start a new vision for Flint, Michigan.
2016, Ali Ross vannobeck, Detroit
Residents returned to their hometowns as volunteers at Flint\'s Red Cross, where the water crisis has affected residents for nearly four years.
VanOverBeke told ABC News that when she came home, she noticed that a bag of empty water bottles had been thrown away and piled up outside the house.
She said one day she turned to Jack Burns, a friend and longtime collaborator.
The two were students from the Parsons School of Design at the New School and joined a project in 2014.
She and Burns came up with an idea to solve the problem of too many singles.
Use water bottles discarded in Flint.
They decided to turn the plastic into glasses made in Flint.
VanOverBeke recently told ABC News that \"they are not only facing a man-made water crisis . \".
\"Now, they have to use this local environmental pressure due to the excess plastic.
\"About a year ago, she and Professor Burns of Parsons came up with Genusee, a pair of glasses made from Flint\'s recycled water bottle.
The name of the company is a play on the name of Genesee in Flint County.
They said they designed a glasses that could fit everyone and named it after VanOverBeke\'s high school Roeper school.
The glasses feature classic black and crystal fog.
\"Our focus is on reducing plastic waste,\" says VanOverBeke . \".
They launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for production.
VanOverBeke said the company was \"working for Flint, by Flint.
VanOverBeke said she and Burns have set up a manufacturing plant.
A total of 15 water bottles are used for each pair of glasses.
The two hope to raise enough money through Kickstarter to hire 17 new workers.
\"Employment is a key issue for us to work on here,\" Burns said . \".
She and Burns say they want the company to revive the economy, restore local manufacturing and create life.
Wages for Flint residents can also be trained.
At present, in a center in Flint that provides training for women, Polish bags of glass are being sewn.
Moreover, the glasses box is actually more than oneuse canister.
\"We were able to process water bottles that were just rubbish into new materials, which was great for me,\" Marty Calhoun said . \", One of the workers sewing clothes.
\"We are trying to be part of not only Flint\'s instant solution, but also a long-term solution --
\"Terminology solutions,\" says VanOverBeke . \".
For more information about genuse, please click here.