It's our mission to give plastic a new life.
NextUse turns discarded plastic bags into durable, beautiful pouches and totes — heat-pressed and hand-sewn by students in Houston. Sixteen bags rescued per pouch. Zero new plastic created.
Made by
Students at The Village School, Houston
The Problem
12 million tons of plastic enter the ocean every year.
The average American uses ~370 plastic bags a year — and only 1% are ever recycled. The rest fragment into microplastics that contaminate waterways, soils, and entire ecosystems.
Metric tons of plastic leak into aquatic systems each year (UNEP).
Of corals on the Great Barrier Reef are fouled by microplastics.
Houston's sustainability rank among large US cities.
How it works
Three steps from waste to wearable.
- 1
Collect
We run donation drives at The Village School and across Houston — already 5 months of supply gathered.
- 2
Press
Bags are stacked and fused on a heat press into a tough, fabric-like sheet — no coatings, no new resins.
- 3
Sew
Our team hand-sews each sheet into a one-of-a-kind pouch or tote, with TXRX Labs supporting our scale-up.
Values for Planet Earth
Aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 6 — Clean Water
Improving water quality by preventing plastic from reaching Houston waterways.
SDG 14 — Life Below Water
Protecting marine life from suffocating, fouling, and ingesting plastic waste.
SDG 12 — Responsible Use
Substantially reducing waste generation through reuse, not extraction.
Unique Value Proposition
Reusing plastic directly — not recycling it.
Unlike industrial recyclers that depend on energy-intensive sorting and machinery, NextUse extends the life of plastic that already exists. Each piece is one-of-a-kind, shaped by the bags it's made from, and produced locally with minimal overhead.
The Team
Built by students who refuse to accept plastic as the default.
NextUse is led by four students at The Village School in Houston — driven by a mission to give plastic a purpose and to keep oceans, soils, and communities cleaner for the long run.
Meet the teamCarry the change.
Every pouch keeps sixteen bags out of the landfill — and turns convenience into impact.
Shop NextUse