SAN DIEGO — Fifteen million hair ties are lost or tossed each day in the United States alone. For USD grad student Sage Dobby, that staggering statistic sparked an idea that just won her a $15,000 scholarship.
Dobby co-founded Piña Designs, a company creating the world’s first biodegradable, plastic-free hair ties made from discarded pineapple leaves. On Friday, she pitched her sustainable solution at the University of San Diego’s 7th Annual Fowler Business Concept Challenge and took home the grand prize.
“We wanted to create a product that helped women have healthier hair, but when they lost that hair tie, it didn’t leave a negative impact on the planet,” Dobby said.
From Pineapples to Hair Ties
The concept was inspired by a co-founder’s Filipino heritage of weaving pineapple fibers. Eighty percent of a pineapple is typically discarded during harvesting, Dobby explained. In Southeast Asia, that agricultural waste is often burned, creating a yellow haze that causes health problems…