First Blog Post. Let’s See How This Goes.

First Blog Post. Let’s See How This Goes.

Alright.

This is the first proper blog post on the site. I’m playing around with this. I’ve spent the last year building products, building systems, learning materials, and trying to make sense of how to grow something real and I’ve realised I probably need to start sharing what I’ve learned along the way.

So here we are.

Where This All Started

FORMA Designs Collective officially kicked off about a year ago. The idea was simple:

Retired climbing rope shouldn’t just be waste. Simple Right?

Climbing walls replace ropes regularly. Offshore rigs replace rope. Individuals retire rope. It’s strong, durable, high-performance material and yet most of it ends up discarded.

That never sat right with me.

So I started experimenting. Cutting. Cleaning. Stitching. Prototyping. Swearing at sewing machines. Re-doing things. Learning what works and what doesn’t. breaking sewing machines. breaking more sewing machines. (for context you need an actual industrial sewing machine to sew retire climbing rope not a cheep brother one from amazon)

Belts came first. Then keychains. Then bracelets coasters, rugs. Small products that proved something bigger:

Waste can be valuable if you design properly around it.

Going Full-Time

I’ve been building FORMA for about a year, but I’ve only been full-time in it for around three months.

And honestly? It’s been a real struggle.

Long days. Learning how to manage time. Learning how to sell. Learning how to market. Learning how to price. Learning how to not completely burn out.(that one I'm still working on as its 2:55am while writing this)

When you go from juggling jobs and side projects to putting everything on one thing, it gets very real very fast.

But I also know this: the long-term vision is worth it.

I’ve always been obsessed with materials. Since I was 14 starting my first (slightly cringe but kind of cute) business called Reclaim Rustic, I’ve been trying to figure out how to turn offcuts and forgotten materials into something useful.

That obsession hasn’t gone away. It’s just become more structured.

What FORMA Actually Is

On the surface, FORMA makes products from retired climbing rope.

But at its core, it’s about something bigger:

  • Respecting material.
  • Reducing waste.
  • Designing with intention.
  • Creating revenue from what would otherwise be discarded.

We work with climbing walls, organisations, and charities like Climb Scotland to collect retired rope and turn it into retail-ready products that can be sold in the same communities that produced the waste.

Waste becomes product,

Product becomes revenue,

Revenue supports the community.

That’s the circular bit. That's what's so important to me and that's why I'm still doing this dispite the struggle.

Why This Blog Exists

I don’t just want to sell belts.

I want to share what I’m learning about:

  • Climbing rope materials.
  • Nylon behaviour and durability.
  • Product development from waste.
  • The reality of building a small brand.
  • Manufacturing challenges.
  • Pricing properly.
  • Avoiding greenwashing.
  • What actually works (and what doesn’t) most doesn't btw you'll need to get used to being wrong doing this kind of thing.

There’s a lot of talk about sustainability. Not much practical breakdown of how to actually build something viable from it.

So this blog will be messy at times. Experimental. Honest.

But hopefully useful. and hopefully somewhat entertaining as i document my wins my losses moment s of clarity and all of the above.

The Bigger Picture

Climbing rope is just the beginning.

Every industry produces waste. Most of it is undervalued. Some of it is just written off as “the cost of doing business.”

I don’t believe that’s good enough.

Over the next year, FORMA will be exploring more materials, more waste streams, and more ways of turning industrial by-products into high-quality, commercially viable products.

Not just because it sounds good but because it makes economic sense.

If you can reduce waste and create revenue at the same time, that’s not just sustainability. That’s smart business.

For Now

Right now, I’m still learning. Still refining. Still improving.

Three months full-time has taught me more than the previous year combined. It’s been uncomfortable. It’s been exhausting. But it’s also been the most aligned I’ve felt in a long time.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading.

I will be posting more structed content soon.

More soon.

George

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