OUR STORY
Material Union started out of a desire to create a business that will Benefit generations to come and bring us hOme to our Connection with the Earth.
Austin has always been my home and the longevity of our community is worth fighting for. I come from a long line of Texans with tough hides and tender hearts that didn’t have much, but they had each other and they knew how to mend their things. Something many of us are starting to rediscover for ourselves.
Everything we do has a cascade effect, wether we see it or not. So in building this recycling facility, I sought out a way to use diverting textiles from landfill as an avenue to create fair-wage jobs within a worker-owned company. Being cooperatively owned, we’re directly building communal wealth and ownership within marginalized communities.
Meet Christa Marie Clark
Co-Founder &
Director of Design
ABOUT YA GIRL
10 years of designing software for fortune 500 companies, social impact ngoS, & climate startups has taught me: ai won’t save us.
I’ve spent the past decade of being a software and branding designer with the dream of using technology to stop climate change and empower marginalized communities. But I’m realizing that another app isn’t the answer to the problems I’m solving. I’ve turned my focus to a tangible solution: mechanical textile recycling.
I’ve assisted c-suites with securing multi-million dollar projects and have raised hundreds of thousands on my own for several early-stage startups and events like SXSW. Many of these projects have been creating software to optimize manufacturing, logistics, and make sense of large swaths of data and use that data to combat the effects of climate change. I’m excited to put this knowledge to use to tackle issues within the wild west of textile waste.
Creating networks of mutual aid and reducing waste has been a passion of mine since childhood. My first venture was beginning a trash pickup club for kids in the neighborhood when I was 6. I even made us hand-drawn tote bags. My parents had no idea what to do with me.
This yearning to seek reciprocity amongst humanity and our world has also been reflected through my work with ATX Free Fridge. We provide a no-barriers access to food and resources to vulnerable community members and I personally host 1 of 7 fridges. Upcycling and distributing resources in a way that benefits others while diverting waste from landfills is deeply personal to me. Which is why Material Union is the kind of mission worth my life.
Why are we called Material ✷ Union?
WE chose a name to reflect our mission to foster union & reciprocity — between people, the Earth & the materials we’ve polluted it with.
It’s also a tribute to the power of unionized labor, cooperatively owned businesses, and the importance of protecting workers’ rights. Fair wages and safe working conditions are often denied to workers globally (even in our own backyard). We’re committed to creating a workplace that sets a new standard for equity and respect.
Material Union represents a vision of working together to build systems of support— for each other, for the planet, and for a sustainable future.
