About Us
Silverback Hawaii, founded on a whimsical impulse, evolved into a contribution to the dream of a sustainable future.
Matt Daniells and his brothers were raised in the Pacific Islands, Guam Palau, Maui. They were always immersed in the island lifestyle and the ocean culture. They surf, dive, paddle, windsurf, spearfish, and generally thrive on a seaside existence. Matt’s big brother Mark, a successful artist, created the Paddle Beast and Big Kahuna Surf figures as woodblock prints. He was originally hand printing the designs on paper and cotton T-shirts in his gallery in Hanalei Kauai. When Matt first saw the designs he couldn’t help but laugh, because Mark described them as “Self-Portraits”. Mark always made the brothers laugh with his portrayal of a gorilla, and made their mom quite embarrassed a few times. Matt’s intent was to make a few T-shirts and sell them, but then things took a different turn, Matt’s ocean time was punctuated with a new awareness of increasing ocean pollution. Every time he was in the water, or on the beach it seemed like there was more Opala(the Hawaiian word for Garbage) everywhere.
A light came on, what if there were a way to create a product that was not only attractive, but comfortable, protected you from the sun, and was sustainable, as in made from recycled materials? After 2 years of research, starting in 2017, Matt came up with a product that was all those things, AND, entirely made in the USA.
Our goal is to keep plastic, particularly the plastic water bottles that Silverback apparel is made from, out of the ocean and landfills. According to Condor Ferries of the UK we, humans, are polluting the ocean with 12.7 million tons of plastic waste every year. There are now 5.25 trillion tons of macro and micro pieces of plastic in our ocean and about 46,000 pieces in every square mile of ocean, weighing up to 269,000 tons. Every day about 8 million pieces of plastic make their way into our oceans. 88% of the sea’s surface is polluted by plastic waste. Silverback Hawaii LLC aims to do its part in cleaning the environment by the creation of sustainable products, and taking an active role in reversing the negative impact of plastic pollution.
Our dream is to not only keep plastic out of the oceans and landfills by recycling it into our products, but in cooperation with other environmental agencies and institutions, contribute to beach, ocean, and waterway cleanups. Silverback would like to give back.