ModuLab Ocean-Recycled Modular Kids' Watch | Turning Ocean Waste into a Product Worn Every Day

ModuLab · ChiHe Design × INFANTRY · Design Your Time

Plastic in the ocean was a burden.
We turned it into a watch children design with their own hands, every day.

See the Carbon Data → How the Loop Is Designed

Ocean-Recycled Modular Kids' Watch
2026 · ChiHe Design × INFANTRY

The Concept · Design Your Time

A kids' watch children can design themselves,
so "design your time" is more than a tagline.

ChiHe Design and Hong Kong watchmaker INFANTRY created ModuLab together: through a modular structure and a writable dial, "design your time" becomes a creative act children take part in every day, and a piece of circular design that returns ocean plastic to daily life.

The Pain

Most kids' watches are designed by adults and passively worn by children.

On the market, the case, strap, and dial are all decided by adults; children simply wear what they are given. When a watch breaks or bores them, it gets replaced, one more disposable purchase. Meanwhile, ocean plastic keeps accumulating, yet it is rarely transformed into products children truly use and treasure every day.

The Answer

A tool-free modular structure lets children design it, and extend its life, themselves.

ChiHe and INFANTRY's engineering team developed a limit groove + guide rail + U-shaped clasp structure, so the case, strap, dial, and movement can all be swapped with one hand, no tools needed. Children draw, choose, and assemble for themselves. The watch stays in use far longer, and the material comes from ocean-recycled plastic.

When children can change it themselves, they treasure it more and use it longer. That is circularity.

Circular by Design

From ocean waste to wristwatch, turning an environmental burden into carbon savings.

The material comes from ocean-recycled plastic, the structure is designed for longevity, and the behavior keeps the product in use longer: three layers cutting carbon together.

Ocean-Recycled Material

Ocean-Recycled HDPE

Certified recycled HDPE replaces stainless steel as the case and module material, extending the life of batch after batch of ocean-recycled plastic and converting an environmental burden into quantifiable carbon savings.

Tool-Free Modules

Tool-Free Modular

Limit grooves, guide rails, and U-shaped clasps let the case, strap, dial, and movement be swapped with one hand. Repairable, replaceable, built for a longer life, so one watch keeps company far longer.

Writable Dial

Writable Dial · Bonding

The writable dial lets parents leave notes for their children, and children draw back in return. The watch becomes a medium for emotion and memory: a bond that is itself a life-extending design.

Carbon Proof

Materials-stage carbon savings: recycled HDPE in place of stainless steel

Replacing stainless steel (6.15 kgCO₂e/kg) with certified recycled HDPE (0.5–0.8 kgCO₂e/kg) as the case and module material cuts materials-stage carbon emissions dramatically.

Stainless steel

6.15

kgCO₂e / kg

→

Certified recycled HDPE

0.5–0.8

kgCO₂e / kg

↓ ~87–92%

Lower materials-stage carbon emissions · recycled HDPE replacing stainless steel

A further 30–60%cut in average annual emissions through modular life extension (WRAP research)

Methodology LCA · Ocean-recycled HDPE GRI 301 Materials SDG 14 Life Below Water SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production SDG 4 · SDG 17

Materials-stage savings are estimated from recycled HDPE (0.5–0.8 kgCO₂e/kg) versus stainless steel (6.15 kgCO₂e/kg); the average annual reduction from modular life extension cites estimates from WRAP research. Actual results vary with volume and usage behavior.

SDGs · Sustainable Development Goals

The UN Sustainable Development Goals this project advances

From ocean-recycled material to modular longevity and cross-sector co-creation, this project maps to the following four UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

SDG 4 Quality EducationTool-free modular design builds children's hands-on assembly skills and a sustainability mindset.

SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and ProductionOcean-recycled HDPE replaces virgin plastic and stainless steel, cutting materials carbon by about 87–92%.

SDG 14 Life Below WaterUsing ocean-recycled material keeps marine waste from flowing into the sea.

SDG 17 Partnerships for the GoalsChiHe × INFANTRY co-create across sectors, building a replicable modular blueprint.

Ocean plastic transformed into a modular watch

Scalable Blueprint

One watch is a circular blueprint that can be copied.

Collect: ocean-recycled plastic is converted into certified recycled HDPE, the raw material for the watch case and modules.
Design for longevity: the tool-free modular structure makes the product repairable and replaceable, extending its life cycle and cutting further carbon.
Keep the bond: the writable dial preserves parent-child exchanges, so children choose to keep using the watch rather than discard it.
Replicate: wherever ocean-plastic collection and circular design coexist, this model extends to toys, accessories, and educational products.

Let's Talk

Your product can start its own circular story
from ocean waste or recycled material.

Let's talk about turning recycled materials and circular design into a product with quantifiable carbon savings, ready to write into your ESG report.

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ModuLab ocean-recycled modular kids' watch: turning ocean waste into a product worn every day

A kids' watch children can design themselves,so "design your time" is more than a tagline.