Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

It's 2012, many consumers are trying to save money especially in fashion.  Brand names are still going strong but getting those brands for a lower price is the main goal.  Many companies today are making that goal possible, by recycling clothing and reselling to the ultimate consumer at a fraction of the cost.  These companies are helping to reduce the amount of clothing dumped into landfills each year.  

Plato's Closet, a company that recently gained a big following.  They company resells gently used clothing for guys and girls in addition, to shoes, bags, and jewlery.  The company strictly takes gently used brand name clothing such as American Eagle, Abercrombie and Fitch, Hollister, Forever21, etc.  The company wants to continue the life of clothing by reselling to another consumer.  What better way to expand your wardrobe and help the economy at the same time.  

The order of Purple Heart, a organziation run by veterans of the purple heart.  The organzation takes everything used from clothing to cars.   They are taking reduce, reuse, recycle to the highest level.  The company is all over the world sending trucks to collect the goods which in turn helps veterans with welfare and rehabilitation services.  They recieve donations from the community level, annual level, and donation level.  These in turn also help hospitalized veterans and their family.  This is at no cost to the consumer except handing over unused products.

Shwopping, a term coined by Sunny Cove Studios where consumer and swap or donate their clothing within their stores.  A plus do not have to buy anything but you can still donate your clothing, which they turn and sell through a company called OxFam.  All this with the intention of reducing the one billion items dumped into UK landfills each year.  In addition, if you have a pair of riz boardshorts you can wear them and then return to the company called, rizcycling, the company will recycle them and they also will give a 25% off for a new pair.  This company is the only swimwear company where the clothing is recyclable and who offer this amazing service.

You as a consumer can be involved in these companies and organzation for no money and with two companies and you can receive money.  Next time you are going through your clothes dont' trash them take them to your local plato's Closet and get some money, call the purple heart and have them donated.  Let's give clothing a life of more than just a few short years, let's give it a lifetime with tons of love from  generation to generation.

plato'scloset commerical

Sustainability and Economic Recovery for Haiti

More than two years have passed since an earthquake devastated Haiti, and Haiti is still in the early stages of recovery.  As of August 25, 2012 more than 400,000 Haitians are still displaced or homeless as a result of the 2010 earthquake.  While food, money and medical supplies have made it to Haiti little has been done to improve the long-term economic stability of the country.

A group of entrepreneurs is trying to change that.  The Haitian Redevelopment Directive (THREAD) is devoted to building a factory that turns plastic bottles into fabric for apparel.  The factory would initially be able to employ 10 to 15 workers and pay them a fair wage, and later expand to hire more workers.  The factory would be able to supply their fabric to end users at lower costs that companies in other parts of the world.

“I’ve been all over world,” said THREAD’s president and CEO Ian Rosenberger. “The two things I see most are poverty and trash."  The proposed factory would solve both problems.  It would encourage Haitian citizens to recycle while providing jobs that would help to develop Haiti's economy.  

The technology to turn soda bottles into polyester already exists and I've attached a video that explains the process if you are unfamiliar with it.  Recycled polyester is already being used by companies such as Patagonia and Nike, but the plan for THREAD's factory would be to re-engineer the production process so it could be done on a smaller scale. THREAD also believes that Haiti is well-suited for textile exports because Haiti already has a foundation in the textile industry.  

Here's a video showing how plastic bottles are turned into polyester.

The factory is expected to be open by the end of the year so it will be interesting to see if this project comes to fruition.


Sources: http://www.livescience.com/9248-haiti-key-economic-recovery-garbage.html

 -William Diak

The Role of Social Media in Sustainable Fashion

I have recently been introduced to Pinterest. Yes I do realize the website has been up for a while but like most things technological I'm slow on the up take but fast on the follow through. Our main focus as a group is sustainable fashion and the use of technology to promote or keep it that way. While browsing through the Pinterest website I started to see how designers and crafters alike were marketing their ideas through the site. They were coming up with creative ways of reusing and recycling garments to make new products.

 

For those who do not know about Pinterest, it is a website that allows people to gather points or "pins" of interest and pin it to a board. The site allows the user to pin projects, photos even quotes they like. Others view the " pins" and may decide to "repin" the project thereby allow many users to see the project. The mission statement of the company explains it very well, "Our goal is to connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting. We think that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests".

The combination of the technology, Pinterest and the ideas on reusing garments or fabric is making unfashionable items more useful by extending the life of that product. Below I have grouped various pins, which show how different apparel and footwear can be refashioned into different products. To continue with the spreading messages through social media, I clicked the “like” button and now all my Facebook friends can view the post. The more people like it the further the images travel. Social media has really played a big role in spreading the message of sustainable fashion

Reuse it's not Refuse

Simone Muller

Clothing Sorter of the Future or Present?

Today , in this very, pro "go green" world the textile/fashion industry has had to play a major part in stepping up to help solve one the most current and concerning issues of helping to create a better, more sustainable environment. Everyday there's another brand coming out with an Eco-friendly label, or creating a line of organic tee's in an effort to make an environmental impact. And lets face it, the textile industry is not the most earth friendly industry at all. The process alone of making, coloring and finishing fabrics, can at times be wasteful and hazardous to the environment even despite the changes in technology to these processes. But what about after the fabric has been made into a garment, sold to a consumer, and worn out by the consumer? What is done with all our clothes? Where do they go?

Sadly most of today's textiles end up in a landfill. However an even sadder fact is that 93% of textiles that go to waste are successfully recycled but 85% of textiles end up going straight to landfills.

 "Experts estimate that British consumers throw out more than a million tonnes (1.1 million U.S. tons) of textiles in the form of clothes and other products every year. A European Union environmental report calls fabric Britain’s “fastest growing waste stream.""

A single kilogram of collected used clothing can help reduce up to 3.6 kilograms, or almost 8 pounds, of CO₂ emissions. Even better, Recycling textiles instead of producing new ones from raw materials can also eliminate the use of 6000 liters of water (1600 gallons), 300 grams of fertilizer (10 1/2 ounces) and 200 grams, or 7 ounces, of pesticide. While recycling is the obvious and clear solution it's unfortunately not the easiest answer. 
Eco-Innovation, eight consortium partners Launched a project in 2009 called Textiles 4  Textiles, is testing an automated fabric sorter. This machine would have the capabilities of sorting clothes by their fabric type using infrared technology. When I first saw the promo video for this machine I immediately thought of the Jetsons. A machine like this seems like something from the future. This machine would be able to handle volumes of clothes that human laborers couldn't handle. In my opinion this machine would not solve all of the environmental issues this world faces but it would make a great step towards getting there. 

Post by Moriah Akrong