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