Every year, millions upon million tons of plastic finds its way to the landfills across the world in the form of bottles, sheets and what not! Plastic can take years to degrade, making it the environment’s number one enemy. Increasing plastic levels as well as the harmful effects the same could have on the immediate surroundings have finally made individuals sit up and start thinking of ways to recycle and reuse plastic. One such arena in which a lot of progress is being made is the clothing industry, which has to a large extent, started producing clothes made of recycled plastic.
Is it possible?
Believe it or not, but plastic is extremely versatile, making it very easy for the material to be molded into different shapes and sizes. Plastic is also easy to color, impact resistant, flexible and durable enough to be used in several day-to-day applications. A series of fashion brands around the world have in fact started using recycled plastic in a variety of goods that they produce, including shoes, coats, bags and backpacks, etc. Accordingly, here are a few such clothing brands that have also started the initiative to use recycled plastic in their clothes.
Repreve
Repreve is a popular clothing brand that has aimed to encourage individuals to recycle plastic bottles so that the company can use the same to create cool things that can be worn on a daily basis. Accordingly, the company collects plastic bottles from homes, offices and other commercial establishments. It then cleans the bottles, chops and melts them, finally turning them into small plastic chips.
These chips are then transformed into recycled fiber which the Repreve uses to make its fabrics. It can be noted that the company was responsible for preventing more than 740 million plastic bottles from hitting the landfills, and decided to recycle and use them for its clothes instead.
Levis
Dedicated to doing its bit to save the environment, Levis has come up with its own Waste Less Jeans, which has been made of recycled food trays and plastic bottles. The company uses almost eight 20 ounce bottles in each pair of jeans, with the recycled plastic constituting nearly 20% of the jean material.
The company has revealed plans to recycle almost 3.5 million plastic bottles and waste, and use the same in the production of its trademark eco-friendly jeans without compromising on comfort and quality at any stage. Levis has also made it a point to encourage buyers to grab a pair of these jeans by putting tags on the latter which read ‘These Jeans are made of Garbage.’
DGrade clothing
Based in UK, DGrade Clothing is a garment manufacturer who is spearheading the green movement by creating clothes from plastic. The company knits its fabrics from the thread that is extracted from recycled plastic bottles. The fabric thus produced can easily rival cotton in both feel and texture, and has a slightly fair advantage over the latter in that it is stronger, more durable and does not shrink.
These fabrics are thus considered the best options for casual and adventure clothing that need to be tough and durable. DGrade Clothing is also responsible for producing a wide range of denim, jersey, twill and fleece clothes made of recycled plastic bottles.
NBA opts for recycled plastic uniforms
They say that anything gets noticed in this world only if backed by something or someone popular. The ‘Recycle Plastic and turn it into clothes’ trend seems to have caught up with several prominent groups and managements. One such case is the NBA, the most famous basketball competition in the world. It can be noted that one of the teams playing in the competition decided to wear uniforms made of 60% recycled plastic, claiming them to be more comfortable and lightweight than normal uniforms.
Summary
The time has come to stop throwing plastic bottles and trash into the landfills and start recycling them instead. The clothing brands and examples mentioned above indicate how more and more individuals are committing themselves to reusing plastic in several day to day objects, including clothes.