1
Comments
Making Clothes out of Plastic! |
---|
Did you know that the clothes you are wearing might be made from plastic! Yes, that is the look of surprise i had on my face when i discovered this. Several companies such as Nike, Eco Spun etc. are using plastic bottles to make athletic wear.
Did you know, that in the World cup the U.S and Brazil wore clothes made by Nike and these athletic wear were made 100% from recycled bottles found in the landfills and dump sites of Taiwan. As a result, they have used 440 MILLION bottles per year! Coca-cola have started producing t-shirts made of 50% plastic and 50% cloth. An average t-shirt uses approximately five 600ml bottles. Here are other brands 'Using recycled bottles for making clothing reduces our dependence on foreign oil (often used to create traditional polyester), reduces waste that ends up in landfills, reduces toxins that are released into the air when plastic bottles are sometimes burned in incinerators, creates a fabric that itself is now recyclable, and releases less pollution into the environment. One of the first companies to start making clothing out of recycled plastic bottles was Pantagonia. During their first 13 years manufacturing recycled clothing, Pantagonia rescued 86 million plastic bottles from landfills around the country.' Gotten from http://www.gbb.org/news/even-the-clothing-industry-is-going-green-with-clothes-made-from-recycled-plastic-bottles/ Plastics can be used for this purpose due to the structure of their molecules which makes them flexible. How they are made (Fleece jackets) 1. The process begins when you throw your bottle in the recycling bin and it is taken to factories for sorting. The plastic is technically called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). 2. At the processing plant, the caps and sticker, labels are removed, and the bottles are then separated in groups based on their color. 3. They are then washed and sterilized. After sterilization, the bottles are crushed and then chopped into tiny think flakes. 4. These tiny pieces of flake are poured into large vats, where they are melted and stirred. This produces a thick liquid that's extruded through shower-head like devices to create fibrous, polyester strands. 5. The fiber strands are then stretched to produce thinness and strength. The strands are crimped, cut into short pieces and baled for shipping to clothing manufacturers where the thread is knitted and woven into fabric. Fleece is but one of many fabrics that can be produced using this versatile fiber. http://eartheasy.com/wear_ecospun.htm So next time you go shopping buy clothes made from plastic bottles and show your gratitude to the environment by supporting these companies. Always recycle your plastic bottles instead of throwing them. You can never know, your next t-shirt might be made from the plastic bottle you thew weeks ago :)
|
|
1 Comments
I read this article with a great interest!
How to make a jacket with recycled bottles is very very interesting.
Sure, actually I was thinking of buying some sportwear, so I'm gonna looking for the clothes you wrote about. ^)
Posted 30-11-2012 09:23