An independent blog looking at ethical fashion, sweatshops, organics, sustainability, charity and the third sector. The world of apparel and its worldwide impact, mixed with articles about fundraising and charities. Written and produced by Rob Wickings.
Monday 9 March 2009
Recycle your plastic, wear an EcoCap!
Yes it's a baseball cap, but a short time ago, the material from which it is constructed might have been helping refresh you when you needed a cool drink.....
It's our newest line in eco-friendly clothing, the EcoCap is constructed from recycled PET plastic bottles, the sort that contains bottled water or fizzy drinks and which would take thousands of years to decompose if sent to landfill. You may imagine that it is simply recycled into more plastic bottles but, no, it can undergo a metamorphosis into something you wear on your head!
To the right is a great illustration of what goes into the recycling process. You might imagine that labels etc are carefully removed before the plastic is processed but in fact the bottles are shredded whole and then processed to separate undesirable elements and produce pure 'PET flakes'. From this point the PET flakes are used as the raw material for a range of products that would otherwise be made of polyester, and that includes clothing.
About three-quarters of the PET flakes are used to make polyester fabric products. Much of the remainder is extruded into plastic sheet to construct containers, or be compounded for moulding applications. For clothing, the PET flakes are spun into yarn which is then woven into cloth before becoming a baseball cap to carry your printed or embroidered custom logo.
Go to our regular site to see more examples of this new recycled eco-friendly baseball cap which is available in two styles and a huge range of colours.
This was really cool. I would like to ask you if we can feature your cap in our shopping cart. We don't charge to put anything there. We do have a commission when something sells but you decide how much.
ReplyDeleteour site is www.reenchantplanetearth.com
thank you for your time.
marilyn
Hi Marilyn
ReplyDeleteAt Pier32 we deal in personalising hats with logos etc for the UK market with minimum orders of 50. Unfortunately this won't it with your model - but it's a nice idea!
Scott
That's true! PET is a kind of polyester material for fiber, injection molded parts, as well as blow-molded bottles and jars. A recycling line for plastic can produce clean PET Bottle Flakes , although the bottles or films can be filthy . Labels of bottles and caps are cleaned out by label moving machinery which can result in cleanliness levels reaching up to 90 percent. So go recycling bottles and make a cap for yourself. Thanks.
ReplyDelete