PLASTIC BOTTLES AND CLOTHES

It takes hundreds or thousands of years for a plastic bottle to disintegrate. When you buy a plastic bottle of water, think about what you’re doing to the environment. The World Wide Fund for Nature reported that about 1.5 million tons of plastic is used by the bottled water industry each year. WWF is trying to support projects which make use of plastic bottles. 

A clothing manufacturer has come up with a brilliant idea to reduce the harm bottles do to the environment. They started to create clothes from plastic. Recycled materials are used to make clothes. It has aimed to reduce 45,000 tons of plastic by using the new manufacturing process. 

According to the manager of the company they have developed the process by knitting fabric with thread made from recycled plastic water bottles. It also has an advantage of being more durable. Different ranges of clothes are designed and produced using plastic bottles. A half cotton, half polyester T-shirt is made from three 500 ml water bottles and cotton yarn. A pair of shorts is made from 30 bottles, while 40 to 60 bottles are used to make a jacket.

At the beginning these eco-friendly fabrics were expensive but as time passed the prices became more reasonable. To produce cotton, huge amounts of water are used but 20% less water is used to convert plastic bottles into yarn and fabric. It is possible to produce almost any kind of polyester and all kinds of clothing can be made like T-shirts, waterproof coats, and even jeans. 

Between 60 and 90 days are required to produce the fabric. The company director said that he hoped someday all clothes would be made with this method.

Adpted from the papers.xtremepapers website.