From Bottles To Bombers — 583 Billion Reasons To Choose Sustainable Recycled Clothing Materials
583 Billion is a huge number — it’s so big, most people don’t actually understand how large it is.
It’s such a mind-bogglingly large number, that even finding a way to put it into perspective is difficult.
It’s also the number of plastic bottles that are created in a single year on Earth.
How can we put that into perspective?
If you were to recycle 10,000 bottles every single day, it would take you nearly 160,000 years to recycle a single year’s worth of bottles.
That’s still hard to grasp, right?
It doesn’t mean that we should give up though, it means we need to find alternatives to all that plastic and innovative ways to use all the ones we’ve already created.
Giving Old Plastic New Life
Some incredibly smart people have been hard at work for decades finding ways we can use all this plastic responsibly.
They’ve come up with some fantastic ideas, and the problem might actually not be quite so bad as it sounds — but we need to put those ideas into action for them to have any meaningful effect.
So what can we do with plastic bottles?
You might be surprised to find out that they’re surprisingly useful.
There are tons of things we already make with plastic that can be done just as well with recycled materials, and some great products that can use recycled plastic instead of other materials.
My personal favorite? Clothing.
A surprising amount of our clothing is already plastic if you think about it — from the blends in most sweaters, to the plastic shells of our jackets.
Some super eco-friendly fashion brands even produce winter jackets that are made nearly 100% with recycled materials.
The outer shell can easily be made with recycled polyester, which is the perfect material for a soft, breathable, and water-resistant winter coat.
What’s more impressive though, is that even the insulation and zippers can be made using recycled plastic.
No Compromise
I often hear that people don’t want to wear recycled materials because they’re “not as good as new.”
To that, I say “Phooey.”
Really.
You can’t tell the difference between a “virgin plastic” and a “recycled plastic,” they’re identical.
The only difference is that one is adding to our ecological problems, and the other one is solving them.
They look, feel, wear, and even smell the same — except that wearing recycled is significantly better for the planet.
The Bottom Line
We all make choices every day that impact the world around us, and those choices add up.
Every time you make a choice to use recycled plastic, you’re choosing to help our planet.
Your choices can make a difference, and if we all make better choices, we can clean up this planet in no time.
All we have to do is decide to.
