Did you know that you can buy high-quality activewear from a leading retailer that has been made out of recycled plastic bottles?
General merchandise retailer Target Australia has rolled out its line of exercise clothing with a sustainable twist, with the bottles cut up and recycled into polyester fibre which is then used to create the line of clothing.
Despite the fact that PET plastic drink bottles as totally recyclable, Australians only recycle 36 per cent of them every year – which means that around 373 million bottles end up in the landfill. When you consider that it takes 450 years for a single plastic bottle to fully decompose, that is a huge problem for the environment.
What tends to happen is these bottles will break apart and get washed into waterways, then ultimately the ocean. As they are small and clear, they look like food to marine life and cause enormous problems.
Re-purposing these bottles into clothing items is one way that companies can not only help the environment but also discover a cheap fabric option that will be favourable to consumers.
How plastic bottles are recycled into clothing
It is possible to make this entire process entirely green and sustainable. The bottles are shredded by machinery that can be powered by renewable energy and then melted down into pellets. These pellets are then spun and extruded to create a yarn that can be used to create clothing.
The good news is that this material is also extremely durable, which makes it perfect for activewear and exercise equipment. It is also extremely cost-effective, so these clothing items can be sold at a lower price point than other options.
An overall more sustainable approach to clothing
Creating activewear made from recycled plastic bottles is just the latest in a long line of innovations that Target has rolled out to create sustainable clothing options for their customers.
Some of the other options that the retailer offers include:
- Responsible denim: Jeans that use a combination of responsibly sourced materials and virgin cotton made from recycled textile waste.
- Responsible cotton: Target supports, favours and sources all of its cotton products from farmers who are employing water efficiencies, soil health and biodiversity.
- Forest friendly fibres: Target sources materials made from viscose fibres that are made from trees that have been purposely grown to prevent deforestation.
They are not the only Australian brand to be using recycled materials to make clothing, though, with many brands moving towards sustainable models to show that they have a corporate responsibility towards the environment, which leads to greater trust from consumers.
Citizen Wolf is one of those brands, not only offering clothing made from ethically sourced materials but also offering free repairs for life to avoid textile waste and the carbon required for wardrobes that constantly need to updated and replaced.
Byron Bay has also been a hotbed of environmentally friendly brands, using hemp products along with 100 per cent recycled products.
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