Must I wear something that is recycled??
There is so much confusion over the term recycled. Instead of being a positive term, the reuse of a garment, fiber, or yarn is considered yucky. The thought is that a pair of pants or a jacket made from a new fiber is good, and if made from a recycled one, it is terrible. I am so pleased to report that this idea is wrong!!
Much research has been in the works towards the development of circularity in the textile and clothing industry. Levi’s has just introduced a denim jean made with Circulose®, a fiber made from recycled denim. The maker of this fiber is Renewcell, a Swedish innovative fiber manufacturer. They take those worn out, discarded, or no longer needed jeans and regenerate/recycle them into a pulp that can be blended with others to make a new pair of denim jeans. Please, bring those pants that are worn, shredded, and no longer wearable back to your local Levi’s store to have them recycled into another pair of pants.
Recycle is not happening just in your pants, but also in your T-shirts. Toad & Company claims that recycled fibers are the “undisputed gold standard.” They are saving the “713 gallons of water” that it takes to make a new fiber cotton T-shirt and replacing this with recycled cotton, made with 0 gallons of water. So send them your cotton garments, even if made from another manufacturer, and they will recycle them.
Activewear is another big category that recycles polyester. Patagonia takes plastic bottles and worn out or no longer wanted polyester fiber garments and recycles them. This fall season, 84% of the polyester in all of their garments is recycled. This switch to recycled lessens the company’s dependence on petroleum, one of the main ingredients in polyester. They, too, will take your clothing back for this program.
So yes, please do purchase and proudly wear those garments made from recycled fibers!!! They are just as clean and pure as if made from virgin or new fibers. The difference is you will be part of saving our planet, renewing our resources, and being a part of a circular clothing process.