The best clothes are made out of…plastic?
Welcome back!
In my previous post, I mentioned the Circle of Hope and why it is important for companies to think about the recycling of their products. Surprisingly, many companies are adopting it little by little, especially those involved in the fashion industry. Due to the increase of trends in this industry, there are some companies based in fast fashion offering cheap and low quality products. The fast fashion is creating an environmental crisis. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2012, 84% of unused clothes goes to a landfill or an incinerator. This post will mention the link between fashion and sustainability and how several companies are changing their entire business model to take sustainability into their core value.
Adidas and Parley are creating a new and innovative running shoes made out of plastic from the ocean. Adidas is a sports clothes brand that could be classified as fast fashion because it changes its style quite often in order to keep up with the fashion trends. However, this company is realizing the impact that it has in the environment. As mentioned on the previous video, “One truck of it [indestructible material] ends up in our oceans every minute”. We are all responsible for the impact that companies have in the environment. Companies are to blame because they produce unsustainable products and consumers are to blame because they buy non-sustainable products which is an incentive for non-sustainable companies. Therefore, it is very important for consumers to buy the newest and sustainable products and cooperate with this new trend in the fashion industry.
Additionally, as you can see in the image, the style of these new shoes is quite unique and attractive to the eye. Adidas is considering to adapt this strategy into a completely new level and create clothes with plastic from the ocean. Imagine now if all the companies in the fashion industry would do the same and reuse the ocean plastic. It might be very expensive the cleaning process and recycling, but it will save the ocean wildlife.
You can see more ethical brands here!
Thank you!
Maria
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Hi Maria, I heard about adidas attempt to produce an ocean plastic shoe one year ago and was very interested to see how to end product will look like and if it would be affordable for everyone. Personally I am very interested in the fair fashion movement, since the fast fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. However I was quite disappointed about the limited production number (7000) of these shoes. Consequently the question occurred, was that just another marketing measure? Or was that product line necessary to stay competitive in comparison to Nike and their product line Flyknit (shoes made out of plastic bottles). Would be keen to hear your opinion on that.
Hi Bella! I believe it is a good idea that so many companies are looking to recycle ocean plastic. The production of 7000 shoes was mainly to check the efficiency. Furthermore, marketing measure or not, it is good that companies are trying to go even further in sustainable decisions. -Maria
Wow! The beautiful ocean design of the shoe really stood out to me, and a part of making these shoes a success will be making it a visible symbol of sustainability – like how the Prius’s unique body shape became a symbol. It’s exciting to see both Nike and Adidas upcycling plastic, and I think it’ll be interesting to see who will be able to really launch plastic product lines successfully – ideally both! Right now Nike offers many more Flyknit shoe models, but Adidas has expanded to making swimwear with upcycled plastic fishing nets: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/02/02/adidas-parley-for-the-oceans-unveil-recycled-plastic-swimwear-collection/