CEBU, Philippines - With high profile designers like Stella McCartney going organic in the creation, release and distribution of couture collections, the "organic revolution" is well on its way, heralding a new age in eco-friendly production standards when talking about the clothing, fashion and accessories industry.
Doing away with the rough, burlap sack-like feel of organic textiles and fabrics, new innovations in the creation of sustainable fabrics have resulted to softer and more durable organic cloths, made from a wide variety of organically maintained crop sources including organic cotton, hemp and bamboo. Even knits made from soybeans are known to be around.
But current sustainable textile and fabric production standards haven't stopped in simply utilizing organic crop sources in lessening the carbon footprints generated in their making.
Recycling refuse waste items has also been a well-received standard, with the creation of fabrics made from plastic bottles being one.
Eco-fi - Plastic to Fabric
Formally referred to as EcoSpun or Eco-fi, the process of utilizing Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles into fabrics has gained countless approving nods, given the process' realistic and practical approach in the recycle, reuse and reduce application model.
With outputs functionally and nearly identical to those made from non-recycled sources, Eco-fi/EcoSupn are made with shredded PET plastics, which had been reformed into thin fibers, which in turn had been crimped and stretched then baled for the creation of fabrics.
Recycled PET plastic fibers/fabrics can be used in various items, including textiles for clothing items, cloths for blankets, materials for mobile phone/tablet cases, materials for automobile/motorcycle "upholsteries" and more.
Given the way we regularly churn out refuse plastic bottles, the working principle behind Eco-fi/EcoSpun is relevant to the signs of today's times, one which satisfies production/source material concerns and consideration for where its outputs would go.
In 2006, reports from the Container Recycling Institute (CRI) (a non-profit organization founded in 1991, dedicated in providing training and research figures and studies pertaining to the reduction of wastes), reveal that nearly 50 billion plastic bottles had been thrown away, which amounts to 80% of what was actually produced.
Though CRI's statistics and records are mostly US-based, the prevalence of Eco-fi/EcoSpun standards says a lot over how the Philippines can benefit from its implementation, before plastic waste figures rise to astronomical ratios.
In no way does this mean that there are no recycling initiatives being initiated in the country. But as outside-the-box thinking goes, recycling centers and Filipino clothing and accessories brands could greatly benefit from the implementation of Eco-fi/EcoSpun standards.
For more information on Eco-Fi/EcoSpun, visit www.eco-fi.com. Alternatively, visit the CRI website, www.container-recycling.org, for updated stats, facts and figures. (FREEMAN)