By: Venessa Wong
March 20, 2012
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-20/garbage-fashion-t-shirts-made-from-recycled-bottles
Summary: A new T-Shirt has been invented from recycled bottles. Many people look and it and think that it is a regular shirt, but it fact, it was made from bottles. Making trash wearable helps the environment because it does not go to a landfill. Instead, it is in your closet. To make these you need to get a clear plastic bottle and crush it into flakes. These flakes are converted to pellets which is spun into polyester yarn. From there, the shirt is made. The problem with these shirts is that they are not recyclable. The only way it could be was if it was 100% polyester. If it is not, it can't be recycled and it could be problematic for the equipment. Another problem with this is that the polyester comes from a chemical that harms the environment and causes global warming. Also, it is non-biodegradeable so it is hard to dispose of and it will not break down easily. The main goal of making these shirts was to keep bottles out of oceans and landfills.
Opinion/Reflection: I think that this is a really cool and great idea! The only thing they need to do now is start producing a lot of these. If more and more people learn about how bad the environment is getting, they will start to buy them. I have heard about this on the news before and it made me realize that this will help the environment greatly. If stores around us sold them, I think I would buy one because of how it is helping. Some people need to realize what is going on in the world around us. The environment is being destroyed and global warming is having an affect on us. If these shirts kick off and become popular, it will help our world and make it a better place.
Questions:
1. Would you buy one of these shirts? Why or why not?
2. Do you think it is a safe way to help the environment? Why or why not?
3. What are some other ways to help the environment?
Opinion/Reflection: This is such a cool article! I never would have thought that there could be shirts made from something plastic. Knowing this now, I wonder if it is possible to make anything else out of plastic. I think that this could be life changing, because people are always looking for new ways to recycle things. I agree with Justin when he says that if more and more people begin to realize how bad the environment truly is, they will start to buy more of these shirts. In science, we learned about all of the plastic that is going into the ocean, and accumulating into a large area. This is harmful for the aquatic life living in this area of the ocean. If we continue to make shirts from the plastic bottles, or maybe even other things, we could save the aquatic life. I hope these shirts become more popular and make a difference in the world. The main problems with these shirts are that they are not recyclable. Hopefully the producers of these shirts find a way to make these shirts recyclable, because then they would make the earth even more "green"!
ReplyDeleteAnswer to Question #1: I would definitely buy one of these shirts. The reason is because if buying a simple shirt will do something as big as helping the earth, then why wouldn't anyone do it? I also think that I would buy this shirt because of the fact that they are made from plastic. It would be so cool to say that I have a shirt made out of plastic! I wonder if it feels any different than normal shirts, or if it has the same feel to it. Not only would it be bragging rights, but it would be helping the environment also!
Opinion/Reflection:
ReplyDeleteI wonder who decided to think of wearing a shirt made out of bottles. I also wonder if the shirt is comfortable. It seems that there are a lot of problems with this shirt. If it helps the environment the problems have to be worth it. This shows that we can do a lot of things with our waste. Maybe one day we can make iphones and other electronics out of plastic and other wastes. This is a coincidence because with the project with the art class we are using plastics in our picture. We are using them to show how much they pollute our oceans. Maybe we could collect some of the plastics in the ocean and use it for the shirts as well.
Answer to #1:
I would buy the shirt if it was made of plastic but it just depends how the shirt looked. I wouldn't think of it as anything different from other shirts. Also I would buy it because it would make me feel like I'm helping the environment by buying the shirt.
Opinion/Reflection:
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool that they are coming up with some really cool ways to help the environment. But, I would have to disagree with Jen and Justin. I do agree that this is a great idea but it has flaws. This idea was supposed to help the environment but it is still hurting it. The shirts are not recyclable and non biodegradable. Also, the polyester comes from a chemical that harms the environment and causes global warming. So what happens when we grow out of the shirt? We are just going to dispose of it and now it is worse for the environment than ever. Also, some of them will probably end up in the ocean and landfills anyway which goes against what it was meant to do. This is a great idea to start with but it needs to be innovated to be better for the environment because it is just hurting the environment even more than it was doing in the beginning. This reminds me of the dead zones in the oceans because some plastic ends up there. Hopefully we will find a better way to make shirts or some type of thing that will use up some of our waste so it doesn't end up in the ocean hurting our environment.
Answer to question 1:
I personally would not want to buy one of these shirts. I want to help our earth and I believe by supporting this idea I would be hurting it. These shirts are bad for the environment because the polyester comes from a chemical that harms the environment and causes global warming and it is non biodegradable and it cannot be recycled. It needs to be adjusted to be better for the environment because this idea is just hurting it even more. What it sought out to help just hurt the environment even more.
Opinion: I think it is very cool what they are doing for the environment. People are coming up with very creative ideas for recycled goods. I would have never thought that it was possible to make a t-shirt out of recycled plastic. While I think it is a good idea, bad things come with everything. After these t-shirts are made from recycled plastic then can no longer be recycled. product. Since it is such a long process to convert the plastic to a shirt I assume that the Also I have learned that in some cases recycling uses more energy than just producing a new process uses a lot of energy. I agree with Ryan when he said this idea is a good start to something but it needs to be worked on. I hope to see these shirts improve and possibly even see them in stores near me!
ReplyDeleteAnswer to number 1: If I had the chance to buy one of these shirts I definately would. I think the recycled t-shirt is a very good concept. It needs a couple of improvements but it would be cool to rock a recycled plastic shirt. I could definately show it off to my friends.