Fast Fashion and Recycling Clothes

In my presentation about fast fashion, I mentioned that brands that used recycled materials are more sustainable than clothes that are made of fresh synthetic fabric. However, this point was (respectfully and gratefully) brought into question, so I thought I would do some digging to find out if recycled materials are simply another form of greenwashing, or If recycling our clothing could be a step away from the fast fashion industry.

The conclusion is that, well, it’s complicated. Brands such as UNIFI convert recycled water bottles into PET flakes, or polyethylene terephthalate flakes, which are then melted and formed into materials such as food containers, plastic film, and in our case, fibers and textiles. However, UNIFI and other companies that recycle plastic are a bit unclear in their methods, giving little explanation other than that the bottles enter a “material conversion process where they’re washed and chopped into flake.” However, sustainable companies such as Pathwater have gone into a deep dive into the method of recycling plastic materials, such as water bottles, for clothing (link). Although plastic water bottles and other PET materials can technically be recycled, only about 30% of the product is actually usable. “The PET bottles that actually make it to a processing facility are shredded and cleaned, and this process breaks up PET’s core structure -- its polymer chains. The broken polymer chains are the reason why recycled PET lacks the structure to make, for example, another water bottle without the massive addition of virgin PET to help rebind the polymers back together.” Additionally, since almost all polyester fabrics are cheaply made in a foreign factory (a point I touched on in my presentation), most of them are not sturdy enough to be recycled or reused more than once. In fact, the washing and melting process that PET materials have to go through in order to be usable might release even more toxic gas and microplastics than they would have if they were only produced once, meaning that recycling plastic may be more harmful than just creating new. Although this data is hard to track, it is undeniable that the idea that “recycled” clothes are significantly better for the environment is unfortunately just another greenwashing marketing strategy.

Instead of attempting to recycle clothes that might do more harm to the environment to good, some environmentalists suggest going back to the time period before the industrial revolution and the rise of fast fashion by learning how to upcycle clothing. “Upcycling clothing means slicing and stitching old clothes and other textiles to create new clothing of greater worth. It provides a new life to used pieces in our closet by creating something extraordinary and unique.” (link). Although some people go to the extremes of upcycling by stitching together entirely new items of clothing from old pieces, most people just learn how to repair the clothes they already have instead of tossing them out for something new. Some people use old shirts to make blankets, unravel a chunky sweater to have yarn for their new knitting projects, or create a tote back from an old pair of jeans. Personally, I have cut up old sweatpants and shirts as “stuffing” for a pillow or stuffed animal I was crocheting. Although sewing isn’t taught in schools anymore, it is an easy and very useful skill that any environmentalist should take the time to learn. Here is a Youtube video (link) that shows just how easy sewing and repairing clothes can be!