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Neoprene is a family of synthetic rubbers that are produced by polymerization of chloroprene. Neoprene exhibits good chemical stability and maintains flexibility over a wide temperature range. Neoprene is sold either as solid rubber or in latex form and is used in a wide variety of commercial applications, such as laptop sleeves, orthopaedic braces, electrical insulation, medical gloves, liquid and sheet-applied elastomeric membranes or flashings, and automotive fan belts.
ZARA is a Spanish multinational retail clothing chain. It specializes in fast fashion and sells clothing, accessories, shoes, beauty products and perfumes. The head office is located at Arteixo in the province of A Coruña, Galicia. It is the largest constituent company of the Inditex group. In 2020, it was launching over twenty new product lines per year.
Electronic waste recycling, electronics recycling, or e-waste recycling is the disassembly and separation of components and raw materials of waste electronics; when referring to specific types of e-waste, the terms like computer recycling or mobile phone recycling may be used. Like other waste streams, reuse, donation, and repair are common sustainable ways to dispose of IT waste.
A sustainable business, or a green business, is an enterprise that has a minimal negative impact or potentially a positive effect on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy—a business that strives to meet the triple bottom line. They cluster under different groupings and the whole is sometimes referred to as "green capitalism." Often, sustainable businesses have progressive environmental and human rights policies. In general, a business is described as green if it matches the following four criteria:
- It incorporates principles of sustainability into each of its business decisions.
- It supplies environmentally friendly products or services that replace demand for nongreen products and/or services.
- It is greener than traditional competition.
- It has made an enduring commitment to environmental principles in its business operations.
The throw-away society is a generalised description of human social concept strongly influenced by consumerism, whereby the society tends to use items once only, from disposable packaging, and consumer products are not designed for reuse or lifetime use. The term describes a critical view of overconsumption and excessive production of short-lived or disposable items over durable goods that can be repaired, but at its origins, it was viewed as a positive attribute.
Vintage clothing is a generic term for garments originating from a previous era, as recent as the 1990s. The term can also be applied in reference to second-hand retail outlets, e.g. in vintage clothing store. While the concept originated during World War I as a response to textile shortages, vintage dressing encompasses choosing accessories, mixing vintage garments with new, as well as creating an ensemble of various styles and periods. Vintage clothes typically sell at low prices for high-end name brands.
TerraCycle is a private U.S.-based recycling business headquartered in Trenton, New Jersey. It primarily runs a volunteer-based recycling platform to collect non-recyclable pre-consumer and post-consumer waste on behalf of corporate donors, municipalities, and individuals to turn it into raw material to be used in new products. TerraCycle also manages Loop, a consumer-products shopping service with reusable packaging.
Fast fashion is the business model of replicating recent catwalk trends and high-fashion designs, mass-producing them at a low cost, and bringing them to retail quickly while demand is at its highest. The term fast fashion is also used generically to describe the products of this business model. Retailers who employ the fast fashion strategy include Primark, H&M, Shein, and Zara, all of which have become large multinationals by driving high turnover of inexpensive seasonal and trendy clothing that appeals to fashion-conscious consumers.
Textile recycling is the process of recovering fiber, yarn, or fabric and reprocessing the material into new, useful products. Textile waste is split into pre-consumer and post-consumer waste and is sorted into five different categories derived from a pyramid model. Textiles can be either reused or mechanically/chemically recycled.
Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products perceived to be of greater quality, such as artistic value or environmental value.
Sustainable fashion is a term describing efforts within the fashion industry to reduce its environmental impacts, protect workers producing garments, and uphold animal welfare. Sustainability in fashion encompasses a wide range of factors, including "cutting CO2 emissions, addressing overproduction, reducing pollution and waste, supporting biodiversity, and ensuring that garment workers are paid a fair wage and have safe working conditions".
Pre-consumer recycling is the reclamation of waste materials that were created during the process of manufacturing or delivering goods prior to their delivery to a consumer. Pre-consumer recycled materials can be broken down and remade into similar or different materials, or can be sold "as is" to third-party buyers who then use those materials for consumer products. One of the largest contributing industries to pre-consumer recycling is the textile industry, which recycles fibers, fabrics, trims and unsold "new" garments to third-party buyers.
Micro-sustainability is the portion of sustainability centered around small scale environmental measures that ultimately affect the environment through a larger cumulative impact. Micro-sustainability centers on individual efforts, behavior modification, education and creating attitudinal changes, which result in an environmentally conscious individual. Micro-sustainability encourages sustainable changes through "change agents"—individuals who foster positive environmental action locally and inside their sphere of influence. Examples of micro-sustainability include recycling, power saving by turning off unused lights, programming thermostats for efficient use of energy, reducing water usage, changing commuting habits to use less fossil fuels or modifying buying habits to reduce consumption and waste. The emphasis of micro-sustainability is on an individual's actions, rather than organizational or institutional practices at the systemic level. These small local level actions have immediate community benefits if undertaken on a widespread scale and if imitated, they can have a cumulative broad impact.
Cotton recycling is the process of converting cotton fabric into fibers that can be reused into other textile products.
Miniwiz is a Taiwanese company that upcycles consumer and industrial waste into construction and consumer products. The company was founded by Arthur Huang. It is headquartered in Taiwan with offices in Milan, Singapore, Beijing, and Shanghai.
Clothing industry or garment industry summarizes the types of trade and industry along the production and value chain of clothing and garments, starting with the textile industry, embellishment using embroidery, via the fashion industry to apparel retailers up to trade with second-hand clothes and textile recycling. The producing sectors build upon a wealth of clothing technology some of which, like the loom, the cotton gin, and the sewing machine heralded industrialization not only of the previous textile manufacturing practices. Clothing industries are also known as allied industries, fashion industries, garment industries, or soft goods industries.
Slow fashion is an aspect of sustainable fashion and a concept describing the opposite to fast fashion, part of the "slow movement" advocating for clothing and apparel manufacturing in respect to people, environment and animals. As such, contrary to the industrial practices of fast fashion conglomerates, slow fashion involves local artisans and the use of eco-friendly materials, with the goal of preserving crafts and the environment which, ultimately, provides value to all, slow fashion brands, consumers and retailers.
The fashion industry, particularly manufacture and use of apparel and footwear, is a significant driver of greenhouse gas emissions and plastic pollution. The rapid growth of fast fashion has led to around 80 billion items of clothing being consumed annually, with about 85% of clothes consumed in United States being sent to landfill.
Orsola de Castro is an upcyclist, fashion designer and author. She is the co-founder and creative director of Fashion Revolution, an activism movement which works towards a sustainable fashion industry. De Castro has been in the sustainable fashion space for more than 20 years, since founding upcycling brand, From Somewhere, in 1997.
Suay Sew Shop is a sustainable clothing and accessory manufacturing company based in Frogtown, Los Angeles. Through upcycling of textiles, Suay reclaims used garments and uses them to create new items.
References
- 1 2 3 Smith, Paul (September 4, 2009). "Beyond Organic – Looptworks Upcycles Textile Waste into Treasures". Triple Pundit. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
- 1 2 3 4 Schwartz, Ariel (September 2, 2009). "Looptworks Upcycles Textile Scraps Into Clothing". Fast Company . Retrieved 13 April 2010.
- ↑ "About Looptworks". Looptworks web site. Archived from the original on 29 August 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
- ↑ "looptworks". Greenloop. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
- ↑ Entrepreneur Magazine video
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Brones, Anna (September 9, 2009). "Wearable Waste: Looptworks Launches 100% Upcycled Activewear Line". Wend Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
- ↑ "Upcycled Looptworks Laptop Sleeves Turn Trashed Neoprene into Cash". TrendHunter Magazine. 14 February 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2010.