Direct Self Poisoning: The Problem with Upcycling Plastic Bottles into Clothing
There’s a plethora of brands out there now celebrating their use of recycled water bottles to make anything from gym bags to T-shirts. In an effort to be more sustainable and help eliminate plastic waste, this sounds like a great idea on the surface. However, using plastic bottles in this way may actually be harmful to us for a number of reasons. Is upcycling plastic in this way actually sustainable, or is it just another form of green washing? Let’s investigate further.
The Upside
There are a couple of pros when it comes to using recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate, aka polyester) to create clothing. For one, it reduces our dependence on petroleum. According to Earth 911, “traditional polyester fibers are made from raw petroleum [but] by using recycled PET bottles, manufacturers become less dependent on petroleum to make their clothing.” So we get to recycle plastic bottles and use less petroleum; sounds like a win-win!
The second big upside of clothing made from PET, and this is true of any polyester, whether it’s upcycled water bottles or petroleum-based, is that it can be recycled over and over again. Polyester was developed in Japan and is used in all of their government and student uniforms. They have special recycling facilities that melt down old polyester clothing and turn it into new uniforms, which is an amazing closed-loop process. However, such recycling facilities are extremely few and far between in the US, making it difficult to recycle polyester. What’s more, if your clothing contains even 1% natural fibers such as cotton or silk, the garment cannot be recycled and will instead remain in a landfill and can take hundreds of years to decompose.
The Downside
At the end of the day, plastic is still terrible for our environment, whether we’re recycling it or not. While reusing plastic bottles is a good idea on the surface, it’s important to tackle the deeper issue of cutting our dependence on plastic altogether. That being said, it’s far better to purchase clothing made from natural sustainable materials, such as organic cotton or bamboo.
Plastic in clothing also releases microfibers, which are extremely harmful to our oceans. Each time you throw your nylon or polyester clothing in the wash, tiny plastic fibers are released and flushed into our waterways. According to Earth 911, “One researcher found that 85 percent of the manmade material on the shoreline was microfibers. Because of their microscopic size, these microplastics are extremely difficult to clean up. They have been found inside marine life and floating in every ocean around the world.” That’s awful for ocean life, but also relates back to our own health. Plastics are toxic and also have the ability to absorb other toxins, so when microplastics are thrown into the ocean, they’re eaten by fish, who are eaten by bigger fish, eventually making their way onto our plate and being absorbed by our bodies.
But that’s not all. If tiny microfibers that are eaten by fish can end up in our systems and be toxic to us, is it healthy for those materials to be in direct contact with our bodies on a daily basis? When recycled water bottles are turned into polyester, they must be shredded and melted down. According to The Weston A Price Foundation, when plastics are exposed to heat, they leach. One of the chemicals that is released is antimony, which can be carcinogenic and is linked to a variety of respiratory issues. I’m sure you’ve heard people warn you from drinking out of a plastic water bottle that has been left in a hot car for similar reasons. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want that touching my skin.
There isn’t too much research done on the topic of plastic exposure on skin, but there have been many accounts of people being extremely sensitive to plastic-based fibers. While the jury may still be out, I’d rather not take chances. I’m much more in favor of turning plastic waste into art to raise awareness of our plastic use.
cover image via Wired