Every year, millions of plastic bottles and other plastic products are used and the discarded, left to rot and create a massive waste pile that would in turn cause environment degradation to a large extent.
Well, a clothing company has decided to do something about this, and has designed a pair of denim jeans that is 100% eco-friendly and is actually made of cotton and over 8 reused/recycled water bottles. Based in North Carolina, Dirtball is a clothing company that takes pride in its sustainable fashion concept. The company has already created several sustainable garments in the form of T. Shirts, sweatshirts, polos, hoodies and socks etc., and believes that their sustainable denim jeans would become an instant hit in the market.
Dirtball has made sure to stand out from its competitors like Nike, New Balance, Puma and Loomsstate (also known for their sustainable products) by manufacturing the denim jeans entirely in the USA, thus cutting down the carbon footprints required for the transportation of raw materials to the factories, and then the finished product to the stores. So while the actual denim material and waist tape is made in North Carolina, the zippers, buttons and burrs are manufactured in Georgia. The entire ensemble is assembled together in Kentucky.
Dirtball has apparently kick started a massive funding program for the large scale manufacture of these sustainable denim jeans. The company plans to raise up to $40,000 in just a matter of weeks for the same purpose. Potential funders have also been promised several exciting incentives as soon as the product hits the stores. These include free polos, T. Shirts, socks, hats and stickers manufactured by the company. Lucky individuals would also get to buy the jean the moment it comes off the line.
Dirtball has managed to keep the production process as open as possible in order to make people know more about the product and realize the importance of recycling waste products as well. Accordingly, the company has revealed that the jeans are made from 29% polyester (derived from the plastic bottles) and 70% recycled cotton.
The bottles required for the process are collected at a landfill and taken to a processing plant where they would remove the glue and labels present in the bottles. The bottles are then shaped into little plates and broken down till they resemble shards of glass. The process then requires these shards to be melted into a pellet which would pour the molten plastic into a 55 gallon drum. This drum is then shipped to an extruder who transforms the plastic into fiber by pouring the molten plastic through a large spaghetti strainer.
These polyester fibers are then blended with 71% organic cotton to create the final material needed to make the denim. A total of 8 recycled plastic bottles would be used to make each pair of the jeans, and Dirtball claims that individuals who choose to wear these sustainable jeans would not be able to differentiate them from normal denims.
