“The unprecedented plastic waste tide plaguing our oceans and shores, can become as limited as our chosen relationship with plastics, which involves a dramatic behavioral change on our part…”
Captions and Photo: © SAF — Coastal Care
Excerpts;
The fashion industry shows no sign of slowing down in regards to reducing its environmental impact, with new initiatives and schemes emerging almost daily. Though the concept of fast fashion stands in stark contrast to the notion of conscious consumerism and arguably sustainability itself, innovation and disruptive design play an important role in driving the industry towards a more circular, sustainable model.
First, H&M has upped the ante on its Conscious Exclusive collection, utilizing BIONIC® — a revolutionary sustainable material manufactured from recycled polyester derived from plastic shoreline waste…
“Sustainably attired: H&M and Mango launch ethical fashion collections,” Edie (02-16-2017)
H&M’s ‘Conscious Exclusive’ range and Mango’s ‘Committed Life’ collection represent “a more sustainable future” for the turbo-charged clothing and textile industry, which remains one of the circular economy’s biggest pitfalls. H&M’ Conscious Exclusive collection, to be launched in April 2017, includes the pioneering sustainable material BIONIC® – a recycled polyester made from plastic shoreline waste…
Recycled shoreline waste in new H&M collection; Fashionone (03-04-2017)
This Company Turns Plastic Bottle Trash From The Ocean Into Clothing; Huffington Green (09-27-2016)
The New York City-based startup, Bionic Yarn, turns used old plastic bottles, some of which were recovered from ocean shorelines, and turns them into yarns and fabrics for clothing…
Pharrell Debuts Denim Line Made From Recycled Ocean Plastic; MNN (02-13-2014)
Greenpeace Research: Washing Big Name Brands Makes Consumers Polluters; Greenpeace (03-20-2012)
Here’s How Much Plastic Ends Up In the World’s Oceans,The Time (02-13-2015)
Every year, 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in our oceans, it’s equivalent to five grocery bags filled with plastic for every foot of coastline…
The Ocean Is Contaminated by Trillions More Pieces of Plastic Than Thought, IOP Science (12-08-2015)
This new study suggests there are 15 to 51 trillion micro plastic particles (those less than 200 millimeters in size) in the world’s oceans, weighing between 93 and 236,000 metric tons. This is about seven times more than scientists had previously estimated…
Plastic Waste Causes $13 Billion In Annual Damage To Marine Ecosystems, UN (06-2014)
Concern is growing over widespread plastic waste that is threatening marine life – with conservative yearly estimates of $13 billion in financial damage to marine ecosystems, according to two reports issued at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly.
Loving the Ocean Starts at Home; National Geographic (09-08-2016)
Collecting plastic waste near coasts ‘is most effective clean-up method’, Guardian UK (01-19-2016)
Video captures moment plastic enters food chain; BBC News (03-11-2017)
Plastic Pollution / When The Mermaids Cry: The Great Plastic Tide, Coastal Care ©-2009.
For more than 50 years, global production and consumption of plastics have continued to rise. An estimated 300 million tons of plastics were produced in 2015, confirming and upward trend over the past years, according to a new report by the World Economics Forum, released at Davos in January 2016.
Plastic is versatile, lightweight, flexible, moisture resistant, strong, and relatively inexpensive. Those are the attractive qualities that lead us, around the world, to such a voracious appetite and over-consumption of plastic goods. However, durable and very slow to degrade, plastic materials that are used in the production of so many products all, ultimately, become waste with staying power. Our tremendous attraction to plastic, coupled with an undeniable behavioral propensity of increasingly over-consuming, discarding, littering and thus polluting, has become a combination of lethal nature… — © SAF — Coastal Care
