“Ethical” and “sustainable” are fashion trends that we at The Optimist Daily hope never go out of style. We’re uplifted that many popular brands such as Adidas and Levi’s are rethinking how they manufacture their products so that they are more eco-friendly.
Russian fashion house 99Recycle participates in the fight for sustainable style by exclusively sourcing the plastic it uses from landfills. They have a variety of products that include a line of bags and pencil cases as well as funky skateboards and bicycles made using recycled plastic and 3D printing technology.
Olesya Kulik, head designer at 99Recycle, says that preparing what they find in the landfill so that it is ready to be transformed into a wearable or usable item is the most time-consuming part of the process. She states, “most of our time is taken up by the preparation, because we need to clean it, to make it even, to select it, to reject some materials.”
Once each individual piece is made, workers hand-stitch them together to create beautiful, functional, and unique products.
99Recycle partners with other charities who make it their mission to collect plastic too, such as Covers for Kindness. This organization has already collected over 70 tons of plastic lids and covers, which they sort according to color before delivering them to 99Recycle.
If you want to check out the trash-to-treasure pieces they have to offer, take a look at their website here.
