Ditch the plastic bag, if you haven't already. Go for the Secret Shopping Bag instead.

These happy faces belong to sewers in India who are experiencing a unique opportunity not only to earn and income but also to develop their business skills producing foldable shopping bag, known as The Secret Shopping Bag.

Measuring 60cm x 40cm each, the bags are made from high quality kalamkari cotton fabric in over 30 unique designs, from block prints to a plain and patterned denim range and have proved popular not only internationally but also to the local Indian market.

Secret Pillow Projects are working with their Maker Groups to empower each member to drive their own sales, gain orders and even set up their own businesses through Secret Projects Sales Training Workshops. In supporting women in the Marker Groups, they provide training and empower them with skills to generate an income to support themselves and their families.  To order the Secret Shopping Bag and to find out more how to support Secret Projects, go to their website.

Fashion and Sportswear brands take urgent action to utilise recycled material waste

SEAQUAL ™ changes plastic waste to filament yarns.
Photo © Lucia Carpio 2018

There is no time to wait and see with the critical problem we are facing on this planet after many years of not realising the damage that plastics, despite their amazing range of usefulness, have contributed to polluting our environment, our oceans, our cities, our countryside, and affecting the health of all living beings, ourselves, our nature and our wildlife.

The BBC nature programme Blue Planet II had driven the message hard and highlighted the immense urgency we are facing in one of their critically-acclaimed programmes hosted by nature guru and UK national treasure David Attenborough.

One shocking fact we have learned is that less than 50% of the 480 billion plastic bottles sold in 2016 were collected for recycling. It is indeed a responsibility of all of us to take action and tackle this irreversible global crisis.

Sundried sportswear made from
recycled plastics.

While politicians, activists and environmental agencies are reportedly taking action plans to promote recycling and minimising waste, many companies and brands are giving new lease of life to recycled plastic bottles by turning the waste into new ethical and environmental friendly products.

One such company is activewear brand Sundried whose sportswear range is made from 100% recycled materials including plastic bottles.

While helping to clean up the global excess of plastic bottles which would otherwise take thousands or even millions of years to decompose naturally Sundried are also reducing harmful emissions and water waste used to create new textiles.

Sundried was founded by personal trainer and triathlete Daniel Puddick. His goal was to create a brand that his children would be proud to be associated with in years to come.

Puddick says: "Being a parent makes you think about the bigger picture for the world, so business for me now is more than just creating a financially successful brand."

From the ten-piece pilot collection launched in 2016, Puddick has grown Sundried in size and together with his small team of designers have created sportswear made from recycled materials whilst ensuring a low carbon footprint.

Sundried activewear made from recycled materials
including coffee waste.

Sundried founder Puddick adds: "Creating collections made from recycled plastic bottles and recycled coffee waste has been a really exciting part of this journey and we are continuing to research the best, ethically-sourced materials available."

Fashioned from Nature exhibition - Victoria and Albert Museum, London until January 27 2019.
Photo © by Lucia Carpio 2018.

Of course Sundried is just one of many brands and designers who are all too aware of the plastic crisis and material waste.  Designs by the likes of Nike, Calvin Klein and Stella McCartney are on show among fashion specimens highlighting the close relationship between fashion and the environment at the Fashioned from Nature exhibition currently on at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London.  Forming an important of the exhibition is the forcus on practices in the fashion industry that threaten people, the lives and the environment.  Running until January 27 2019, this is billed as the first UK exhibition to explore the complex relationship between fashion and nature over the last few centuries, from 1600 to the present day.

Recognising that urgent action is required quickly to tackle marine plastics pollution, a Spanish company of textile fibres has recently unveiled its commitments to initiate a new eco-friendly yarns called SEAQUAL ™ filament yarn made out of plastic waste retrieved from the ocean.

Seaqual 4U was founded in 2016 to tackle marine pollution with as a starting point the recovery of plastic waste collected in the oceans and recycling them into a range of continuous and discontinuous yarns.

Its ingenious plan is to dredge then upcycle plastics from the bottom of the sea and turn them into fibres and yarns.  The company partners with some 400 fishing boats off Spanish coasts that help it to collect the plastic waste.

The company has thus set up a virtuous chain involving various stakeholders in the textile industry including spinners, weavers and brands. 

SEAQUAL ™  fibres is a real catalyst engaging the entire textile industry and thus inspire consumers to buy products made of sustainable fabrics made from recycled plastics.

New innovations from SEAQUAL ™ will include exclusive yarns in staple fibres for blending with other fibres such as recycled cotton, Tencel ® , viscose, wool, linen and will be available as both continuous and discontinuous versions in their natural ecru shade or dyed into different colours. 

Lenzing launches EcoVero™ - new standard in eco-responsible viscose

Lenzing introduced their EcoVero™ viscose fibres to the global textile and fashion industry at the international Premiere Vision Paris show in September 2017.

Acknowledging that the fashion industry requires more transparency, while consumers today expect responsible retailers and brands to know their supply chains and be able to trace product origins, the Austrian company - Lenzing - a stock exchange-listed cellulose fibres manufacturer - has announced the launch of a new standard brand - EcoVero™  - to set the new benchmark in viscose fibres.

Garments made of Lenzing™ EcoVero™ on show at Premiere Vision Paris in September 2017.

With a special manufacturing system, Lenzing can identify Lenzing™ EcoVero™ fibres in the final garment, long after the textile processing and conversion steps have been completed.  This ability means that retailers and brands can rest assure that the eco-responsible viscose fibers used in their garments can be verified and authenticated as the original , and not just any generic viscose that might not be in line with their sustainability goals. 

Lenzing CCO, Robert van de Kerkhof said in a press conference held at the Premiere Vision international textile fair held in Paris in September that for too long consumers have been concerned with environmental threats raised in the so-called "dirty fashion" report, and other issues such as marine litter, pollution and waste, growing water scarcity, accelerating climate change have affected consumer confidence.

Lenzing VP of Textile, Amit Gautam, added that value chain transparency is a trend seen not only in the textile industry but also in the food industry.  While consumers' awareness of the environment is increaing, they are more and more interested in the origin of the products they buy.  

Lenzing™ EcoVeroTM fibres set a new industry standard in sustainable viscose based on the use of these sustainable wood sources (FSC® or PEFC® certified) and an ecological production process with significantly lower emissions and water impacts than conventional viscose.

With this special identification technology for Lenzing™ EcoVero™ fibres, Lenzing provides a one-of-its-kind solution for the fashion industry and its supply chain to respond to consumer demands for reliable visibility of product origins that can be traced back to the fibre, said Lenzing's Gautam.  He said Lenzing enforces strict environmental standards during viscose production and has invested heavily over the years to achieve eco-resposible production processes.  Lenzing™ EcoVero™ fibres, which are made from wood that comes from sustainable forestry plantations,  are certified with the EU Ecolabel, a world-leading environmental manufacturing standard which is awarded only to products that have a significantly lower net environment impact to comparable products in the market.

Well known retailers are teaming up with Lenzing to advance their sustainability strategies with traceable Lenzing™ EcoVero™ fibres.

For one Scandinavian retailer, Gina Tricot, Lenzing™ EcoVero™ fibres are the solution for viscose fibres.   Fashion photos shown here are examples from their current collection.

Gina Tricot's Brand Director Anna Appelqvist (pictured here) said at the Lenzing press conference in Paris, "Supply chain transparency is getting to be for us more and more important as customers want to know which kind of material is used for their garments. 

"As viscose is a very important fibre for our womenswear range, the new identification technology from Lenzing used in EcoVero™ fibres will mean we will have full supply chain transparency and our customers will welcome that and can be assured that they are buying eco-responsible viscose garments", she said adding that they are launching new T-shirts with this special EcoVero fibres this autumn. 

Another retailer from Sweden, Lindex are also considering to take Lenzing™ EcoVero™ fibres into their collection. "EcoVero™ fibres show concern for the origin of raw material as well as having a reduced environmental impact in the production process. We hope that this initiative will drive the development towards producing more sustainable viscose in the industry", explains Production Sustainability Manager Anna-Karin Dahlberg.

Lenzing's initiative is also supported by the German brand ARMEDANGELS, as its CEO Martin Höfeler had commented that as a radically responsible fashion brand this is a great match for them and they are excited to be working with Lenzing to include EcoVero™ in their future product range.