Recycle Your Wardrobe

The Palisadian-Post has partnered with locally founded environmental organization Resilient Palisades to deliver a weekly “green tip” to our readers. This week’s tip was written by Nika Nazarizadeh.

Along with a new year comes new trends. A new trend we should all be aware of is recycled clothing. Recycled clothing refers to clothing made from recycled goods such as plastic, nylon, old articles of clothing or polyester.

By supporting stores that produce recycled goods, we are helping to reduce waste. Recycled products require fewer natural resources, use less energy and water, and produce less pollution since there’s no need to create new materials.

Unlike thrift shopping, where you purchase a second-hand item that was initially made with new materials, recycled clothing is a process where companies produce garments with recycled waste like second-hand plastic, cotton or cashmere. Recycled clothing can be found in all forms, including as activewear, swimwear, denim and loungewear.

Who’s leading the charge on recycled clothing? After partnering with the environmental organization “Parley for the Oceans,” Adidas began utilizing recycled plastic waste in its clothing. In 2020, over half of Adidas’ polyester came from recycled plastic waste. Patagonia has also begun using recycled polyester from plastic soda bottles, turning waste into outdoor clothing.

It’s also possible to purchase jewelry made with recycled metals. Similar to clothing, recycled metals preserve resources. By reusing metal, we’re reducing the need to mine as well as mining emissions, and why not? After all, metals can be reused forever. Bagatiba is a recycled jewelry company based in Downtown LA that produces bracelets, necklaces and rings from recycled gold and silvers.

Even better are companies that offer 100% recycled products. Green Toys is a toy company that makes toys entirely out of recycled materials. Green Toys takes its sustainability mission all the way through shipping and printing boxes with soy ink, a faster biodegradable option of ink.

Looptworks offers bags and accessories made from “closed look manufacturing,” a process that only uses recycled products to create something new.

As we consider lifestyle changes for this new year, think about purchasing and wearing recycled clothing and jewelry, and think about recycling when buying other products.