Earlier this summer, I traveled to The City That Never Sleeps for a business trip and stayed in a hotel across the street from the Coca-Cola store. When I walked past the store, I couldn’t help but notice a display for Coca-Cola’s new Drink 2 Wear “sustainable” apparel. I went in and looked at the shirts: “4 Inside = 4 Bottles in this Shirt.” At first I thought it was a joke.
But it’s not.
“Make your Plastic Fantastic” and “Rehash your Trash” are two of the slogans on the shirts; some shirts just feature earth conscious type graphics. Several of the shirts were trendy and attractive, with bright colors and thin, soft fabric.
Stuart Kronauge, vice president of marketing at Coca-Cola North America said, “If the 200 million Wal-Mart shoppers in the U.S. purchase these shirts, they will help us reuse and divert more than 700 million bottles from the waste stream.”
I’m not quite sure how consuming more shirts diverts bottles from the waste stream. Might it be better to use the bottles in some other way — even creating a floating island? Or just use fewer bottles in the first place? Or even use a material other than plastic to make soda bottles? And maybe I’m wrong here, but my best guess is that it takes a lot more resources to produce these plastic shirts than it does regular cotton shirts. Are they shipping empty plastic bottles to China for processing and shirt making? (My guess is yes.)
Besides, how do I know that these are real Coke bottles in my shirt? Whose to say they aren’t Pepsi bottles or — gasp — generic brand cola?
I can see these shirts starting a trend. Soon we’ll be wearing underwear made out of recycled grocery bags. Or maybe not. Perhaps the shirts will die off into the greenwashing black hole. One can only hope.
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I am seeing more and more plastic containers gradually replaced with corn. Ellwood Thompson, the natural food market in Richmond, Virginia, serves up their deli items in “corntainers.” The Flying Avocado Restaurant in Owings Mills, Maryland, serves their fountain drinks in corn plastic. And Primo purified water is bottled in corn-based, BPA-free, #7 plastic bottles.
Maybe the soda industry will catch up, too.
Valhalla Pure Outfitters started making fleece outdoor clothing out of recycled bottles back in 1990. To the best of my knowledge all of their work, at least then, was done in British Columbia.
I agree that I’d rather see less plastic in the first place. At the same time, I’m happy to see plastic recycled in productive ways rather than go into landfills.
Shuaula- Great point. It would be wonderful if the soda industry started using different materials in their products.
Oh wow I had never heard of these coke shirts before. Such a neat initiative.
Another thing I read about recently is paper made of wheat byproduct. The Canadian Geographic issue a few months back was printed mostly on paper made with that. And I couldn’t really tell the difference. I hope that proliferates to more books and magazines!
Great find, and great website concept!
Cynical much, Elizabeth?
It’s easy to have kneejerk negative reactions to big companies making efforts like these. But they have the power to make a huge impact, and plant seeds of different ways of thinking in mainstream consumers. No small benefit. In terms of how energy usage compares to making clothing, let’s not forget to factor in pesticide use (if it’s non organic), water for growing, energy for harvesting, processing, chemicals for dying, etc.
I have next to me a messenger bag that’s also made from recycled bottles, from Act2GreenSmart, and it quantifies how many bottles were used, what the energy savings was over conventional bag material, and how long your average laptop could run on the saved power. Beyond that, it’s a great, nicely designed bag.
If you or anybody else wants to check them out, they’re on http://www.act2greensmart.com
@Paul- Yes, perhaps I’m being too cynical. Maybe all the Vegas lights started affecting my brain.
You have a good point about big companies making large differences. And it is good to see that they’re trying.
Thanks for having an open mind on this.
That’s one of the coolest ideas I have seen in a long time. I would be afraid of corn replacing plastic. Prices of maze is SO high as it is.
Statement shirts are always in! Oh well, at least they’re making a difference
adorable!It looks wonderful, I want one with my blog name on them
I have a few of these shirts. not only are they more comphy then a cotton tshirt has ever been but they wick sweat faster, dont smell and are easier to clean. Awesome shirts. I go to vegas not only for the entertainment but a few dozen shirts per year
John