Creating items from plastic bottles, it seems, is the hot new to-do item on the corporate checklist these days. Coca-Cola created a recycled-bottle t-shirt for the Olympics to promote its new recycling efforts. Now Nike has created jerseys from recycled plastic bottles for World Cup players.

Late last month, Nike announced that it is providing what it called “the most environmentally-friendly and technologically-advanced kit in football’s history.” The new uniforms, which will be worn by international superstars like Ronaldo, Robinho, Ji-Sung Park, are made from up to eight recycled plastic bottles.

“This summer in South Africa, Nike will give footballers an edge by providing the newest and most innovative product for the game’s greatest players,” said Charlie Denson, Nike brand president, in a recent press release. “With today’s announcement, we are equipping athletes with newly designed uniforms that not only look great and deliver performance benefits, but are also made with recycled materials, creating less impact on our environment.”

Not only are these uniforms created from bottles that would have ended up in landfills, but using recycled polyester saves raw materials, and Nike believes it reduces energy consumption by up to 30 percent. The company estimates that they’ve prevented 13 million plastic bottles from going to landfills by using recycled polyester. That’s nearly 560,000 pounds of polyester waste.

Nike also has added some performance innovations, which they say will keep players cooler, drier, and more comfortable on the field. They include:

• Improved Dri-Fit Fabric that is 15 percent lighter
• Ventilation zones on either side of the jersey increasing airflow by 7 percent
• 10 percent more stretch

Nike deserves some recognition for creating and promoting World Cup jerseys made from recycled bottles. Reducing the energy required to make jerseys by up to 30 percent, and preventing 13 millions plastic bottles from sitting in a landfill is commendable.

And while we are pleased that Nike has taken steps to develop products that use recycled materials, we wonder about all the water and chemical dyes that were needed to create those jerseys. What is being done to ensure that water is not wasted or polluted by chemicals? If the first step is to transition to recycled materials, the next should be to dye responsibly with AirDye or another environmentally sensitive process.

Just a quick post this Friday evening as the Colorep/Transprint team is behind-the-scenes at the fall 2010 ready-to-wear New York Fashion Week with Jeffrey Costello and Robert Tagliapietra. And just like the SS2010 show, the boys from Brooklyn have maximized the unique design applications AirDye® technology makes possible and put out a stunning eco-friendly fall collection.

Jeffery took his camera underwater to capture the opalescence from the underside of a stingray and that became the  inspiration for this collection. But the pieces are far from feeling cold–the shimmering images of the sea are contrasted with warm, rich tones of deep rose with shimmering copper, gold, and plum. Each piece, be it a jacket, skirt, or dress is dramatically draped and emphasizes the contrasting colors.

Via Twitter, Faith Cummings said, “Color palette at Costello is so warm and perfect. I almost feel heat radiating from the clothes.”

playing up the contrasts

The collection has contrasting color palettes as well as contrasting fabrics. Costello Tagliapietra alternate between a soft jersey and a heavier more structured fabric. Typically for the bolero jackets, they’d need to be double-faced to achieve the contrasting colors, but with AirDye, Jeffery and Robert are able to achieve just the look they want with a single piece of fabric–much more sustainable. As Bonnie Julian, vice president of design for Transprint, puts it, “Using AirDye you can dye one side of the fabric one color and the other side can be completely different. Thus allowing the beauty of the cut, flow, and drape of the fabric to be completely in the hands of the designers. You lose that control when you have to use two pieces of fabric.”

Speaking of sustainability, the average piece in this fall 2010 ready-to-wear collection uses about four and a half yards of fabric. By using AirDye, each item saves between 350 and 450 gallons of water over traditional dye and decoration methods.

Naturally, we’ll have lots more photos and feedback soon. But here’s a quick tour of some other photos posted via Twitter:

photo credit: jezebeljenna – large photo

Each year the team at Merrell Apparel attempts to create new and innovative concept pieces. This year was no different. For the 2009 Outdoor Retailer Show, Merrell created a concept it calls NADA, or Not Any Dye Applied. This particular concept focuses on eliminating the water, chemicals, energy, and pollution associated with dyed garments. Textile dyeing happens to be a tremendous source of industrial water pollution. The World Bank estimates that 17–20 percent of industrial pollution comes from textile coloring and treatment. Seventy-two of the top most toxic chemicals in our water come solely from textile dyeing and, of those, 30 cannot be removed. Removing dye from clothing, as Merrell has done with NADA, can vastly alter the environmental impact of a garment. Merrell claims that by purchasing a single small woman’s NADA jacket a consumer would save:

• 1.6 kg of carbon dioxide from being emitted
• 115.2 liters of water
• 0.18 kg of chemicals
• 2.47 kilowatt-hours of energy

apparel’s dirty little secret

Merrell’s concept may not incorporate a new fiber or design technology, but it is groundbreaking in that it calls attention to a major environmental issue within the textile industry. Compared to its dyed counterparts, each NADA garment represents a clear and quantifiable difference in resources used and pollution avoided. What is remarkable to us is that an apparel company has endeavored to highlight and discuss a dirty and poorly kept industry secret: just how bad dyeing clothing is for the environment.

Jordan Wand, Merrell Apparel vice president and general manager, puts it this way:

During the development process, our team was amazed by the staggering statistics of just how much water, energy, and chemicals are used to create one jacket. We are thrilled to create a garment that’s stunning from the outside yet gives you modern outdoor performance on the mountain or street. The NADA pieces perform exactly the same as any of our other technical jackets while saving a vast amount of natural resources.

nada choices expand

When Merrell introduced the NADA concept at the Outdoor Retailer Show back in January, the jacket received some much deserved attention—apparently enough attention to inspire the company to expand the concept across multiple styles for spring 2010. The upcoming spring NADA line features four categories: the “Ride of Your Life” Horizon Collection of consumer cycling inspired designs, “Performance Made Beautiful” styles that include the brand’s first-ever collection of dresses, “Trail Mix” running apparel, and UPF protective styles in “Salute to the Sun.” Merrell is also making 15 jacket styles in the spring ‘10 collection available as a NADA option.

The NADA concept introduced earlier this year began as a step toward acknowledging an environmental issue and creating an alternative. The fact that Merrell expanded the line for the upcoming spring collection is indicative of a concept that resonated with the Outdoor Retailer Show attendees. With companies and consumers alike examining the environmental impacts of actions and products, the timing of NADA’s release could not be better. A tremendous amount of water, chemicals, and energy are required to add color, which adds aesthetic value but contributes no performance or technical benefits.

Using NADA as the beginning of a conversation with consumers about the impact of textile dyeing is both commendable and a refreshing change from companies that attempt to hide environmental issues. We believe that Merrell has taken a brave and important step toward producing apparel with less of an environmental impact, and we applaud them for expanding the NADA collection and educating consumers. Look for NADA clothing starting in January at retailers worldwide, and be sure to share your thoughts with us on this very important step toward environmentally friendlier apparel.

So far this week we have written about one company implementing sustainable practices to increase productivity and save money, and another company pledging sustainable practices after a public campaign against them. Today to round out our theme of corporate moves toward sustainability, we focus on a company rising to a challenge.

zero impact challenge, 2009

Patagonia, a company known in their industry for good environmental practices, has taken on a challenge from Backpacker Magazine to produce a backpacking boot with the least environmental impact. The Zero Impact Challenge, as Backpacker Magazine calls it, both inspires companies to reevaluate and redesign their products, and creates more environmentally friendly products.

In prior years, the Zero Impact Challenge has taken on producing lower impact backpacks and sleeping bags, but for 2009, the challenge has shifted to the hiking boot. Patagonia Footwear has decided that, as part of their effort in taking on this task, they will act transparently, providing sketches, letters, videos, and findings during the development process. Throughout, TreeHugger is going to be closely watching and reporting on the progress.

ecotone

Working on the challenge for Patagonia will be Clark Matis, founder of Merrell and technical designer for Patagonia Footwear, Robin Cheu, a production specialist from China, and JDK Design working on creative development. Together, they have created the Ecotone concept as a guide to manage the different components of inventing a low impact hiking boot. According to TreeHugger, the team will focus on:

• Fit: support, flex, variable volume, heel hold, and toe room
• Protection: stability, traction, durability, critical protection points, and cushioning
• Efficiency: light weight and optimized energy transfer
• Climate Control: fast drying, waterproof, vented, breathable, and temperature regulating
• Clean Design: “nothing more than is necessary”

Backpacker Magazine will accept prototype submissions in September. Patagonia plans to continue development with the goal of introducing an entire footwear collection in the spring 2011.

I for one plan on buying the winning pair of hiking boots both to support the  company’s hard work, and to test the end product on the stunning trails of the Colorado Front Range.

As an industry, textile manufacturing and dyeing is one of the most wasteful and environmentally damaging. At Colorep®, we created AirDye® technology to eliminate the need for water in the dyeing process: A step that currently drains the earth of 2.4 trillion gallons of water a year, an astonishing amount of which ends up polluting local water sources.

AirDye uses air to dye and decorate fabric, bypassing the liquid state of dye altogether. Instead of mixing dye with water and placing it on the surface of a fabric, our process transforms dye from a solid to a gas, eliminating the liquid state and therefore the need for water. When synthetic fabric is heated to a certain temperature, the molecules in the fiber begin to expand. In this porous state, gaseous dye enters the space in between fibers and when fabric cools the dye is trapped in the fiber permanently.

Aside from the trillions of gallons of water this process spares, one of the benefits to the consumer is something we call No Wash Rules®. Since the dye is actually a part of the fabric itself, rather than a layer that rests on top of it, color doesn’t fade and garments can last far beyond 100 washes, regardless of the temperature or cleaning product. Even pouring bleach on a shirt won’t damage the color. An AirDye garment has a far longer life, which dramatically reduces disposability and promotes sustainability—after all, the most sustainable product is one you don’t have to replace.

AirDye can be applied on any synthetic fabric, but it’s ideal for active wear because it does not diminish the performance of athletic apparel. The application of a logo or print on an athletic shirt, for example, nearly always means a sacrifice in the garment’s performance. Logos stretch, crack, fade, and peel—but more important, they don’t breathe. If a shirt is made to wick moisture, the application of a plastic logo will interfere and, in that particular spot, the performance of the shirt will suffer.

As a result, manufacturers are forced to minimize design and decoration to optimize performance and quality. Likewise, consumers sacrifice quality and performance to buy deco apparel.

Again, since AirDye dyes are inside the fabric, the performance of a garment is never affected by printing. One hundred percent of the surface area can be printed with logos and graphics, and an athletic shirt will still wick moisture exactly as intended.

In addition to the performance benefits, since AirDye doesn’t require vats of dye, manufacturers aren’t committed to high, costly minimums: Companies can now run small batches and test how a product will perform before producing large quantities or continue to produce only what consumers buy as consumers buy. With AirDye, manufacturers can now make what they sell rather than trying to sell what they’ve made.

AirDye technology can help athletic apparel and product brands cut costs, improve their sustainability index, and deliver the most exciting designs in the industry. Something no other dyeing or printing process can accomplish.