While there are seemingly endless choices for sustainable fabrics, from organic cotton to bamboo to hemp, recycled PET is arguably the most sustainable—but may be the most misunderstood as well. Today’s glossary entry is dedicated to giving this rising star its due and clarifying misconceptions about the process from bottle to your closet.

Most plastic bottles we consume are made from a material called PET (polyethylene terephthalate). You likely have several iterations of PET in your home now: from water and soda bottles to detergent containers. In fact, any bottle marked “1” for recycling is PET, making it the most recycled plastic in the world.

Given the abundance and cost effectiveness of raw materials, using recycled PET for clothing is becoming increasingly popular in the green textile industry. But how do old bottles become clothing? The process is relatively simple: Once a PET bottle is recycled, it’s sent to a processing plant where it’s washed and shredded into flakes. The cleaned flakes are melted down and shaped into long, thin fibers. The fiber is then spun into yarn. The end product is 100 percent recycled polyester. By using recycled polyester instead of new petroleum, energy consumption is reduced by 60 percent, without causing additional harm to the environment.

No other fabric in the world is produced with less environmental impact.

Recycled polyester can be manufactured into a myriad of different fabrics, but because of its antimicrobial properties, wicking power, and breathability, recycled PET is most often made into active wear or t-shirts. Patagonia and Nau are leading the charge in recycled PET active wear. Our friends at A Lot to Say proudly adopted recycled PET for their all of t-shirts, and added AirDye to the process to further reduce their environmental impact.

photo credit: holeymoon/flickr

While we spend a lot of time discussing water conservation as a whole, we thought it would also be helpful to begin defining some of the pertinent terms and concepts.

In simple terms, gray water is defined as used water from your sink, shower, or washing machine. It doesn’t include water from your toilet (known as black water), or water from kitchen sinks or dishwashers (which contain food particles and other pollutants).

Gray water is contaminated and can’t be used for drinking. However, it’s a great way to water your lawn. Americans’ lawns account for about 30 percent of residential water consumption—or 2 billion gallons a day. Worse yet, most Americans water their yards with the same water they drink. Gray water not only has the potential to save a tremendous amount of fresh water, some studies have shown that the cleaning solvents in gray water may also be an effective fertilizer.

how to collect gray water

Sold yet? If so, there are some simple, elbow-grease solutions for collecting gray water—like plugging the sink and scooping out the used water in buckets. You can take those buckets of water and dump them directly into plant soil.

If the thought of scooping your own bath water doesn’t exactly appeal to you (it doesn’t really appeal to us either), there are cheap DIY-systems that involve simply rerouting washing machine water to your garden through a hose. One thing to keep in mind: Be sure to use a filter to catch food, dirt, or hair. Visit the World Wild Fund for Nature for step-by-step instructions.

Are you recycling your gray water? Which method do you like the best? Share your tips with our readers.

photo credit: rubenerd