October 25, 2012

Wasteless Jeans

In previous posts, we've focused on the enormous problem of plastic waste and on new ways that waste plastic is being put to good use. The majority of the plastic recycling and repurposing that we've talked about is the work of small companies, but recently, a major American manufacturer announced a large project that will put old plastic bottles to new use.

Levi's has announced that a new line of jeans is in the works that will incorporate recycled plastic. Each pair of the new jeans will get roughly 20 percent of its fiber content from plastic and the remaining 80 percent from cotton. To make one pair of jeans, Levi's will make use roughly eight plastic bottles, and the entire collection will keep more than 3.5 million bottles out of landfills.

The brand promises that its new line of recycled plastic fiber jeans will be every bit as soft and comfortable as your current favorite pair of Levi's. The plastic fibers have a unique green-brown hue, which will introduce a variety of new colors into the Levi's jean collection. The new collection, called Waste‹Less, was introduced on October 16, and should be making its way into stores across the United States later this year.

Levi's has long been committed to greening its operations. The jeans company conducted extensive sustainability studies on its manufacturing processes and took steps to reduce water and energy waste at is manufacturing facilities. Most notably, the company developed a distressing process for denim that uses no water at all, saving roughly 45 Liters of water for each pair of jeans made with the Levi's name.

Paperless Kitchen wants to know, will you be buying a pair of Waste‹Less jeans? Let us know in the comment section.