It might not sound strange for agricultural products to have pedigrees, but a Taiwanese firm is now offering one for clothing. The company has recently introduced clothing made from recycled materials, each with its own environmental pedigree and a “diary” tag that tells consumers the actual amount of carbon emissions they can save by wearing the item.
The goal of Daai Technology Co, founded by five Taiwanese entrepreneurs, was to broaden the range of goods made from recycled materials such as coffee grounds and plastic bottles. Items now include jackets, T-shirts, scarves and children’s clothing. All proceeds, minus the cost of overhead, are donated to Taiwan’s -Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation.
Huang Yan-lu (黃延祿), a staff member in the company’s business department, said that by wearing a recycled shirt, which is made from six recycled plastic bottles, carbon emissions would be reduced by 145g, and oil and water usage would be reduced by 3mL and 510mL respectively.
Photo: Yang Chiu-ying, Taipei Times
Huang said that by recycling a 600mL plastic bottle, carbon [emissions] decrease by 24.2g, while 0.5mL of oil and 85mL of water are saved.
“To make sure related products achieve the goal of reducing carbon emissions, we submit all products for TUV Rhineland and Control Union carbon-footprint certification,” Huang said.
“Recycled plastic bottles are made into clothing, and you get to know how much carbon [emissions] you’re saving. It’s just great,” voluntary workers at the Buddhist Compassionate Relief Tzu Chi Foundation said, adding that their hearts were filled with the spirit of participation and a sense of accomplishment.
Lee Ding-ming (李鼎銘), executive director of Daai Technology Co and creator of the production resume said Taiwan might be the only place in the world to make production resumes for recycled clothing and this is the result of the complete processing procedures that Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation has implemented for recycling.
“The technology isn’t the hard part, it’s the thought behind it that counts,” Lee said.
The production resume concept, Lee said, was to let consumers know the source of the product and how it was produced so they could fully appreciate the added value of their purchase.
Lee said that mass production of recycled clothing isn’t available yet because of the costs of recycling, impurity diffusion, and -research and production.
“We’re selling the concept, not the item,” Lee said.
With reduced crude development and non-chemical production methods, they cut down energy consumption by two-thirds, and carbon emissions by one-third.
“This really can be said a pride of Taiwan,” Lee said.
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