If “recycle and reuse” is your thing, you may have heard of high street favourite – Marks and Spencers’ new “SHWOP ’til you drop” scheme – which we think is a pretty awesome idea, in a world of mass consumerism. Basically, “shwopping” is about bringing an old item of clothing into an M&S store with you (even if it’s not from M&S) each time you go in to buy something new. You leave it with them and all clothing goes to Oxfam – they either resell it in one of their stores, forward it on to those who need it in the Third World, or recycle fibers to make new materials – more info here. Good job M&S!
Talking of which, we’ve come across an alternative way to recycle something we bet you have hanging out in your wardrobe right this minute. So, if you’re not an M&S fan, this might be for you. We came across this cool experiment on a blog by Judah Method Clothing. This tee (see photo 4 below) was created using a vinyl car decal, ducktape and bleach. While this is not a cost effective way to mass produce tee’s it is a great way to prototype and experiment. Here is some insight into the process, a photo guide, and the finished concept.
You will need:
(see photo 1.)
1. A Car Decal (Judah Method decal was used in this example). 2. Large Black T-shirt (here’s where your old black tee comes in handy!). 3. Roll of Duck Tape. 4. Pair of Scissors. 5. Spray bottle with a 70% bleach, 30% water solution and an hour of time.
Step One: Lay the shirt flat and apply decal. This step is not easy, the decals don’t like to stick to tees so take care peeling the backing off. (see photo 2.)
