Vestal friend Karin Carter, who is now working at Nike’s Advanced Materials – Apparel Division, developed a recycled, DIY version of Tyvek some years ago. Not only does it look great, it turns an abundant waste stream – regular polyethylene plastic bags – into a useful, waterproof material which can be sewn into a variety of products and apparel. A great example of design for the developing world. Metropolis Magazine writes:

SLiK nonwovens are different from other recycled materials as they do not require energy-intensive processes. Traditionally, plastics must be melted down, stripped of colorant, pelletized, reheated, and re-extruded to be recycled. SLiK instead relies on the original energy invested in the plastic to make a recycled material that showcases its origin.

More on DIY Tyvek soon…

Link via Metropolis Magazine

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See Also: MAU: Tyvek Clothing,Plastic Bag Wallet,Clif Bar – Litter Leash,

This entry was posted by Jeffrey Warren on Monday, March 20th, 2006 at 3:08 am and is filed under Design, Environment, Social Change, Vestal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.