In this article, we are going to discuss the impact of plastic and how Thaely has been proactively making an impact as a sustainable enterprise dedicated to producing fashionable and comfortable sneakers made of recycled plastic.
Plastics have been a valuable resource for humanity, according to National Geography, the production and development of plastic products started increasing significantly after World War II, and the convenience of plastic in medical use and transport all the way to clothes and toys is everywhere to be seen; From elastic to solid and durable products to one-only-use products, plastic its very versatile.
But what impact does it have? As is well known, plastic is a material that has a very long life, so if we were to count the amount of plastic one-use-only like most plastic bags, plastic, and bottles, this type of plastic products are actually 40% of the total of plastic produced in a day and add to the products that not-longer-work, and multiply it by the decades that we have been using it and how the plastic products boost out in quarantine, we will have a huge mountain of trash, that it going nowhere because it takes up to 150 to 1000 years to degrade depending the thickness, weather, and other factors, and even the plastic degradation expels pollution according to studies of the Hawaii University.
Most of the plastic ends up in the sea and water resources and is harmful to life, with nearly 700 species being affected by it, many animals like turtles entangled with plastic bags or six-pack rings and die, also microplastics can be found in fishes that are ready to eat, most of the times we can expel the plastic in our system, but some of the times it can accumulate blocking digestif system or remain in the stomach and when it is too much it can reduce the urge to eat, causing various of health problems.
Once they see the plastic it’s difficult to retrieve and when it breaks down into microplastics it is nearly impossible, that is why many scientists and the National Geographic Society remark that the solution to decrease this issue is waste management and recycling, and that is what we are centering today, in plastic recycle.
Some companies and organizations are open to using recycled materials, the most well-known of PET, but, can plastic bags also be recycled? the answer is yes, and it can be used to make fabric and sustainable fashion, and that is exactly what Ashat Bhave is up to, he created an enterprise of sustainable fashionable sneakers, without animal cruelty or unfair employee treatment, called “Thaely”, their mission statement is “Don’t just do it. Do it right!“, they are commitment to helping to create a better world and have a positive impact, by reaching five of the UN (United Nations) Sustainable Development Goals, such as “decent work and economic growth”, “industry, innovation, and infrastructure”, “responsible consumption and production” and “climate action”.
They created their fabric from 10 recycled plastic bags (for a shoe) called “ThaelyTex”, and 12 recycled plastic bottles, all the glue, and the detergent they use are vegan, to ensure reduce the environmental impact and that their products don’t harm other creatures, for that they also focus on the water recycle and treatment, they also count with PETA certificate, that is a cruelty-free and vegan process recognition.
They make sure that all parts of the process are sustainable and cause the minor waste as possible, so their package, is made of recycled paper, basil seeds, and waste coffee grounds, so if you ever have one, you can use cut the box and planted and you will have basil plants, just like that.
To achieve these goals, Thaely have partnered with other enterprise likeVIRENDERA TEXTILES (they help in the production of ThaelyTex), housing complexes (they collect the plastic bags, the raw material), Waste2Wear (they produce the rPET fabric that also counts with a certificate that it is 100% recycle), Enky Rubber group (they provide the recycled rubber) and Plantables (they produce the box, the package). Until today they have recycled into shoes more than 150 000 plastic bottles and more than 170 000 plastic bags, having a huge impact on plastics they are, but they aim to keep scaling this number and in their own words “find a solution to the problem of the 100 billion plastic bags used each year that use 12 million barrels of oil and kill 100,000 marine animals annually” (retrieved on October of 2023 from Thaely webpage/ more about us).
As we have seen, plastics are very versatile and have brought us many benefits, but their overuse and high life have brought us many environmental problems, for this, although recycling is not the only solution, it can help to decrease this harm by also making changes into sustainable industries and items, but as a society, we can also reduce our consumption and waste and recycle, remember that “A single grain of rice can tip the scale. One man may be the difference between victory and defeat (Mulan’s character “the emperor”, Disney Movie)”, Thaely it is an example of what a sustainable brand could be, that not only worries about their product and their commodity but also about their workers and the environment, something so crucial in the world we live in and so rare to find in the fashion industry, this is just an example of what we can do to recycle, will you join these efforts to decrease the plastic pollution? what steps will you take?
Source:
Bancroft T. & Cook B. (1998). Mulan [Film]. Disney
¿Cuánto tiempo tarda en degradarse el plástico? | Tiempo de degradación. (2019, September 20). Calculadoras. https://es.calcuworld.com/cuantos/cuanto-tiempo-tarda-en-degradarse-el-plastico/#google_vignette
Rodríguez, H. (2019, September 2). La degradación del plástico potencia el efecto invernadero. www.nationalgeographic.com.es. https://www.nationalgeographic.com.es/ciencia/actualidad/degradacion-plastico-potencia-efecto-invernadero_13126
Parker, L. (2021, May 3). The world’s plastic pollution crisis explained. Environment. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/plastic-pollution
Thaely Sustainable Sneakers. (n.d.-a). Impact. https://thaely.com/pages/impact-2023
Thaely Sustainable Sneakers. (n.d.). Materials. https://thaely.com/pages/materials-2023