These five companies, including Patagonia, LiveCoco, Swedish Stockings, Sheridan, and MUD Jeans, are leading the way towards a better way of buying.
Recycling is a complex thing. It’s not only putting your paper, plastic, and glass into your curbside recycling bin every two weeks. It’s thinking about what we buy. It’s questioning if we really need it or looking for a second-hand option. It’s thinking about what will happen to the products you buy when you no longer need them, or they are no longer useful.
These companies are planning what to do with the item once it’s reached its end of life before you have even purchased it. Here are the details about their programs and how you can get involved.
Patagonia
Who are they?
I couldn’t prepare this list without putting Patagonia at the top. Patagonia, an American outdoor clothing company, used recycled plastic bottles to make fleece way back in 1993. They are leading the way in sustainability, recycling, and circular fashion. Not only does Patagonia put significant effort into making things that last, but they also have services available for when things get worn or damaged during everyday life.
Firstly, they have what they refer to as an “ironclad guarantee”, which covers you if you are not happy with the item, before you use it, of course, or if there is a manufacturing issue. I will be honest I have not tested this out, but from reviews, it appears they are reasonable and abide by this in most cases. Secondly, they have a repair service available. This is great if you are not handy with a sewing machine but still want more life out of your item.
If you are not interested in repairing the item, then Patagonia will take it off your hands and repair it for resale in their second-hand service, called Worn Wear, or for donation. The Worn Wear website is a marketplace where you can trade, buy or sell your second-hand Patagonia gear. If the item is beyond repair, they will remake it into a new piece of clothing or send it off for recycling. Unfortunately, at this stage, Worn Wear is only available in the US.
Location:
Patagonia is available worldwide, as are their repair and recycling services. However, Worn Wear, the market for used and vintage Patagonia items, is only available in the USA.
Drop off location:
In-store drop-off.
How it works:
- Simply take your worn Patagonia items into the store and have a chat with them. They may repair it for you under their Ironclad Guarantee if it is covered or can discuss repair costs.
- If you no longer want it or the item is at the end of its life then:
- If you are in the US you can discuss with them how much it would be worth if you were to put it on Worn Wear. Patagonia will take the item off your hands and provide you with a store credit for either the main store or second-hand store. Patagonia will wash it and list it on Worn Wear.
- If outside the US then they will hopefully recycle it for you, that’s what they told me here in Australia.
Check out their facts page for more info or their video below.
Swedish Stockings
Who are they?
Swedish Stocking founders Linn Frisinger and Nadja Forsberg are on a mission to influence and change the entire hosiery industry. Each year, two billion pairs of tights are produced, worn a few times, and then discarded, ending up in Landfill. Swedish Stocking’s mission is to make stockings from sustainable materials while maintaining quality and sustainability in delivery. Find out more here.
Their pantyhose are manufactured with 76% to 97% post-production and post-consumer nylon waste. The remaining percentage is made up of elastane, which gives the stockings their stretch.
Swedish Stocking’s have set up the Recycling Club. They want to get your old stockings (any brand) for recycling, and, in return, they will give you a 10% store credit. They do not cover the postage at this time.
If you want to find out more about Swedish Stockings sustainable processes.
I can personally attest to the quality and comfort of these stockings, although I have only tried a few styles so far. I only hope they set up recycling services in Australia soon.
Swedish Stockings are hoping to one day be able to recycle your used stockings into new stockings. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to separate the different fibers. For now, the stockings are ground down and used as a filler material in fiberglass tanks. The tanks are used in commercial industries and are extremely hardwearing, meaning they should last for decades.
Location:
They are worldwide for general sales; however, the Recycling Club is currently only available in Sweden, USA, UK, Germany, Belgium, and Japan.
Drop off location:
Postage to a nearby facility as advised on their website.
How it works:
- Collect 3 or more pairs of synthetic pantyhose from any brand
- Send them to any of the mail-in facilities listed on their website, together with your email address
- Once received, Swedish Stockings will email you a 10% discount code.
LiveCoco
Who are they?
LiveCoco has been around for a few years however, in 2019, they launched a recyclable toothbrush head for electric toothbrushes. It is Oral-B compatible and can be returned to them for recycling.
Concerned about plastic waste, LiveCoco makes sure all of its products and packaging are either 100% recyclable or compostable. As if that wasn’t enough, they also want to ensure their products do not become part of the plastic waste problem. So, they came up with their own closed-loop recycling system. Their products and the packaging can be sent back to them to be recycled, which is great!
Location:
Available worldwide.
Drop off location:
You can send it by postage. Refer below for how it works.
How it works:
- If you live in the UK
- Send them to the address provided on their website
- Outside of the UK
- Follow the instructions on their website carefully to make sure you get your refund. But hey, if you don’t it’s not so bad paying a little more so less waste goes to landfill – it’s a good cause in my books.
- I haven’t tried this out yet but will come back and update this when I have.
- It’s a good idea to collect a few over a period of time or perhaps join up with friends and family to send them back together to reduce the cost and environmental impact of postage.
MUD Jeans
Who are they?
There is not much history for MUD Jeans before 2013, when it launched the very first Lease A Jeans program. The Dutch brand, recognized for its realization of a circular economy through its jean leasing, is also working hard on recycling programs. The Lease A Jeans concept is that, for a monthly fee, you can lease a pair of MUD Jeans. After one year, you can choose to keep them for longer, return them to MUD Jeans or swap them for another pair. Free repairs are included.
Whether you swap out your jeans regularly or keep them for many years, MUD Jeans provides a recycling service available once you no longer want your jeans. The recycling program will assess the jeans, and if they are still in good condition, they will be cleaned and re-used or possibly repaired and re-styled.
Those jeans that are beyond repair are recycled. MUD Jean’s use of 40% recycled content. The remaining material is organic cotton.
Over the past three years, MUD Jeans claim to have saved 12,000 jeans from landfill and incineration and turned them into new denim. Their end goal is to one day sell 100% recycled denim. In fact, they planned to trial their first 100% recycled denim in 2020.
Location:
Netherlands, Germany, Belgium (free shipping)
Other countries that MUD Jeans are available in are Austria, Denmark, France, UK, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Norway, Switzerland, USA, Canada,
Drop off location:
By postage
How it works:
- If you are in the free shipping zone
- Similar to if you were returning an item you can send them your order number and they will send you a free return label.
- This works for actual returns but also works if you are sending in a pair of jeans for re-use or recycling
- You can send either MUD Jeans or other brands as long as they are at least 95% cotton. They request you indicate on the package if you are returning old jeans for vintage/re-use or recycling, check out more here.
- Outside of the free shipping zone, it is the same process, though you will need to pay for your own postage.
Sheridan
Who are they?
Sheridan was founded by a passionate environmentalist, Claudio Alcorso, and has been around for more than 50 years in Australia. Not only do they believe in designing quality products that last, but more recently, they took the initiative in trying to find a solution to the world’s textile waste problem. As part of Sheridan’s responsibility to the environment and desire to reduce their impact, they established a recycling program for bed linen and sheets.
The program is available in all Sheridan Boutique, Studio, and Outlet stores. The program was launched in February 2019 and expanded to the outlet stores in August 2019. In this short time, Sheridan has collected 10,000kg of pre-loved bed linen and towels.
Until now, the only available solutions for linen recycling in Australia have been either donating sheets and towels to animal shelters or finding a way to repurpose them.
Location:
Australia only
Drop off location:
Sheridan Boutique, Studio, and Outlet stores
How it works:
- Drop off your old sheets, towels and linens in store. They will take any brand.
- Make sure your items are clean before you take them in.
- They will give you a 10% off voucher for your next purchase. You must spend A$100 or more to redeem the voucher and you have to buy something on the same day you drop them off. You could always just donate your old sheets to them for recycling if you don’t need new ones.
- The items are then sent to factories to be made into recycled yarn that is repurposed into new products.
Summary
Knowing that an item will be taken care of when it is no longer useful is great. Combine that with being able to buy items that are made from these things we no longer need, and we will be well on our way to a circular economy. We really hope many other companies are inspired by these five companies and make moves towards a circular economy model for their businesses.
