RECYCLING
To recycle your Ecosilk bag – please do not throw it away, it is a valuable resource – post to Ecosilk Bags, 159 McClelland Rd, Barkers Vale, NSW 2474. It will be stockpiled to make up a large quantity, and then shipped to Martogg & Co in VIC for recycling. Please feel welcome to claim a $1 discount for every bag returned off your next order. (Offer available only for direct sales to Ecosilk Bags).
FREE MENDING
As Ecosilk Bags can last for 10 years or more, the stitching on the handle may wear out before the bag does. We offer a free mending service to fix this common occurrence or wherever the stitching may have come undone. This offer does not include tears, holes, or the results of general wear and tear.
Please post your bag, with a return address and contact number to Ecosilk Bags, 159 McClelland Rd, Barkers Vale, NSW 2474. Your bag will be stitched and posted back – please allow 3 – 4 weeks turnaround time.
PARACHUTE SILK NYLON INFORMATION
Ecosilk Bags uses a fabric commonly called parachute silk (hence the name), which is made from nylon. The fabric was originally chosen in 1999 by creator Emily Hay for its’ remarkable qualities – the fabric is incredibly strong, durable, lightweight, quick drying, easy to dye and colourfast. It is resistant to chemicals and abrasion, to water and to mould and pests. It is compact – squashing down to almost nothing, and has a soft, silky texture, making it comfortable to use and attractive. Finally and most importantly, it is recyclable, not just once or twice, but endlessly. Ecosilk bags are environmentally sound due to the longevity and strength of the bags, thus replacing large volumes of plastic bags; their capacity to be recycled, plus the fact that nylon will eventually be sourced from plants.
The industry for recycling nylon fabric back into more fabric is still in its infancy and has yet to develop into producing large scale commercial volumes. However it is only a question of time before this happens. Currently in Australia it can be recycled into many types of building materials such as railway sleepers or park benches. These materials can then be recycled again, and again.
Nylon is not a natural material; it is produced from organic chemicals found in petroleum, a non-renewable resource and therefore unsustainable for long term use. However the future of nylon is positive, as it will eventually be made from plant based sources, as research and technology advances. The first plant based nylon garment was marketed in 2014 by Yeti, a specialist in outdoor clothes. The nylon was made from the oil of a ricinus communis, or castor oil plant – a hardy non-food plant that is easy to grow and uses minimal water. The challenges for plant based nylon currently are the high cost to make the fabric, the conflict between farming for food versus oil, sustainable farming methods and new supply chains. However the world must evolve and eventually become independent of using non-renewable resources and the knowledge that plants can provide a better future for products such as Ecosilk Bags is encouraging.
REFERENCES
Department of Agriculture & Fisheries (2016). Castor oil plant, The State of Queensland.
Singh N, Hui D, Singh R, Ahuja I, Feo L & Fraternali F, 2016, ‘Recycling of plastic solid waste: A state of art review and future applications’ Composites Part B, Science Direct pp.1-14.
Solvay 2016, A revolutionary technology for recycling technical textile waste into high performance plastic. Retrieved from http://www.solvay.com/
The Gale Group, Inc, 2004, Nylon, Chemistry: Foundations and Applications, Retrieved from http://www.encyclopedia.com, 29 th July 2017.
Woodford, C 2010/2015, Nylon Retrieved from http://www.explainthatstuff.com/nylon.html. 29th July 2017.
Yeti, 2017, Next to Nature – the first plant based nylon in the world, Retrieved from http://yetiworld.com/about/products/next-to- nature/, 2nd August 2017.