PET upcycling: This is how the material for our slippers is made

Since Cosy Roots was founded, our focus has been on designing baby shoes and clothes made from high-quality, sustainable and resource-saving materials. In addition to GOTS-certified organic cotton, we now also use recycled materials for our slippers. In this article we would like to explain exactly how this works, why we chose this material and why upcycling is generally a good thing.

Upcycling in the fashion industry: make new from old

Our planet is in absolute danger, we should all be fully aware of that: Our oceans are heavily polluted, the weather on our planet is becoming more and more extreme and the ice at the South and North Poles is melting away from under our fingers. But each of us can make our contribution and make conscious decisions every day that are good for our environment. This starts with buying clothes, for example.

Fortunately, there is an increasing rethinking in the fashion industry: Fast fashion and disposable goods are increasingly falling into disrepute, while fairly produced fashion made of natural fibers and resource-saving fabrics are becoming increasingly popular.

This is made possible by upcycling : just like recycling , this involves the reprocessing and recycling of waste products. However, as the name suggests, the newly acquired products have a higher value (“up”-cycling) than the starting material, so they gain in quality . This means that they are given a new purpose or repurposed. A simple example from everyday life would be toilet paper rolls, from which a wide variety of works of art are created with a lot of creativity.

In contrast to this is the so-called downcycling : Here, too, waste products are recycled by being broken down into their individual components, but they lose quality. That doesn't mean that upcycling or recycling is better, after all, not all junk can be upgraded or recycled at all. Therefore, all three measures are necessary and above all important for combating our global waste problem!

How is recycled polyester made from PET bottles?

Looking at our vegan and cuddly soft shoes, you would never guess that we use recycled and environmentally friendly materials for the outer fabric. But PET upcycling makes it possible: the rule here is that you can produce around one kilogram of valuable yarn from eight plastic bottles.

For this purpose, plastic bottles, which were fished out of the sea, among other things, are shredded and the resulting scraps are then melted down to obtain new, recycled material. Hardly any energy or water is required for this process , which is why some experts rate such recycled synthetic fibers as even better for the environment than conventional natural fibers. In addition, clothing made from resource-saving polyester is more dimensionally stable, lighter in weight, more resistant and more durable than pure cotton or linen.

It is precisely for these reasons that we have also decided to make the upper material of our Cozy Roots booties from recycled materials from 2022 : It is more tear-resistant, lighter, dries faster and nestles ideally on baby's little feet. With our products you can always be sure that you are getting consistently fair, sustainable and high-quality fashion for your little one. After all, it's also about his or her future, so let's do something about it together.

Have you already tried our vegan slippers or are you looking for sustainable baby clothing that is not only produced fairly, but is also practical and looks beautiful thanks to cute designs? Then take a look around in our shop and find the right outfits for your baby.

Image by Matthew Gollop from Pixabay