According to a 2016 report of the World Economic Forum, by year 2050 there will be more plastics than fish in the world’s oceans—that is if we keep producing plastics and fail to properly dispose them of.
“The best research currently available estimates that there are over 150 million tons of plastics in the ocean today,” WEF said in the study entitled The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics. “In a business-as-usual scenario, the ocean is expected to contain 1 ton of plastic for every 3 tons of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics than fish (by weight).”
When you factor in the dramatic increase of worldwide plastic production, by more than 20 times over the past 50 years, and the 8 million tons of plastics leaking into the ocean (“equivalent to dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the ocean every minute”), which the study indicated, we could see a terrifying future of us literally swimming with our own garbage.
To make matters worse, particularly for us here in the Philippines, environmental group Greenpeace ranked the country as the third biggest plastic polluter in the world.
Recognizing that our plastic waste can easily outlive us and that those thrown in the ocean can degrade into small bits of toxic chemicals that may end up in the guts of our favorite seafood, many individuals are now taking active steps, albeit small, to reduce their plastic waste.
The world’s oceans are home to a number of plastic garbage, such as PET bottles, single-use shopping bags, sachets and other food and non-food packaging, disposable diapers, and abandoned fishing nets.
About 640,000 tons of discarded nylon fishing nets are left in the ocean each year, according to the World Animal Protection organization.
In a bid to lead the change towards circular and renewable fashion as well reduce nylon waste in the ocean, Swedish fashion retailer H&M partnered with Aquafil, a global producer of nylon yarn, to create clothes made of ECONYL, a regenerated nylon fiber made from fish nets and other nylon waste.
As the company aims to manufacture products made entirely from recycled or sustainable sources by 2030, H&M presents its seventh Conscious Exclusive 2018 Collection, whose highlight is the two ECONYL lace dresses with organic cotton embroidery.
Xin-Yi Wong, sustainability manager for H&M Southeast Asia, ensures that despite being made from recycled materials, the ECONYL dresses are durable and comfortable to wear. The pieces are also elegant and stylish, so much so that the white midi ECONYL dress can also be worn as a wedding gown.
Wearing a piece from the Conscious Exclusive 2018 Collection, United Nations’ Sustainable Development advocate and Planet CORA founder Antoinette Taus said, “I feel that we should be proud wearing it because it’s not just beautiful, there’s so much meaning behind it.”
Rounding up the collection are a variety of inventive pieces made of other sustainable materials, like recycled polyester, and accessories crafted from discarded candlesticks and recycled silver.
“Some of the pieces from the Conscious Collection highlight the marriage of fashion and sustainability and at the same time show us how innovation can propel us to a sustainable future,” said H&M Philippines communications head Dan Mejia.
The Conscious Exclusive 2018 Collection launches in select H&M Stores around the world and online at hm.com on April 19.
But prior to the official release, H&M Philippines, on March 24, displayed some of the pieces from the collection at Greenbelt. It also presented the art installation by furniture and industrial designer Vito Selma: submerged sculptures made of used fish nets, pearls, plastics, and other recycled materials.