Plastic Laundry Basket
Upon opening my last 4Imprint sample box, I was impressed to find a cozy, fleece blanket inside. However, it was the tag that caught my attention. It said, “Once Upon A Time, I Was A Bottle…”. This made me curious to see what other items were made from plastic bottles. I discovered clothing, carpet and even a plastic laundry basket or two. So, I’m sharing the good news about RPET with you.
What is RPET
RPET is made from Recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate) products. You can easily identify a PET product by looking for the #1 inside the recycling symbol. This symbol is usually located on the bottom of the plastic product, and although only a small portion of PET products get recycled, it’s encouraging to know that 100% of them could be.
Keep in mind that RPET can be used to make everything from other plastic bottles to carpets and clothing. Yes, even blankets like the one I received in the mail.
Where Can I Buy RPET Products
Looking for recycled PET products was not an easy endeavor, but below are some of the brands that sell such products.
Why RPET Can Also Be Bad
While RPET is great because it keeps so much plastic from reaching the landfills, it can also be bad because the recycled items themselves are still made of plastic fibers. Meaning that the process of laundering plastic products can still cause plastic to land in the ocean. Plus, these recycled products, when made into fabrics, are not quite as easy to recycle as the original bottle was. Fabric recycling still has a long way to go. So, we recommend that you gently care for your RPET products and launder them with care.
As a matter of fact, when laundering any products that contain plastics. Try using this handy Cora Ball. It catches microfibers to help keep them from getting back into the environment the wrong way. Check it out!