Here at the Etsy Labs we are constantly searching for creative ways to be nice to the environment. One focus has been on figuring out ways to reuse plastic bags. Another interesting way that plastics are being recycled commercially is with EcoSpun fiber.
Here is some beautiful hand-spun yarn EcoSpun from SpazSpun.etsy.com.
EcoSpun is made completely from recycled soda bottles and is manufactured into soft fabrics that can be used for clothing, bags, carpeting, home furnishings, fiberfill... The fiber can be combined with other fibers too. First, tons of plastic bottles are collected, labels and caps removed, and sorted by color. Then the bottles are cleaned and chopped into flakes, before being melted in vats. The liquid is extruded into strands of fiber. That's just the bare bones of the process.For more details on how EcoSpun is made, check out these links:
http://www.eartheasy.com/wear_ecospun.htm
http://www.fossmfg.com/bu_ecospun.cfm
