The spark for change was ignited as a teenager in 2002 when I read the book Cradle to Cradle and learned about circular design and the need to create with materials that can perpetually be repurposed, so nothing ends up in a landfill. At the time I felt this was an obvious and necessary solution to so many issues in our world and felt certain it would be the direction design and manufacturing would pursue. I was naive about the grip the fossil fuel industry has on our lives.
Blythly was conceived out of this ever expanding problem, that products are still destined for a landfill with a lifecycle now lasting a few days. This is cradle to grave. Clothing is necessary for survival, but we can improve many things about how it is produced and consumed. Some of the problems I wanted to solve were reducing fiber and garment waste, manufacturing products in the USA with ethical working conditions, and plastic pollution. From day one, my ambition with Blythly was to see if I could establish a company that did not use plastic in the products or packaging.
Here is the journey to getting oh so close to this goal! I started by locating a USA based manufacturer, Tailored Industry, which values sustainability and could manufacture apparel made to order. It was important to be able to design a garment that could be knit from a single natural fiber. Blythly apparel is made with 3D knitting machines. The entire garment is stitched in one cycle, with no patterns or cutting needed, drastically reducing fiber waste, energy consumption, and exploited labor. Every product is made to order, so nothing is produced that isn’t wanted.
Next, I had to solve the plastic packaging problem. A few apparel companies are selling clothing made with natural materials, skipping polyester. But when it comes to shipping, nearly every company chooses plastic. Blythly partnered with a New Zealand company, Better Packaging, to ship our clothing in home compostable shipping bags, even the liner bags that protect the individual garments are compostable!
I also needed to think about the small details where plastic pops up. I choose compostable cotton for my clothing labels, size, and care tag, and paper hang tags. Even string to attach the hang tag is cotton cord rather than polyester. The buttons on the Paje cardigan are made with corozo, which is sourced from a Tagua palm, making them 100% natural and durable.
Why go through the effort you might wonder? What Cradle to Cradle taught me more than twenty years ago was that using plastics and trying to recycle them is detrimental to our planet and our health. Plastic takes millions of years to biodegrade. The recycling process creates another round of extremely toxic pollution. Plastic shreds into microplastics, invisible to the eye, but invades every crevice of our planet and body. We accept these carcinogens with minimal pushback, wondering why cancer rates are spiking. Virgin plastic is often cheaper than sustainable alternatives, in part because fossil fuel production is heavily subsidized in many countries. Many companies will pick the cheapest option to make the most money of course. But it is my full hope, that my generation will be alive to see humanity turn away from this toxic, unnecessary material, especially single-use plastic. Scientists and designers are solving the problems and we need consumers to support the cause.
So through all this research and development is plastic still used at Blythly? At this point, there is still a tiny bit, and we will continue to work on solutions. The shipping label is printed on a plastic sticker. The knitwear uses a few threads of Lycra at the sleeve and hem to allow for stretch and recovery. Lycra is made from polyester, but researchers are close to offering a plant based replacement. Finally, the yarn is shipped from manufacturers in plastic packaging, which seems much harder to solve at the moment, but here’s to hoping that can go away too!
Blythly is a brand all about expressing joy with color. Blythly currently uses fibers colored with unnatural dyes, something like black has been made with petroleum based pigments for decades now. We chose fiber suppliers that have strict environmental production policies in place for growing, processing, and dyeing fibers. There is promising research opening up new solutions for dyeing with natural pigments and I am looking forward to exploring these new advancements.
This blog, “Life with Less Plastic”, will serve as a resource for trying to consume less plastic. Right now it is impossible to avoid, but there are intriguing ways to reduce the abundance you encounter and I intend to share this research with you right here!