New Delhi: Renowned clothing giant ‘Zara’ has launched a new clothing line of party dresses made from recycled greenhouse gases. The brand has set an example for other companies to experiment with new technologies and cut down their carbon footprint.
This is not your standard party dress. This pink party dress was released by Inditex’s Zara as a part of their limited clothing collection. The dress alone costs $90 and is sourced in parts. However, the dress is now completely sold out.
Carbon and other greenhouse gases have devastating effects on the environment and the build-up of these gases can now be seen in each and every corner of the world.
Floods at Yellowstone National Park, wildfires in California and Arizona and the extreme heat baking in Texas is the result of the emission of these gases. The pace at which these events are happening are putting pressure on companies to reduce their carbon footprints.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the fashion industry alone accounts for 2 to 8% of the global carbon emission.
The problem starts with the reliance of different brands on plastic for making the fabric. And in order to reduce such emission brands like Zara are now experimenting with their products.
Jennifer Holmgren, the CEO of LanzaTech Inc., says, ” the company that is working with Zara to produce products made from recycled greenhouse gases explained that these dresses contain 20% of a special type of polyester fabric made with an ingredient which is sourced from industrial carbon emission.”
She added that LanzaTech runs a plant at a steel-mill site, where they capture the carbon monoxide emission and put it into a reactor. This process is called ‘gas fermentation’. This process includes bacteria which devour the emission and release ethanol. This ethanol is then sent to different companies which convert it into other chemicals and put it into use.
LanzaTech is working with some major retail brands including Lululemon, Coty, Mibelle and Migros etc. A subsidiary of the parent brand LanzaJet is also working on the production of sustainable jet fuels which can be used by airlines.
Holmgren mentioned “to decarbonize, we have to change where carbon in everything comes from.”
If LanzaTech’s technology works well then, we can safely say that we’re stepping in the right direction. While it might not be the best solution for the fashion waste, but at least we’re working in the right direction.
