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Everything old is new again
Modrobes is Back with Feel Good Fashion
Made From Recycled Plastic Bottles
TORONTO - According to Canadian clothing designer and environmental steward
Steven Sal Debus, you you steward Steven Sal Debus, you should feel good not only in what you wear, but also about what you wear.
After snagging an investor on CBC's Dragons Den, the inventor of the iconic Modrobes lounge pant is back on the fashion scene, this time with a new twist to the comfort clothing brand he pioneered a decade ago. He is about to launch the Modrobes line of sportswear made from recycled plastic bottles.
Today's concern with the environment and the health of the planet has taken the breakthrough designer in a new direction - launching a totally new "enviro-clean" clothing line.
"I've spent the past five years looking at how to produce clothing in the cleanest possible way. By that, I mean materials and a manufacturing process that are environmentally sustainable," Steven explains.
The designs are slick and urban and will sell for $80 to $200. And the best part - all are manufactured from recycled plastic pop bottles. Each jacket requires 18 bottles (591 ml); each pair of shorts uses about 16 bottles.
"People can wear my new line of eco-clean clothing knowing that by doing so they are actually helping to maintain a healthy planet for humans," notes Steven. "This is urban chic and guilt-free clothing."
The line's signature piece is a multi-sport performance jacket that Sal Debus spent years developing. Minimalist in design, the
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jacket features horizontal lines and unique styling that allows you to move unemcumbered at any angle. The 360 degree stretch fabric is also water-resistant, moisture-wicking and anti-bacterial. Each garment will feature a prominent silver logo demoting that it has been made from recycled product.
Traditional textile manufacturing consumes a great amount of water, fuel and toxic chemicals. Even natural materials use lots of pesticides. "I want to create a product and process that does absolutely no harm to people or planet and I think I'm getting there," says Steven.
Through Bluesign Technologies of Zurich, Switzerland - an organization that audits the environmental practices of textile manufacturing facilities around the world- Steven found a mill in Taiwan that passed the strict auditing process and offered fabrics from recycled PET plastic bottles.
Making the clothes of out recycled pop bottles means that the manufacturing process uses 80 per cent less energy and it has the added benefit of diverting a valuable resource from landfill where it would be wasted. This means no toxic chemicals, and an
80 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
While all Modrobes clothing is made in Canada. Steven is now in search of Canadian facilities that can produce his recycled plastic fabric. "It's so disappointing that no one in
Canada is doing this yet. We have an opportunity here to create a totally closed-loop cycle for plastics, create tons of jobs and lead the world in recycling technology. When a facility here starts making textiles with this stuff, I'll be their first customer."
Part of the reason this facility doesn't exist is that Canadians just aren't recycling enough plastic. "The plastic recycling rates in this country are dreadful. All people need to do is get the stuff into their blue box and we can make great things happen!"
The new clothing line can be ordered on line at http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=4ayxkedab.0.0.7qg5jxcab.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.modr
obes.com&id=preview for delivery in Spring 2010. The Modrobes retail store will open in Toronto in March.
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For more information or to arrange an interview with Steven, please contact:
Sara Cauchon
(416) 777-0368
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RECYCLING OF PLASTIC BEVERAGE BOTTLES IN CANADA
 Plastic bottles can be recycled from coast to coast in all blue box programs.
 The recycling rate for plastic bottles is 48% across the country
 Highest recycling rate in Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia
 Lowest Manitoba and Ontario
 Provinces with deposit return programs have the highest recovery rates
Plastic Beverage Bottle Recovery in Canada
Province
British Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Ontario
Quebec (non-SD)
Quebec (SD)
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
Newfoundland
TOTAL
Recovery Rate
78%
70%
89%
30%
35%
30%
72%
73%
81%
66%
48%
Courtesy of: Environment and Plastics Industry Council (EPIC)
**Toronto only recycles 30% of its PETE plastic bottles.
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