Wearable Plastic

Cryptic Moth spent Saturday the 19th getting scenic shots of the Santa Monica pier,



Venice beach and the L.A. River.



On Sunday, we headed north to Ventura - world headquarters of Patagonia.



The high-end adventure clothing company has long been a supporter of environmental causes and successfully market materials like organic cotton and hemp. But starting in the 90's, Patagonia introduced synchilla, a fuzzy material made from recycled PET plastic bottles.



Jen showed us the area where they tinker with new materials and designs. She explained how they now have entire lines of clothing made from 100% recycled material. Waste plastic like shower curtains or even chairs are being processed into ski jackets and workout gear.



The clothing is not only recycled but it is recyclable. Patagonia is already taking back old material at their stores, which is then shipped on empty vessels returning to Japan and recycled into new Patagonia products.



Like Interface (see blog entry A Georgia Peach), Patagonia have set a future goal of eliminating virgin raw materials - especially synthetic products like nylon and polyester - from their manufacturing.



After shooting some broll in the retail store and making a few purchases of our own, Cryptic Moth headed north for San Francisco.



We took a small detour to meet Roz, an extreme athlete and budding activist (www.rozsavage.com).



She recently rowed - yes, rowed - across the Atlantic solo. She plans to tackle the Pacific in 2007, a feat that will be sponsored by only eco-friendly companies.



Cryptic Moth conducted a brief interview on her contact with ocean debris in the Atlantic and recycling efforts in her native UK. We took the afternoon to film landmarks around San Fran before settling into a hotel near Haight and Ashbury.



On Wednesday we head inland.



Out.

G+I