While of the three R’s, “reduce” is the one with the biggest measurable environmental impact — since if you don’t buy something you don’t need in the first place, you cut down on waste at the source — recycling is arguably the most fun. It’s where creativity comes into play. How else do you think we have developed the technology to turn plastic bottles into polar fleece, or soybean byproducts into sweaters?

A model walks during Sanlam South Africa Fashion Week, modeling recycled fashion from Clive Rundle's Spring/Summer 2009 collection. (Courtesy of Treevolution.co.za)
Recycled textiles are gaining on organics as the most popular material used by eco-designers, and for good reason. There is so much gorgeous fabric already existing in the world, whether forgotten in warehouses or stashed at the backs of closets. Trying to recreate silk shantung with a vegan alternatives just seems like a huge waste of everyone’s time. Rather than trying to reinvent the spinning wheel, why not just work with what we already have?
And it’s not just scientists and designers who are jumping on the recycling bandwagon, either. There are a million ways innovative fashionistas can tackle at-home recycling projects. And in this issue, we get our hands dirty with some of those projects.
Kara Cook, our DIY Doyenne, has inherited a cherished leather laptop bag from our publisher, Trevor Martin. You should have seen her face light up: She was practically drunk with inspiration of how to put the supple, broken-in leather to good use. In fact, she had so many ideas, we’ve broken up the DIY projects into three parts. Volume 1 of The Leather Diaries appears here, and stay tuned for the next installment in the series, coming soon.
As an element, gold is one of the easiest precious metals to recycle, and boy have jewelry designers picked up on that fact. Check out this slideshow of five amazing metalworkers and their glittering creations.
Have a closet full of clothes that are almost right, but not quite? Or an eye for vintage, but no DIY hemming skills? Fear not. Our guide to tailoring will show you how much you can expect to pay to alter your beloved dresses, shirts, jackets, and pants.
Finally, in the spirit of recycled content (it’s nice how that works out thematically), we bring to you Seam Ripper, our collection of five stories reprinted from the Behind the Seams blog. We hope to see you in the comments soon!