Creative Use of Our Production Waste
Like many businesses, and especially manufacturing businesses, we are faced with some unique waste from our production that often isn't recognised by waste companies as 'recyclable'.
Should it have to go into landfill if not recyclable?
What a huge shame that there is so much stuff produced by industry that just gets thrown away every single day. We know recycling process is getting better, and we know team members are much more mindful about what they throw away but it's a monumental amount of rubbish.
If you work in a business like this, have you ever heard the phrase 'one person's junk, is another person's treasure'? If so, imagine what could be made from your industrial waste at work. What could someone else use either in their every day, or to make something magical?
We have all sorts of weird and wonderful waste from production...
- Scrap or spoilt clothing items
- Inner cardboard tubes from roles or vinyl or print matter
- Plastic bobbins which embroidery thread used to be wrapped round
- Scraps of thread which can't be used
- Scraps of vinyl
- Scraps of ink which are too small to be re-used on an order
- Even, mannequins from our showroom
Look to your right and you'll see a few of the above!! We're quite lucky that at Banana Moon, our product is fun, creative and varied every single day and we know there are hobbyists and craftspeople who can always use what we produce. So, our team had the idea that our junk could become their treasure.
We searched locally for an organisation that could facilitate this for us, and we found the amazing SCRAP in Leeds - A centre of creative reuse and a social enterprise. Perfect! Founder Louise Lucas, 'has always had a concern for environmental issues and could see the potential and need of diverting business waste as low-cost resources for art, play and learning.' I think this is fabulous.
Their shop has an ever changing array of bounty for people to pore over and add to their collection for making something special, to be inspired, and to learn new skills.
Circular Economy
Our aim is to be part of the improvement in the circular economy of clothing, by targeting ourselves on increasing sales of regenerated cotton and polyester items, which have been salvaged, and then provide them to a happy owner in the form of a newly decorated personalised clothing item. The aim is that item means so much to them personally, that will want to keep it forever!
In doing so, if we can then share our production waste with others so that they can make use out of things that would ordinarily go to landfill, it means we can cut off some of the issues that fashion (and clothing in general) has on the environment in terms on longevity, production impact and waste.
We make a point of storing up our waste and making regular trips down to SCRAP in Leeds, just down the road from us, to help keep their stocks topped up.
