Coffee grounds have been used for so many things in the past few years. Ever since it became the “in” thing to be conscious about the environment and our impact on it, every little thing has been scrutinized to see how it can be re-used. Coffee grounds were not exempt. Even Starbucks and other coffee shops came up with their programs to help get rid of their used coffee grounds and have them used for a good purpose.
But I never thought that I would live to see a clothing line based on material made from coffee grounds! This is the brainchild of Jason Chen, the general manager of Singtex Industrial Company, a Taiwanese company. Chen was having a cup of coffee at – you guessed it – Starbucks when the idea came to him.
Now, Singtex gathers used coffee grounds to use in their line of sportswear. So how do they do this?
I have no idea how fabric is made, but according to The Guardian, the process is much like how they turn bamboo into a viscose-like substance:
The resultant fabric is soft, light, flexible and breathable and can also be used to produce an outer shell that is water resistant. It’s impregnated with ‘activated’ carbon, derived from coconut, which makes it UV-resistant, wicks water away, keeps the wearer cool and binds to sweat to eliminate unpleasant odours.
I don’t know how they do it but it sounds good to me! Even better, they say that you only need about one cup of coffee grounds to make several T-shirts! Amazing, isn’t it?
Originally posted on July 30, 2009 @ 4:43 am