A cay is a small, low elevation, sandy island formed on the surface of coral reefs. Cay is pronounced as ‘key’ and is sometimes spelled key or quay.

Cays are typically located in tropical waters such as the tropical parts of the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Atlantic Ocean. For example, there are many cays throughout the Great Barrier Reef – the largest coral reef in the world. Some popular cays in the area include Green Island, Michaelmas Cay, Upolu Cay, and Heron Island.

Cays are mostly made up of biogenic sediment from coral reef ecosystems. Biogenic sediment refers to the skeletal remains of plants and animals. Ocean currents transport the sediment across the reef surface, then deposit it in a place where currents converge or slow down. Weather and tidal patterns can impact on the formation and eradication of cays.

Some of the smaller cays often appear to be no more than a sandbar, while larger or older cays will have trees and other foliage growing on them.

Ecospun is a polyester fiber made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. It can be used to create various fabrics, including fleece fabrics. The Ecospun fiber can be used by itself, or it can be blended with other fibers such as cotton, wool, and tencel.

Environmental Benefits of Ecospun
Ecospun enables billions of plastic containers to be recycled each year, instead of them being buried in landfill.

Currently, less than 30% of plastic bottles produced in the US are recycled. Given the fact that over 40 billion plastic bottles are produced in the US each year, this is a huge environmental problem. Furthermore, it takes over 700 years for each of these plastic containers to decompose!

What is Ecospun used for?
Ecospun, whether by itself or blended, can be used in many products. Here are some examples:

clothing (eg, vests, jackets, pants)
blankets
carpets
wall coverings
automobile interiors
various home furnishings
fiberfill (eg, filling material for cushions)
craft felt
So chances are, thousands people around the world are wearing recycled plastic don’t even realize it!

How is Ecospun Made?

Here’s how the Ecospun process goes:

Plastic containers are collected from curbside and community recycling centers
The containers are sorted by type and color
All labels and caps are stripped off
The plastic containers are then washed
Then they’re crushed
Then they’re chopped into flake
The flakes are then melted and extruded to create fiber
The fiber is crimped, cut, drawn, then stretched into the desired length (based on its strength), then baled.
Fortrel® Ecospun™ is a registered trademark of Wellman Inc, and is manufactured by Foss Manufacturing Company.

Disposable diapers have long been a major environmental problem. Traditional disposable diapers can take up to 300 years to decompose. Biodegradable diapers, on the other hand, can decompose within months.
The Environmental Issue
Here are some facts regarding traditional (non-biodegradable) disposable diapers:

In the US alone, over 18 billion diapers are thrown away each year
Over 82,000 tons of plastic is used to make those disposable diapers each year
Over 250,000 trees are cut down each year in order to make those disposable diapers
Traditional disposable diapers take around 300 years to biodegrade. This means that no traditional disposable diaper has actually biodegraded yet.
In many countries (including most states in the USA), it’s illegal to dump human waste in landfills. However, this is exactly where disposable diapers are dumped once they’ve been used. This has the potential to infest the water with viruses such as polio, hepititis, dysentery etc
Benefits of Biodegradable Diapers
Biodegradable diapers will go a long way in eliminating many of the environmental issues related to disposable diapers. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, there aren’t many biodegradable diapers on the market. Plus, most biodegradable diapers are only partially biodegradable. This will change though – especially now that we have products such as Safeties Nature Nappy, which is a fully biodegradable disposable diaper. There are various diapers that are partially biodegradable, but as far as I’m aware, at the time of writing, the Nature Nappy is the only 100% biodegradable diaper. (The term “Nappy” is an Australian term for “Diaper” – the Nature Nappy was invented in Australia).

Biodegradable diapers will need to comply with international standards regarding their biodegradability. The Nature Nappy complies with the EN 13432; ISO 14855; ASTM 6400-99 standards.

Eight years ago in India, cows were found to be dying on the streets from what was initially thought to be a mystery disease. Closer inspection revealed that the cows were dying from plastic bags. They were mistakenly ingesting the plastic bags while eating food at the side of the roads.

At the time, it was estimated that over 3,000 cows were dying each month from plastic bags. According to the audio story attached to this article by the National Public Radio, between 15,000 and 20,000 cows die each month from plastic bags.

Unfortunately, although a plastic bag ban was pushed for, the plastic bag industry managed to persuade against it. In the end, only ultra-thin plastic bags were banned. But it appears that these ultra-thin plastic bags are continuing to be manufactured and distributed in India.

So the result is that more and more cows are continuing to die an excruciatingly painful death from ingesting unused plastic bags.

Recycled Polyester is a polyester that has been manufactured by using previously used polyester items. In the clothing world, recycled polyester clothes can be created from used clothes. It is used in some components when doing more extensive work like garage door repair too.

Polyester fibers made from recycled plastic containers (such as Fortrel Ecospun) are often referred to as recycled polyester too. However, in this article, I’m referring to polyester clothes made from other polyester clothes.

A company called Patagonia has become quite famous for it’s recycled polyester clothes. They have been able to create polyester garments using previously worn garments. They also started the world’s first garment recycling program – which enables customers to bring their used clothing back for recycling. Patagonia encourage customers to bring in their used Capilene baselayer, Patagonia fleece or Polartec® fleece. The fabric of these items makes them suitable for recycling. Patagonia can create a new garment made from the recycled polyester.

Is Recycled Polyester Eco-Friendly?
Recycled polyester is not always eco-friendly. The “eco-friendliness” of recycled polyester depends on the recycling process, and the original polyester itself. Polyester is still a synthetic fabric, so it’s not going to be as organic as plant fibers such as hemp, bamboo, ramie etc.

Traditional polyester has potential health hazards and environmental issues that make it a lot less eco-friendly than it could be. A relatively new brand of polyester called Eco-Intelligent® Polyester (launched in 2001) aims to overcome the health hazards and environmental issues inherent in traditional polyester.

As far as I’m aware, Eco-Intelligent Polyester is currently only available in upholstery and interior trade (not clothing etc).

Where can I buy Recycled Polyester products?
You may be able to find recycled polyester at your local clothing store. If you’re looking to purchase online, check out the Patagonia website.

When shopping for clothes, many people shop based on things like comfort or style, but not many people check for clothing’s eco-friendliness.

More and more clothing companies are providing clothes made from eco-friendly fabrics. Demand for these clothes is increasing too. This makes sense given the environmental issues we’re faced with in today’s world.

What Makes a Fabric “Eco-Friendly”?
Eco-friendly fabrics generally have the following characteristics:

Minimum use of chemicals and pesticides
Best land manangement practices
Sustainable farming practices
Eco-friendly certification (i.e. EU-Eco label certification)
Animal friendly
Production adheres to fair trade practices
By purchasing organic, you can be sure that the product was produced without the use of harsh chemicals and pesticides, and is not only healthy for the environment but is also healthy for you.

The Fabrics
Here’s a list of eco-friendly fibers to look out for. Next time you’re shopping for clothes, look out for clothes that are made from the following fibers (or other eco-friendly fibers):

Hemp – An amazing natural fiber. Some say hemp could have 25,000 uses. Hemp provides enormous benefit to the natural environment. This is true when used in products and when growing the hemp plant.
Jute – Similar to hemp, jute is a type of vegetable fiber used for thousands of years, with outstanding potential for the future.
Ingeo – Trademark for a man-made fiber derived from corn.
Calico – Fabric made from unbleached cotton. Also referred to as muslin.
Hessian Cloth – Coarse woven fabric made from jute or hemp.
Organic cotton – Cotton grown organically (without pesticides etc)
Recycled Polyester – Polyester created from used polyester garments.
Bamboo Fiber – Bamboo fabric is very comfortable and 100% biodegradable.
Tencel® – Brand name for a biodegradable fabric made from wood pulp cellulose.
Ramie – Ramie fibers are one of the strongest natural fibers. Ramie can be up to 8 times stronger than cotton, and is even stronger when wet.
Organic Wool – Organic wool is wool that has been produced in a way that is less harmful to the environment than non-organic wool.
Organic Linen – Linen that is made from flax fiber. Could also refer to be linen made from other organically grown plant fibers.
FORTREL EcoSpun – Fiber made from plastic containers
Milk Silk – Silk made from milk
Soy Silk – Silk made from soybeans
Nettle fiber – Made from stinging nettle (commonly known as a weed)
Spider-web fabric – Fabric made from spider webs. Still in the experimental stages.
Eco-Friendly Finishes and Dyes
As well as the fabric used to make clothes, many clothes are dyed and/or have laminate finishes etc. Here are some eco friendly options:

Biodegradable TPU Laminate – Solvent free TPU that can biodegrade in as little as 4 years.
NanoSphere® Textile Finish – Self cleaning textile finish for clothing and other textiles.
Non-Toxic Dyes – These can be better for your health as well as the environment.