A New ‘Plastic Free’ Project, Parade Reboots ‘Second Life’: Short Takes
Parade’s Recycle Plan: Parade is reinvigorating its recycling program after a brief hiatus.
The company launched its free underwear recycling program in January 2022 but quickly burned through capacity amid outsized demand. Called “Second Life,” Parade’s brand agnostic national underwear recycling program is powered by TerraCycle. To date, the brand has upcycled roughly 62,000 pairs of underwear into things like insulation and carpeting. (This compares to the more than 5 million pairs sold since the company’s inception in 2019.)
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“What was exciting to us was how excited people are to recycle their underwear — and we take any brand, not just Parade,” Parade’s vice president of brand and impact and sustainability, Kerry Steib, said to WWD.
Steib said Parade’s vision for 2023 will be to recycle an additional 92,000 pairs.
Shoppers can request the pre-paid recycling mailer via YourParade.com/Recycle. They can then send in as many pairs as they want to TerraCycle, though orders are limited to three kits per order. Each bag holds a pound of underwear, and for their efforts, shoppers get 30 percent off their next purchase at Parade.
Plastic-Free Future: A new plastic-free solutions platform called “PlasticFree” looks to be a catalyst for change.
The project is the brainchild of nonprofit A Plastic Planet and material innovator Natural Fiber Welding (to which Ralph Lauren, Allbirds, Pangaia and Unless Collective are investors or brand collaborators), and has buy-in from more than 40 business leaders, designers, scientists and citizens.
A Plastic Planet — which is a pro-business, pro-solutions advisory organization — also aided in the launch of PlasticFree. A Plastic Planet’s cofounder Sian Sutherland said that, “Our default dependence on incredible but toxic and indestructible plastic has to end.”
The online design tool is accessible via PlasticeFree.com and was created to empower the 160 million global creatives to rethink packaging, textiles and products by congregating data and research studies. Included in the online database are reports spanning hundreds of plastic-free alternatives, as well as 125 case studies. There is a fee to access the platform, with annual subscriptions costing 250 pounds (but also providing special event access).
Via its digital platform, PlasticFree aims to help designers and business leaders in the mission to eliminate 1 trillion pieces of plastic waste from the global economy by 2025.
