Not So Trash Talk - Recycling

Welcome one, welcome all to our new series 'Not So Trash Talk' where we have a wholesome chat around a topic we hold dear to our hearts here at Thrills: make quality clothing and accessories while reducing our impact on our planet and inspire an achievable path for change. As we've grown as a company our understanding of the fashion industry and our social responsibility as a fashion label has evolved, which is why we're taking steps to improve our day-to-day operations and lessen the imprint we leave. It's a long road, and we've by no means got everything perfect, but we're committed to reducing the impact we leave on the environment, and why not bring you along for the journey. Our in-house Environmental Enthusiast, Mike, will be taking you through a different topic and giving you a front seat view of what we're working on here at Thrills. Strap yourselves in!

Meet Mike

Just to clarify, we're not attempting to preach about anything - we simply want to share our ideas and let you know what we are doing to help out our valuable environment. To recycle or even up-cycle anything is a fantastic way to reduce the amount of raw material manufactured as well as energy, water use, and emissions.

Reduce Re-use Recycle sounds like a cliche but if businesses and all of us at home do our very best then things can change. Let’s not wait for politicians to do something!

Our garment bags

For all Thrills garments, we need to protect each item so they can travel well and get delivered into a store without damage or waste. Sadly this means many of our items need to be individually wrapped. There are so many new products that have claims about being bio-degradable but, considering our garments can be bagged for up to two years, most of the options a have very long breakdown time, meaning if they go from your green bin to the tip they actually pollute the council composting and emit too much methane during a very long period.

The most practical solution for us at the moment is to use a Re-Cycled PE Bag which is made from many waste products that are up-cycled into a useable bag. Many local councils were offering soft plastic re-cycling until recently. Hopefully, the process will restart soon, though you can take control and deliver them to your local Woolworths across Australia as they have a soft plastics recycling bin for you to bring in soft plastics that can’t be recycled at home. They partner with REDcycle and Replas who recycle and reuse into furniture and equipment.

For large bulk orders with big customers, we bulk bag which reduces poly bag use by 95%. The Thrills Recycled PE Garment Bag is an environmentally responsible way to deliver our products. They cost us a bit more but we are happy to pay to reduce waste. Please note that our “DirtBags” that we deliver online orders with are bio-degradable in your home compost and have been produced from sustainable plants and non-toxic compostable resin - we love these!

RECYCLED CARD PACKAGING

You may have noticed that all of our garment hangtags and accessory boxes and wrappers are all made using Recycled Cardboard. This is where we all come in. All the card and paper waste that we put in our yellow bin at home is sent directly to paper mills and recycled into the reusable materials. This is the same for all Thrills locations, staff, and our friends in China and India who do exactly the same. This literally saves trees every day. Remember to try and avoid packaging that has coatings like reusable coffee cups and loads of food packaging as it doesn't recycle. “Keep a mug with you at all times if you buy coffee” = easy wins!