Ford goes green with seats made from plastic bottles

ford-goes-green-with-seats-made-from-plastic-bottlesI look forward to new car advertisements every year. I'm aware that such a statement sounds ludicrous; I occasionally like to employ the literary device of sarcasm. Every thirty seconds of airtime spent watching those commercials eventually becomes hours that I can't get back. In those hours I could be making discoveries with epic ramifications; but instead I choose to be lulled into inaction by overviews of a vehicle by husky-toned voice talent that I have no interest in ever buying. However, throw a cast of plastic bottles into the mix and an ad for the new Ford Focus Electric would make an automotive ad exception. A plastic bottles kind of car Forget the groovy OnStar feature (that's so 90s) and the state-of-the-art back-up cam (can you say 2000 what?) the 2012 electric edition of the Ford Focus is the definition of green automotive engineering and manufacturing. Not only does the car run on electric power (from a battery, no gas needed!) but it's also eco-friendly on the inside, touting seats made from Repreve (a subsidiary of Unifi, Inc.), a sustainable material with a bright future. What's Repreve? Repreve is a revolutionary fiber made from recycled PET plastic bottles and virgin polyester fiber waste. Together these elements work not only to help clean up the environment (making use of hundreds of thousands of plastic bottles) but to clothe and protect people from all walks of life as well. Recycling Process “ How it's made At this point you may be thinking something along the lines of So, you're telling me that plastic bottles can be transformed into yarn? How does that happen? First off, the Repreve fibers aren't quite yarn, it's more of a wool-like material. And the second part of the question, the how behind this metamorphosis is quite fascinating. It all starts when you stick a plastic bottle in your green recycling bin (good for you, keep doing that!). Next, countless plastic bottles and a bit of waste fabric are collected together to undergo the first stage of the change, a demolition of sorts. According to <a href=http://www.repreve.com/>Repreve </a>these plastic bottles are chopped, ground, melted and reformulated. After that the mixture is strung through a spinneret, which brings each single string together to form a Repreve fiber. Ford Focus Electric So what do plastic bottles and Repreve have to do with the new Electric Ford Focus? Let's just say a round of plastic bottles have left a dent, particularly in the seat area, of each vehicle in this class. Be sure to notice the luxurious fabric of the seats the next time you climb into this car because you my friend will be in the company of remnants of twenty-two plastic bottles. The seats in every Ford Focus Electric released under the 2012 year will be equipped with seats made from Repreve materials. What this means The fact that plastic bottles are literally being used to make beneficial products (material to be used in cars and clothing) is a huge step forward for our society in terms of moving toward a greener way of living, not to mention instilling an important sense of resourcefulness in generations to come. The genius behind using plastic bottles for tasks beyond packaging offers a sense of power and freedom. So much so that some individuals say a discovery like this might limit our days of depending on foreign oil. Who knows? We shall see. Riding in a green car will never be quite the same again; thanks to the advent of Repreve seats, crafted from only the rarest and most beautiful plastic bottles (here I go with the commercial talk again). It's refreshing to see new ways of green living spring up, motivating and inspiring others to live in a more eco-friendly manner. If we're sitting on fibers made from plastic bottles today, what does tomorrow hold? What product or item should plastic bottles collaborate with next? Computer monitors, backyard pools? Post your ideas in the comments!