Already in October we knew we wanted to make more masks. Not only because the first round of masks were such a success, providing more than 8.000 meals handed out by Refugee Community Kitchen to UK’s homeless and recently (after Covid19 kicked in) a much more diverse representation of people not just in London but all around the world). We also wanted to make more because we believe that facemasks are here to stay. Hopefully, not as a mandatory wearable but something we wear out of compassion to our fellow human beings to avoid anyone else getting ill in case we are.
The masks we produced first time around were reusable and made of 100% cotton but the fit was a bit off and even though the masks are way more sustainable than the single use disposable face masks making ‘corona waste’ that ends up in the ocean we wanted to do better to be part of the solution! Therefore, we set out to create a design with higher eco-properties which resulted in the masks we launched on Wednesday 17th March.
These new masks are made from triple-layered breathable 100% regenerated nylon yarn derived from pre and post-industrial waste such as discarded fishing nets, carpet fluff (the top part of Nylon carpets which have got to the end of their useful life), tulle, etc.: all such materials, once they have reached the end of their useful life, instead of being disposed of in the landfill or oceans are recovered and regenerated by means of a complex chemical-physical process. On top of this the adjusters on the ear straps are sourced deadstock and we are using recycled and deadstock thread. The fabric is printed using dye-sublimation, meaning no water waste and the paper used for the printing process is recycled.
The cost of making products masks that are of a higher quality and made from sustainable materials are much higher than creating a simple cotton mask (which opens up for a whole other discussion about climate inequality that we won’t go into here)
We could have raised the price to cover the production cost and keep the level of £ donated to Refugee Community Kitchen per order but something about that just didn’t feel quite right if we are to be part of the solution.
Instead, we have (once again) partnered with the amazing Flight Logistics who will donate an extra £1 GBP per order or rather add an extra two meals per order and we have made it possible to pay any price above £20 of your choosing on our shop.