PLASTIC FASHION

AS plastic pollution rapidly escalates, Spanish fishermen are salvaging waste from the ocean to turn into something useful.

Plastic bottles, fishing nets and other smaller particles are being recycled into fabric to make stylish fashion items and accessories.

By Nadia McDonald

put on water usage and consumption, including the entire metropolitan area of Barcelona.

The drought is striking farmers hard in Northern Spain, and has also led to an earlier than usual fire season. Around 100 blazes have started in Asturias, with the majority thought to have been set by arsonists. The tinder-dry conditions have also seen fires in the Valencia region. On World Water Day the UN called for ‘governments to work up to four times faster’ in making changes to water management and consumption. The sixth UN Sustainable Development Goal establish- es universal access to drinking water and sanitation. Currently 60% of the global population lives in areas with water scarcity.

In 2022, thanks to the work of around 2,600 fishermen, a total of 189,844 kilos of waste was collected from the Spanish seabed via the Upcycling the Oceans Spain project, currently working in 45 Spanish ports.