NEW Year, new shopping habits? These days we’re all trying to do our best do make our consumption more sustainable by reducing, reusing and recycling, and the last of these is the theme of this month’s Made in Scotland.
Our Maker of the Month Siobhan McKenna uses reclaimed denim to make one-off new garments for her slow-fashion brand ReJean. Not only does this keep the fabric from ending up in landfill, but as much of her fabric is bought from charity shops the business helps good causes too.
READ MORE: Meet the Maker: Ethical brand ReJean gives new life to denim
Patchwork denim also features in some of the creations of Glasgow-based Dapper Alice, whose make-up bags, cushions, and tea cosies are made from vintage salvage fabrics ranging from subtle florals to psychedelic 1960s geometric shapes.
Think of recycled clothing and performance fabrics probably don’t spring to mind, but Innerleithen-based company FINDRA has found a way to make a technical jacket out of coffee grounds. Yes, really. The grounds are dried and mixed with recycled plastic bottles to produce pellets, which are melted down to make into yarn, and the resulting Stroma jacket is both waterproof and breathable, with four-way stretch.
Accessories, too, can be ethically sourced and give new life to old materials or finds from nature. By Rois jewellery (below) is made from sea glass found on Scottish beaches, while Polkawolf & Magpie rescues leather off-cuts from the bin to make delicate flower and leaf earrings and pendants.
The earrings from Nyaki Punk Jewellery, are made from recycled silver, which is melted and then hammered into shape.
Recycling paper is easier than ever in the age of blue bags and blue bins, but some Scottish makers have found novel ways to reuse it instead.
Among the intricate products offered by Swallows and Swifts (below) are delicate butterfly earrings made from old musical scores, and Paper Pine Tree’s creations are equally charming.
Jenny Ross makes beautiful sculptures using the pages of old books. Her animal sculptures – including giraffes and penguins, zebras and polar bears – are inspired by her childhood toys and the stories she tells herself when walking in the forest near her home in Aberdeen.
Animals also feature prominently on the recycled notebooks made by Babity Boo, based in the Perth and Kinross village of Braco, with The Otter Jotter one of our favourites. The same animals feature on an adorable card by The Curious Cactus, whose designs also incorporate the iconic Tunnock’s teacake.
St Andrew’s-based JCD Creative has dispensed with the need for wood by making pencils from rolled-up recycled paper, while ethical beauty company Bee Pure Products is entirely plastic-free, using paper packaging for its cruelty-free beeswax deodorant, creams and balms.
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