🧦 Recycle Your Socks (and other things)
Arvin Goods Take Back, Hip Hop's Fashion Legacy, Best Made founder Peter Buchanan-Smith, Patagonia Suing for Survival, Juilliard Jazz Prof Hears Nirvana For The First Time
'The Clean Up' is a weekly newsletter that mixes in some Arvin Goods news, products, as well as stories we saw during the week that are worth a share. From books to podcasts, sustainability to business news, we try to keep it interesting, and fun. If you are not a subscriber, sign up and join everyone who receives The Clean Up directly in their inbox every Sunday.
Arvin News
Happy Sunday!
The picture above is from our sock factory outside of Porto Portugal. Details are literally threaded through those machines and then turned on to produce thousands of socks. More to come on this in the coming weeks, as our new collection is coming on February 12th.
Today we want to cover some questions we receive pretty regularly about our take-back bag that we offer as a partnership with For Days. The most often asked question is if we only accept Arvin Goods. No. You can send in any unwanted apparel items that will fit in the bag. Any brand, or maker from any retailer. Socks, underwear, t-shirts, pants, whatever. Just please make sure the item is clean.
Once the package reaches the recycling facility the goods will be sorted for either re-sale, donation, or re/downcycling. Right now the recycling industry and technology is exploding with activity, and new developments are happening all the time. Some items can be down-cycled into industrial use like rags, stuffing, or carpet padding. Other things like 100% cotton products could be shredded to make new fiber and yarns for new products. Our end goal is to scale this program up to a point where we can recycle some of the clothing directly into raw materials for new Arvin Goods products (circularity). One day we will get there, but at this stage, the most important thing we can all do is start to utilize programs and services like this to help develop the systems that will utilize waste streams and increase the availability of reusable materials. If you have not tried this process or program, please do so, and please share it with your friends and family. Consumer awareness is key to our success!
Hope you enjoy today’s Clean Up. We would love to hear from you. Comment here on substack hit us on social, or email us at info@arvingoods.com. Have a great week. Cheers,
Team AG ✌️🧦
Stories Of The Week…
Fashion
THE RISE OF HIP-HOP AND ITS FASHION LEGACY - The Rake
From the street corner to the world stage, hip-hop has not only emerged as one of the world’s most influential musical genres, but has also evolved into a cultural force that touches almost every aspect of modern life. The origins of hip-hop trace back to a subculture and art movement born in the Bronx, in a time of post-industrial decline, evident in the dwindling economic landscape of the city. The aftermath of the construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway, coupled with the decline of the manufacturing industry, saw a significant exodus of the white middle class to the suburbs, leaving behind neighborhoods predominantly populated by African-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Caribbean immigrants. 🎤👕
Industry
All Good Things Must Start - Desire Paths
Peter Buchanan-Smith has lived a wildly Desire Paths-worthy life.
He’s had jobs planting trees in Ontario and artificially inseminating sows (!) in Scotland. He was art director of the New York Times’ Op-Ed page on September 11th. Creative director of Paper magazine. Design director of fashion house Isaac Mizrahi. He, along with the great Maira Kalman, designed the illustrated re-issue of Strunk & White’s classic grammar book, The Elements of Style. Peter even won a Grammy for the design of A Ghost is Born, the best-selling (and excellent) album of Wilco.
But because careers tend to be unfairly distilled to a single project or gig, Peter’s probably best known for his company Best Made—which, if you know anything about it, you’ll probably remember as ‘the nice axe brand’.🪓🧢🧦
World/Sustainability
Suing For Survival - Patagonia
What happens when a fish takes the witness stand in a courtroom? The seat probably isn’t very comfortable, and the fish might not be able to see the jury.
During a recent lawsuit in Washington state, salmon had a little help from their allies, the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, who argued “Sahkuméhu (the Sauk-Suiattle) have a sacred covenant with Tsuladxʷ’s (salmon) and the Stulekʷ (river) and all living creatures without which we cannot live.” Employing the “rights of nature” legal strategy, the Tribe sought acknowledgement that three Skagit River dams owned by Seattle City Light infringed upon the fish’s “inherent rights to exist, flourish, regenerate … and the right of access to their ancestral waters.”
The Skagit River in Washington has long connected every living thing within the region. With its headwaters in British Columbia, the river runs 150 miles through the heart of the rugged Cascade Range as it provides 30 percent of the fresh water that flows into Puget Sound. It’s the region’s only river that is home to every native salmon and trout species, including endangered Puget Sound Chinook, bull trout and steelhead. And, thanks to those three hydroelectric dams at the center of the lawsuit, it produces 20 percent of Seattle’s electricity. But the dams don’t just generate power—they prevent salmon from reaching indispensable spawning habitat.🐟🌳🏞️
Entertainment
Juilliard Jazz Prof Hears Nirvana For The First Time - YouTube
Take a sneak peek into the mind of Ulysses Owens Jr.! (Small Ensemble Director at Juilliard) Watch as he listens to "In Bloom" by Nirvana for the very first time and attempts to play along. What is he listening for? How does he immediately craft an appropriate drum part? Tune in and find out! This is amazing!🥁🔊