URI Professor and students working to turn trash into textiles

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WLNE) — Current reports show around two billion pounds of plastic waste are scattered amongst the oceans, but even those numbers might be an undersell.

As communities on the coast look for ways to tackle the issue students at the University of Rhode Island are going from clean-up to clearance.

“We are creating future problem solvers,” Department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising, and Design People Professor Dr. Izabela Ciesielska-Wrobel said. “[They] can help with chemistry, help with chemical engineering, but they also have understanding of the sustainable aspects.”

The program began in 2021 but really kicked off in the last year, with students finding ways to apply the things they’ve learned to their own backyards.

“So we worked with a company in Newport, and I was like why do we have to go all the way down to Newport when I literally have a beach two minutes from my house?” junior Ava Stanley said. “There was a bleach bottle with a crab cage, and I picked it up and I put it in my car. And the next day I brought it to Dr. Wrobel, and I was like, ‘Can we make something out of this, can we melt this?’ And she was like, ‘Sure, go ahead!'”

Ciesielska-Wrobel said she has worked to weave the different elements together, creating a program that could make major strides in a problem that’s gotten worse year over year.

“We create those fast-fashion products, low-cost, and low-quality materials that they eventually end up in the garbage,” she said. “But they also release microplastics into the ocean. So, if they understand that process, I think they are good to go outside and solve environmental problems.”

This year, Stanley put together some of these recycled materials into clothing for a university fashion show, and she’s hoping to create similar projects moving forward.