Eco-workshop at the Klimaschule – or what happens when PET bottles get a second chance

On Monday, March 31, the InterBridge project took part in the so-called "Grüner Montag" – Green Monday – at Christian Weise Gymnasium in Zittau. This school, recognized as a Klimaschule, suspends regular classes once a year to offer students environmentally focused activities. And that's when we held our eco-workshop, in which PET bottles got a new identity – they became part of a fashion design.

The main idea was simple: to use cut-up PET bottles as material for creating a dress on a tailor’s mannequin. Throughout the morning, students threaded pieces of PET plastic of various colors onto monofilament lines, interspersed with beads from Preciosa Ornela in Desná. These handmade chains were then sewn onto a fabric slip that formed the base of the dress.

The workshop was led by Karolína and was attended by about a dozen students. Most of them were children from the Zittau high school, but we also took with us two girls from Liberec from Karolína's wider family circle, Lenka and Pavlínka.Unfortunately, our long-term collaborator, teacher Markéta Barth, couldn’t join us this time due to illness. A big thank-you goes to Johanka Wagnerová, a student at the Faculty of Education at TUL, who provided translation between German and Czech and gave active support throughout the workshop. She was an invaluable help – thank you, Johanka!

And why PET bottles? First, because they’re a readily available material; and second, because recycling and creative reuse of plastic is one of the key themes that resonate throughout our project. It’s no coincidence that one of our main partners is the Technical University of Chemnitz, especially the MERGE institute, which focuses on developing lightweight composite materials – often based on plastics. Inspired by this, we wanted to show that even plastic can get a second chance – even in the world of fashion.

And what’s next for the dress? We plan to showcase it as a key exhibit in our final exhibition, as well as part of a travelling exhibition we are organizing this year. We hope it will capture attention not only with its vibrant colors and unique appearance, but also with the message behind it.

Hana Křížová

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