Every year, the individuals in Europe and North America throw away an average of 95 to 115 kilograms (210 to 250 pounds) of food they think is either spoiled or rotten. Most of this food is tossed in the trash as it has past the expiry or sell-by date. In 2016, more than 40 million gallons’ worth of milk were dumped in the field. The milk waste would fill 66 Olympic-sized swimming pools, some reports suggest.
Mi Terro, a Los Angeles-based startup, is on a global mission to reduce dairy waste. The company has created T-shirts using that waste milk, which it says have some significant advantages over regular cotton T-shirts.
Let’s see how the Milk Fabric made?
The milk used to make milk cotton is waste milk that is otherwise unusable, which is generally obtained directly from a dairy. This milk then gets fermented and skimmed, removing its fat content. It is subsequently dewatered to get powdered that gets purified to remove all substances other than a naturally-occurring protein known as casein.
This powdered casein is immersed in alkali to make a solution that is then passed through a spinneret to create fibers. The sulphuric solution is used to remove the alkali from fibers. And the resulting fibers are stretched and spun into yarn.
Unbelievably soft and comfortable Milk Shirt:
Made using that yarn, a machine-washable Limitless Milk Shirt (the company says) is the world’s first and only shirt made from upcycled milk. While being antibacterial, wrinkle-resistant, moisture-wicking, UV-blocking, and stretchable in every direction, a highly functional shirt is very soft and gives a silk-like feel.
The breathable milk shirts are three times smoother and softer than cotton, the company says. These shirts will make you feel like you’re wearing nothing.
To make the shirts even more comfortable and breathable, the team blended milk with micro modal, another environmental-friendly fiber made from beechwood tree.
Every five Milk Shirts represent one glass of milk that would otherwise have been wasted, as Mi Terro noted. It is currently running a Kickstarter campaign for its Limitless Milk Shirts. Also, for more details, you can visit the company website.
