Thousands of used, clear plastic water bottles collected in Flint will be worn by runway models in New York next spring.
Recycling water bottles has been an issue in Flint since the city’s lead tainted drinking water crisis.
Conceptual artist Mel Chin and a fashion designer, Detroit native Tracy Reese, are working with the Queens Museum in New York City to recycle water bottles from Flint into fabric for raincoats, swimwear and other clothes.
“The thing is, if you don’t....do something, we’re just talking,” says Chin.
A garment center in Flint will produce the finished product which will be showcased at a fashion show in New York City next spring.
Chin says the project is “fulfilling a potential of jobs and manufacturing that has also been lost” in Flint.
