“What you gon’ do with all that junk?”
Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas has an idea.
Turn it into “fly” junk.
The hip-hop Grammy Award winning artist announced his initiative to turn plastic bottles into fabric Tuesday at the National Press Club with Rethink, Green for All and the League of Conservation Voters.
For the remainder of the 2010 Black Eyed Peas U.S. tour, there will be vendors for collecting plastic bottles to be recycled into fashionable merchandise.
“You could potentially follow that water bottle onto somebody’s back,” Will.i.am said.
Will.i.am said touring made him realize how much junk is left behind at concerts, specifically plastic bottles. By asking fans to donate their bottles, he said the band hopes to start a green fashion trend.
“By not leaving junk you are contributing style, fashion, enabling new fashion designers utilizing this fabric,” Will.i.am said. “You see water bottles not as containers that houses water, but eventually clothe your body.”
He hopes the initiative will open up factories in the United States, create green jobs and promote green fashion.
“Why couldn’t you have a green American apparel?” he asked.
Though he used his lyrics to promote then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008 (remember “Yes We Can”?), when asked if the boss has done enough to create green jobs, Will.i.am said he’s here to help.
“We should take the effort to assist, and that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing on our tour to take a load off of his [Barack Obama’s] laundry list.”
The artist said he met with President Obama in the morning for tea. The Black Eyed Peas performed later that night at the Verizon Center.
