If you've ever looked into getting a patent, it's expensive (for a normal person not making much money), like thousands of dollars. I don't have that kind of extra money right now, and a provisional patent application is only $100. This will suffice until I can get funding so I can still test my idea, because the "patent pending" status would protect it from being stolen.
I'm not a programmer. The last time I did anything technical was about 20 years ago, when I taught myself basic HTML in order to make a fancy Angelfire website for my 13 year-old musings. Needless to say, that is not the career path I followed. That being said, I am willing to learn, but my efforts would probably be best used establishing connections throughout the various companies, factories and contractors who would need to be onboard in order for this to actually work. So yes, I am looking for a technical co-founder, one who actually cares about making a difference in the world. I'm not desperate, my husband is a test manager and has plenty of contacts. I just saw the posters comments and felt that we are in the same mindset, which is crucial for co-founders.
Would you be interested in co-founding a startup with me? I currently work in fashion and feel the same disgust/dissatisfaction with my current business as you've described with yours.
I want to build an industry-wide platform which will help clothing companies reduce waste as well as promoting (smaller) companies who are already working to do this.