posted by Helen and Mae Betts
So far we have posted several items which reuse fabric or are designed to prolong the life of garments, but I also wanted to pass on some information about options to consider for new but environmentally friendly fabrics.
I first met Mae nearly ten years ago. To this day I have yet to meet anyone else who is so commited to living in harmony with our planet. For her wedding, Mae knitted a beautiful dress in bamboo fibre. When I wanted to post about sources of 'eco-friendly' fabric, I knew straight who to turn to for advice. In fact the response I received was so detailed there seemed little point in re-writing it. I hope you won't mind Mae! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm with us:
The fabrics and fibres that I have managed to source for my own use are:
Organic cotton fabric (simply to use as floor sheets for our yoga classes)
Organic linen
(both from Greenfibres)
'Baby Bamboo' - bamboo-wool mix yarn
'Just Soya' - 100% soya yarn
'Eco Wool' - sheep's wool in natural colours, undyed
(all made by Sirdar and from my local yarn shop)
'Bamboo Tape' - 100% bamboo yarn
(made by Rowan and from my local yarn shop)
I have bought clothes and towels in organic cotton, hemp, soya and bamboo. What I am aware constitutes good practice are the following:
- organic cotton is certified organic by bodies such as the Soil Association
- the dyes used to colour the fabrics are also environmentally friendly, in particular, look for 'azo-free' dyes
- the fabrics do not contain other harmful substances used to treat the material, for example, a typical cotton t-shirt can be only 73% cotton with the rest being made up of dyes and chemicals
- if the fabric is white, look for what is called 'eco-white', that is not having been chlorine bleached
I read recently that conventional cotton fields only have 0.3% live matter in the soil, and the soil is hard like tarmac. Organic cotton fields have five times that, and the earth is more springy underfoot, making it a happy place for earthworms, and porous enough to hold water. Many chemicals used in cotton farming are acutely toxic. There is more information on the environmental and human cost of pesticide use in conventional cotton production here:
http://www.pan-uk.org/Projects/Cotton/Resources/downloads/deadly.htm
http://www.peopletree.co.uk/content/organic_cotton_fibre.php
And more on organically-produced textiles here:
http://www.soilassociation.org/Takeaction/Buyorganic/Textiles/FAQs/tabid/344/Default.aspx
Here are links to online stores where you can purchase eco friendly textiles:
Greenfibres
a good range of organic cottons, wools, linens and hemp
http://www.greenfibres.com/product/2/materials--fabrics.htm
Gossypium
a range of organic cotton fabrics
http://www.gossypium.co.uk/
click on 'Materials and Fabrics'
Well Cultivated
a good range of bamboo fabrics
http://www.wellcultivated.co.uk/bamboo-fabric
Here is a useful interesting guide to the different eco friendly fabrics:
http://www.wellcultivated.co.uk/blog/2008/12/eco-fabrics-%E2%80%93-sorting-the-truth-out-from-the-hype/
very interesting. I'll have to see if there are any suppliers in New Zealand.
Posted by: Claire Carroll | August 17, 2010 at 11:02 PM