How many of you have that favorite T-shirt that you just love to wear on a lazy day. I bet all of you immediately thought of one particular t-shirt. Go ahead, go check that t-shirt and see what the fiber content is on it. My favorite comfy day t-shirt is made out of 100% cotton. I bet your favorite is either 100% cotton or at least a mixture of cotton and polyester. Although cotton t-shirts are some of the most comfy pieces of apparel we can buy, there are a lot of wasteful processes that go into making those shirts.
There are several effects that growing cotton can have on the environment. According to The Sustainability of Cotton, land and water use are two of the big ones, but there are other damages as well. A lot of water is used to grow cotton; sometimes it is mainly rainwater used to grow it, but in times of drought or when there has been little rainfall a farmer has to use a lot of water from wells or ponds to make it grow. Did you know that it takes256.6 gallons of water to grow, clean, and process just one t-shirt. Land erosion is an even bigger issue; soil can only be used to grow so many plants and crops before all the nutrients and luster are used up. A lot of farmers have different pastures that they use on different years to grow the same crops. The alternate which pasture they use each year to let the soil rest and rebuild nutrients.
Another big thing effecting the environment is the use of pesticides on cotton crops. The farmers use pesticides to keep bugs from ruining the crop and the pesticides eventually make there way into our lakes and rivers through water runoff cause by rain. According to The Sustainability of Cotton, around 13% of cotton plants have been sprayed with pesticides by airplane. This is extremely hazardous because it goes into the air and can drift into neighboring communities. Other methods are using tractors to spray and hand spraying. This is better for everyone except the farmers applying it because they usually end up either breathing it in or getting it on themselves. Even though that is better for all but the farmer, the pesticides still get into our water-stream.
After reading all of this information, we kind of have to wonder if the impacts on our environment and on ourselves are worth the soft, comfy clothes we all have. Isn't it worth it to find a t-shirt that is almost as comfy and made with a lot less water and pesticides. In last weeks blog I talked about how synthetic fibers were better and more economically friendly than natural ones and I think this weeks reading has justified last weeks claims even more. I think it is time to find a better fiber and a better t-shirt.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
Preference and Perseverance
As I mentioned in my last post, we can use plastic bottles to make synthetic polyester. Although it does take lots of energy to turn those bottles into fabric, it at least takes several bottles out of landfills and into peoples closets as useful items. In the debate over synthetic vs. natural fabrics some people have strong opinions on which is better. I find Synthetic to be better because of recycling, animal friendly, and less polution.
According to Sustainable Commercial Interiors, synthetic fibers actually have a cleaner production cycle than natural fibers. The dying and additives are the most harmful cycles in creating fabrics which are needed more in natural fibers than in synthetic. Synthetic being cleaner is actually an advantage over natural fibers. Synthetic fibers can be created by melting down products that already exist instead of growing new ones; this creates less waste than natural fibers. If we can continue to find ways to make synthetic materials while using less energy and creating safer environments for workers than there would be no downside to synthetic materials.
Natural fibers still have to be processed which uses energy and is not the most animal friendly fiber. Silk is created because a moth spins a cocoon that is a silk fiber. People can either wait for the moth to emerge and get several short threads that will have to later be attached again. or they can take it with the moth inside(which kills the moth) and get a very long silk fiber. Wool is taken from sheep and other animals by shearing them. The sheep remain unharmed from this but there are several sheep at each farm and they are only there to be sheared each time they get a long enough coat. It is a sad life for these animals and all just to get fibers to be sold to manufacturers. It is also creating more and more things to be consumed and is not really promoting using things that already exist to create more things. They also need lots of cleaning and maintenance to be converted into fabric and create water pollution hazards.
After doing this research I have decided that I am more in favor of synthetic fibers over natural fibers because synthetic fibers do not take much more energy to turn into fabric and do not hurt animals to make. They also can be created using products sitting in landfills and is basically a form of recycling. Natural fibers are good in some forms, but getting silk and wool hurt moths and means that some sheep are only kept because of their wool. It also results in the tearing down of trees to make things. If we could find a way to create fibers while using less energy than they would definitely be the superior fiber. The only advantage that natural fibers have over synthetic is that they are biodegradable, but synthetic are usually recyclable which gives natural fibers less of an advantage.
According to Sustainable Commercial Interiors, synthetic fibers actually have a cleaner production cycle than natural fibers. The dying and additives are the most harmful cycles in creating fabrics which are needed more in natural fibers than in synthetic. Synthetic being cleaner is actually an advantage over natural fibers. Synthetic fibers can be created by melting down products that already exist instead of growing new ones; this creates less waste than natural fibers. If we can continue to find ways to make synthetic materials while using less energy and creating safer environments for workers than there would be no downside to synthetic materials.
Natural fibers still have to be processed which uses energy and is not the most animal friendly fiber. Silk is created because a moth spins a cocoon that is a silk fiber. People can either wait for the moth to emerge and get several short threads that will have to later be attached again. or they can take it with the moth inside(which kills the moth) and get a very long silk fiber. Wool is taken from sheep and other animals by shearing them. The sheep remain unharmed from this but there are several sheep at each farm and they are only there to be sheared each time they get a long enough coat. It is a sad life for these animals and all just to get fibers to be sold to manufacturers. It is also creating more and more things to be consumed and is not really promoting using things that already exist to create more things. They also need lots of cleaning and maintenance to be converted into fabric and create water pollution hazards.
After doing this research I have decided that I am more in favor of synthetic fibers over natural fibers because synthetic fibers do not take much more energy to turn into fabric and do not hurt animals to make. They also can be created using products sitting in landfills and is basically a form of recycling. Natural fibers are good in some forms, but getting silk and wool hurt moths and means that some sheep are only kept because of their wool. It also results in the tearing down of trees to make things. If we could find a way to create fibers while using less energy than they would definitely be the superior fiber. The only advantage that natural fibers have over synthetic is that they are biodegradable, but synthetic are usually recyclable which gives natural fibers less of an advantage.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Where Fashion Ends Up
Did you know that you can make clothes out of plastic bottles. Who would think that something hard and sharp when cut could be turned into something comfortable. Eco-fi is a company that takes old plastic bottles and turns them into soft synthetic yarns and fabrics. They start buy breaking up they bottles into tiny flakes and then heat it into a liquid and then turn it into yarn. I thought this was a very interesting way to use old plastic bottles to create a useful product.(http://eartheasy.com/wear_ecospun.htm).
There are other companies that are also trying hard to help the environment while still making apparel and fashion accessories. Marks and Spencer, a large retailer in the UK, has started practicing sustainable alternatives to try and off balance the high consumption hurting the environment. They are also making conditions safer for their workers and more humane for animals. They are also trying to encourage their customers to only wash loads of laundry when the load is full. I think that this company is trying to successfully improve the quality of life for everyone. However, I also feel that one company doing this is not going to help the environment very much; it is a start though. I think that if one company starts this than that will lead to more companies trying to implement these policies as well. The more companies that try these things I think will significantly help the environment and a lot more people would be happier and safer because of it.
If more companies and people feel the need to do their part to help the planet than I think we can make an impact on the damage that has been done. If people continue to keep consuming without worrying about the consequences than I think that we might end up with a lot more landfills. Landfills filled with belongings that someone else might have wanted, and clothes that someone else could have worn.
There are other companies that are also trying hard to help the environment while still making apparel and fashion accessories. Marks and Spencer, a large retailer in the UK, has started practicing sustainable alternatives to try and off balance the high consumption hurting the environment. They are also making conditions safer for their workers and more humane for animals. They are also trying to encourage their customers to only wash loads of laundry when the load is full. I think that this company is trying to successfully improve the quality of life for everyone. However, I also feel that one company doing this is not going to help the environment very much; it is a start though. I think that if one company starts this than that will lead to more companies trying to implement these policies as well. The more companies that try these things I think will significantly help the environment and a lot more people would be happier and safer because of it.
If more companies and people feel the need to do their part to help the planet than I think we can make an impact on the damage that has been done. If people continue to keep consuming without worrying about the consequences than I think that we might end up with a lot more landfills. Landfills filled with belongings that someone else might have wanted, and clothes that someone else could have worn.
Friday, January 20, 2012
The Big Picture: what can be done to save the future
Do you ever like to think about childhood memories? There are times when I think back to when I was a child and going to the zoo and seeing Polar Bears. Also about seeing all the beautiful pictures of glaciers and ice. It makes me sad to think that possibly my children and most likely my grandchildren will not get to experience these things that seem so common to us now. The children of the future will only know stories and pictures of things we thought would always be here. Polar Bears will be to them what Woolly Mammoths are to us...A thing of our ancestors and a thing of the past.
I knew that things in the ecosystems had changed rapidly in recent years but I had no idea how fast until I read Ecosystems and Human Well-Being by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. The destruction didn't become so rapid until around the 1950's and has only increased since. I had never before heard that converting land into cropland was a problem; also, that rivers and dams are now holding 3 to 6 times as much water as before. The MA says that it is likely for damages to increase even more rapidly in the next fifty tears as well.
A book, titled A New Green History of the World, has a chapter about Easter Island that also fits into this subject. A small Isolated tribe used everything they could find in their small surrounding to survive. They eventually used everything until they had to resort to cannibalism just to survive. It would take several centuries for humans to do this to the world, but our ridiculous amount of consumption could leave us in the same boat eventually unless we all attempt to reverse the damage that we have caused.
I believe that the time has come and gone to save the Polar Bears, but I do believe we have time to save the planet if we can work together as a society to reverse the damage humans have caused to the planet. According to global warming-prevention.com there are 20 things that we can do to reduce bad effects of global warming. I wont list all of them but I will list the ones that are easiest for everyone to do. We can drive less and carpool when possible, use nontoxic cleaning supplies, decrease air travel, consider buying an electric or hybrid vehicle, buy energy efficient light bulbs like CFLs or LEDs, choose energy efficient appliances, plant a tree, unplug electronics when they aren't being used, and cut out buying heavily packaged items to decrease garbage. Even if we can't reverse the effects of global warming I believe that if everyone can at least reduce a few of these things during their week then we can preserve what we have now and not loose anything else that seems everyday to us now.
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