As a designer and a lover of synthetics you never want to
hear anyone, especially a colleague, dismiss a fiber to which you are so
attached. So one day when I was
hanging around the water cooler at work during my break, I was approached and
urged by a co-worker to choose natural materials over synthetics for
sustainability reasons it really made me start to wonder... How is my love and use of polyester
effecting the environment? And how
do synthetic fibers compare to natural fibers? The argument between natural and
synthetic fibers is a tough one because while the benefits of cotton triumph
those of polyester regarding energy consumption, the amount of water used to
produce just 1 kg of cotton is extensive and well succeeds the amount used in
polyester. Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys states that
cotton and polyester combined are used for over 80 percent of textiles and this
is to where our focus needs to be.
In the past 80 years the time output of cotton has
TRIPLED! We can attribute that to
the use of large amounts of pesticides and fertilizers used in order to speed
up the process which in return has resulted in a wide variety of very harmful
impacts on the environment including, “reduced soil fertility, loss of
biodiversity, water pollution; pesticide-related problems including resistance;
and severe health problems.” One
of the main factors that really needs to be addressed in the use of cotton is
the considerable amount of water that is used. One kg of cotton can drain us of as much as 8000 litres of water and
while it is noted that the rain is also used as a source of water, this natural
fiber is draining our supply of natural resources!
Organic cotton seems much more efficient to cotton because of the major decline in toxicity profile however the increase in demand of manual labor and cost it requires makes people seem to be hesitant to convert. Producing cotton with low water seems to be the most desirable option despite the fact that the cotton is assembled at a lower level of quality. If companies and manufacturers were mandated into only producing cotton with low water amounts it would result in conserving one of the worlds natural resources.
And on the other hand we have polyester, one of the most utilized synthetic fibers, which uses little to no water in the cultivation of 1 kg. And while that is an enormous positive when comparing it to cotton, my favorite synthetic is manufactured from petrochemicals, which is derived from petroleum, also a natural resource. If the discharge is untreated sodium bromide, heavy metal cobalt, manganese salts, antimony oxide (FYI: is a carcinogen!) are all immersed into the air and water harming our environment.
The alternative to polyester would be Poly(lactic acid) aka
PLA which is a thermoplastic polyester and unlike polyester it is formulated
completely from renewable sources. Besides that it is derived from renewable resources it also saves energy
and produces fewer emissions. However there are downfalls, besides emitting a greenhouse gas it
requires demanding agriculture.
Hannah-
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your blog I loved your introduction this week! I had no idea polyester was so harmful to the environment. I was very surprised by the very limited polyester fiber alternatives that are currently available. I couldn't believe that although poly(lactic acid) is a renewable resource that doesn't contain fossil fuels, it still has many potential risks that could be damaging to the environment. "These include the negative effects associated with large-scale, intensive agriculture and the problems associated with landfilled biopolymers with the generation of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas." (Sustainable Fashion and Textiles) I agree with you that organic cotton has many positive benefits, but do to the relatively higher costs compared to conventionally grown cotton many people are skeptical. I think your solution to regulate the amount of water consumption used in the production of conventionally grown cotton would be well received by people in the industry. What are your thoughts concerning the alternative use of drip irrigation in cotton production? After reading Sustainable Fashion and Textiles, are you more hesitant to buy clothing made from synthetic fibers? Great work this week I found your blog very enjoyable!
Bree-
ReplyDeleteThank you for your feedback on my blog! Drip irrigation can save up to 30% in water consumption which makes it a much better alternative and although it is only suitable where hand picking is the harvesting method I think this method needs to be the only method used in those areas! After reading Sustainable Fashion and Textiles it makes me more hesitant to buying clothing made from synthetic fibers and natural fibers. It also will make me more aware for future purchases now that I know the impact these fibers have on the environment.
Hannah-
ReplyDeleteI agree, drip irrigation would be a great alternative for more sustainable cotton production. However, the drip irrigation process seems a bit tedious and I think if it was further refined to promote higher levels of efficiency more people would be more inclined to use this as an alternative method for cotton production. Likewise, the synthetic and natural fiber content will definitely impact my clothing and textile purchases in the future.
I agree that drip irrigation would be a good alternative for certain areas, however it is tedious, like Bree said, and a lot of people would not want to use it. Great job on your blog! I really found interesting the part about PLA I did not know it was completely formulated from renewable sources!
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