THE BIOLOGICAL METABOLISM

With the way consumers are these days it makes me question whether consumers even have the power to slow down their rate of consumption. This thought of mine makes me lean towards the biological metabolism, which creates substances that can be returned back into the biological cycle to be consumed by animals and microorganisms. “The idea is to compose these products of materials that can be tossed on the ground or compost heap to safely biodegrade after use—literally to be consumed” (Cradle to Cradle). Although I think the rate of consumption absolutely needs to slow down, whether it be by educating consumers so they are aware of the harm they are doing to the environment or the government implementing laws using biological nutrients can help consumers feel a little better about overconsumption. If this metabolism were implemented, packaging would decay over time and could be used as fertilizers. Even the deterioration of shoe soles would give back to the environment. Soaps and cleaning products made out of liquids would pass through the drain and end up in bodies of water sustaining the environment. An issue lies in what we would do concerning clothing; the idea right now is to combine cotton and PET however the synthetic dyes in PET contain questionable particles. As soon as this issue can be figured out, the biological metabolism could do wonders for our environment concerning sustainability.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

We’ve already acknowledged that there is problem in our world considering over consumption and natural resources. Now it is time to discuss what can we do to in order to help our environment.

Jane Benyus wrote an article Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature, and in the article she discusses a number of principles she felt would be very efficient. One concept I found interesting was Optimize rather than maximize. This spoke about how the United States produces waste so quickly and people no longer value quality. The world is all about quantity over quality, which the situation should be reverse. If companies took the extra time and effort to produce a quality product, consumption would be slowed down. However, we are seeing some changes, consumers are slowly starting to accept and purchase “factory refurbished” products such as computers or stereos. I think that this is a huge step for the world. I know that I go through cell phones at least one every two years and I always try to recycle them to proper locations but even doing that doesn’t mean that the cell phone is refurbished and put back on the market.

Another concept that really interested me was Shop Locally. This idea spoke about how our market strives to be global and a borderless economy. And this is so true, I mean when is the last time you have looked at a product and seen “Made in America”, I know I haven’t seen that in years. This competitive market doesn’t encourage us to adapt to our own environments. We need to be utilizing the resources that surround us instead of having to have something out of our reach. Fletcher in Sustainable Fashion and Textiles wrote about how the transportation process leaves a lot of harm to that country. For instance, the country that produces the product draws upon local resources and therefore results in local pollution.

These concepts are very vital in heading towards a sustainable ecosystem and need to considered for the future.

BIG IDEAS FOR THE FUTURE

It is inevitable that the world is headed in the direction of an ecological crisis with the way consumers use and abuse the Earth. Our actions now are affecting the world drastically and we need to take serious measures immediately in order to slow down the crisis. Consumers need to be educated from early on so that they know of the damage they are causing to the environment every time they run the washing machine or purchase unnecessary purchases.

When reading Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature by Janine Benyus there were many principles I thought could be very efficient if implemented correctly. The principle that she spoke about “Don’t Draw Down Resources” was the one that hit home the most with me. Benyus wrote, “The best predator, for instance, is the one that doesn’t completely eliminate its prey” and I could not agree more (Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature). We are using up resources so quickly that there is no time to replenish them.  The law of sustainability states that as well when speaking about nonrenewable resources, at the same rate of which were are using nonrenewable resources, we should be developing substitutes. Benyus believes that one of the major faults was to introduce the use of nonrenewable resources and I have to agree with her because at the rate we are using these resources leaves no excuse why we are not finding substitutes so that we can slow this process down. And the same goes for renewable resources, we need to either be finding substitutes or we have got to lessen the amount we are using because we leave no amount of time to let this resources replenish.

Another principle that I thought could be very practical was “Use Waste as a Resource”. This proposition states “as a system puts on more biomass, it needs more recycling loops to keep it from collapsing” (Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature). She spoke about a town, Kalundborg, Denmark and their model of an ecopark. “Four companies are collocated, and all of them are linked, dependent on one another for resources or energy (Biomimicry: Innovation inspired by nature). For instance one power company piped some of its waste steam to two other companies which helped power their engines. There was also another pipeline leading to the town with the rest of the waste steam, which powered the town’s heat, terminating the need for oil furnaces. Although I think this would take years and years to implement into our society I think that this could be one of the biggest measures in making our world sustainable.

There are so many options we have in order to help our environment but it all starts with encouraging people to WANT to make a change.

TOMORROW'S PRICE FOR TODAY

When reflecting on my own capacity for future consciousness I was really struck by the concept of self-efficiency in the development of future consciousness, particularly how it could effect an individual’s perception of the social trap mental mode. Believing in one’s ability to accomplish future environmental sustainability is difficult to see with the levels of cooperation that are globally required to achieve such a goal. This can be a strong deterrent in the personal accountability to change.

The “cult of the present” perspective on the Western world colors the damage of the consumer drive; the demands of society have abused the potential for progress in nature and jeopardized the conditions for the future. That development of future consciousness is essential to changing the world. Living from the environmental Golden Rule each generation should meet their own needs without costing future generations is key in solidifying hope in the future.

The wealthiest fifth of humanity is the most accountable for the overconsumption depleting our environment. Our generation has experienced one of unforeseen technological growth, affording new opportunities that have new consequences.  The United States per capita has increased 60% since 1950, “the entire world population decidedly could not live in the style of Americans, with their larger homes, more numerous electrical gadgets, and auto-centered transportation systems” (The Futurist 13). The problem is worldwide with Japan and Western Europeans consumption levels exploding since the 1980s as well. Other less developed economies have just as much interest on increased consumerism, “people in the West think we in Hungary don’t know how they live. Well, we do know how they live, and we want to live like that, too” (The Futurist 12). This obsession with having has created an appetite the earth cannot sustain. The fact that those benefiting from such excess are only a limited number of the Earth’s population is really shocking. The question of personal accountability takes new weight as the fortune of existing in a developed country comes at an even greater price.

Acknowledging that every change has to start somewhere can help motivate as a first step in a change for sustainability. Beyond personal simplicity political confrontation needs to be enacted to create safeguards for the future. Revised tax-systems and subsidies are potential guides in ensuring that industries move towards less environmentally damaging practices. We need to transition away from the obsession at competition by any means and reconsider our actions with an attitude of cooperation towards future consciousness.  

HEMP: THE CORE CROP

Hemp. The word alone brings a series of images running through my head. The one that sits with me the most is an image of a older man with dread locks sitting on his front porch smoking a spliff wearing those horrifying shoes made out of hemp that people have nicknamed “Jesus shoes”. Are my presumptions rightfully so? The DEA as of 1997 seems to believe so even though the fiber itself contains too little of THC (the hallucinogenic substance in marijuana) to even have that sort of effect. Is it time to leave our assumptions of hemp in the past along with the 70’s?

While hemp is most closely associated with linen, which is made from the fibers of the flax plant, linen only occupies 1% of the market share. And while hemp produces significantly quicker than flax (“flax grows once every six or seven years… while hemp can be grown every two or three years”) the benefits of hemp are endless as the uses for the fibers are extremely diverse (Hemp: Historic Fiber Remains Controversial). Hemp does seem like the best alternative to linen but this isn’t where the problem lies, cotton is the most applied fiber in the industry and is also responsible for taking the largest toll on our environment. Cotton is responsible for polluting the water and soil because of use of pesticides, but “because hemp is naturally resistant to mold, bacteria and pests, it is grown without pesticides, herbicides or agricultural chemicals, except some fertilization” (Hemp: Historic Fiber Remains Controversial). The entire hemp plant can be used whether it is for paper, food, and clothing or building materials, it seems almost as if this fiber has no downsides. But before we all get a natural high off the idea of this beneficial fiber there is a drawback. The high cost of hemp due to the multi-stage processing makes it much more expensive when compared to cotton.  The limited quantities available also add to that since only six states in the United States are legally allowed to grow industrial hemp. Hemp Times’ John Howell likes to call this added fee of hemp the “green rate” and believes that people will be willing to pay more knowing the undeniable benefits to our environment.

When reading about the tests that hemp went through to determine its strength when compared to cotton hemp tolerate 19.9 pounds of pressure while cotton could only withstand 12.7 pounds. This made me think about one of my favorite go to items: jeans.  I have had several pairs of jeans split in the crotch area and some of those pairs hadn’t been worn for more than a couple months. If those pairs of jeans were made out of hemp I possibly would never have had that issue of them splitting and me in need for a new pair. This makes me wonder about the demand for jeans, if the life of jeans could be extended by using hemp to construct them people would hold onto pairs for many more years and this could possibly affect the demand for jeans which could possibly result in the industry lessening there production. This leads me to believe hemp could really be a “miracle” fiber.

The documentary Hempsters: Plant the Seed follows the lives of seven hemp activists who are trying to legalize the growth of hemp in the United States. Early on in the film you see the sheriff being called to catch Woody Harrelson in the act of growing hemp. In the same state of Kentucky, Harrelson was growing hemp he was also invited into teacher, Donna Cockrel who is also a hemp activist to speak to her 5^th grade class on the benefits of hemp use. Harrelson even showed off his outfit to the class in which he bragged that everything he was wearing was made out of hemp. The teacher was later fired for bringing Harrelson into her class and the case was settled in court. The activists are very serious in getting the point across of the differences between hemp and marijuana.

COTTON & SUSTAINABILITY

Cotton is the one of the most utilized fibers and can be very tricky due to how susceptible it is to drought, affects from the climate and insect attacks.  Another downside concerning cotton is the colossal amounts of water it requires in cultivation. Cultivation through irrigation requires 10,000-17,000 to produce ONLY 1 kg and while it is applied to 53% of the world’s cotton fields it produces about 73% of the world’s cotton.

When discussing the environmental impact that cotton production causes much land to be abandoned (a SHOCKING 8% of the world) with the sole reason being soil salinsation. “Irrigation water dissolves calcium carbonate and soluble salts in the soil. Since calcium carbonate is relatively insoluble, it accumulates in the topsoil leading to additional salt deposition and water logging.” (The Sustainability of Cotton: consequences for man and environment)  It has been estimated that one third of the land used for irrigation purposes is affected by salinity or in the future will be; this is definitely something that the world needs to start worry about.

“Cotton is produced in more than 100 countries, with 78% of all cotton produced in 6 countries.” China is the main producer of cotton while the United States comes in second. While 90% of the cotton cultivation done by flood-irrigation, “5% furrow, 3% drip and 2% sprinkler irrigation” the United States only is responsible for 41% irrigation. (The Sustainability of Cotton: consequences for man and environment) With China being the main producer of cotton, responsible for 24% of the world’s cotton, new implements in the manufacturing of cotton need to begin here and spread to the other main producers in cotton. Because of the low cost of production in China it seems hard to fathom that a country so efficient in production would change their ways.

When watching a video online called Cotton & Water: White, blue, and green I learned that they spoke about how the “Golden Age of Water is over” and we can no longer afford to waste water in any way. Growing the cotton, the most important of the three primary links in the cotton chain, is seeing the most advancements which leaves me optimistic for the future in cotton.

Cotton Today believes that due to the latest strategies and irrigation systems used today and the fact that most of the cotton production in the United States is done so through rainfall and only uses irrigation during dry periods the world is considerably more proficient in its water use than prior decades.

NATURAL VS SYNTHETIC

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.