Last week we explored using biomass as fuel, and some of the implications in doing that. Previously we looked at using biomass in the world of fabrics and furnishings, which include the new biotech products polylactic acid (PLA) (DuPont’s Ingeo and Sorona fibers) and soy-based foam for upholstery (click here and here to see our …
Global climate change is the major environmental issue of current times. Evidence for global climate change is accumulating and there is a growing consensus that the most important cause is humankind’s interference in the natural cycle of greenhouse gases. (Greenhouse gases get their name from their ability to trap the sun’s heat in the earth’s …
I just saw this powerful video based on a recent editorial by Bill McKibben in the Washington Post on May 23, 2011. Narritation is by Stephen Thomson of Plomomedia.com, who accompanies the piece with striking footage of the events Bill wrote about.
For tens of thousands of years, humans relied on nature to provide them with everything they needed to make their lives more comfortable -cotton and wool for clothes, wood for furniture, clay and ceramic for storage containers, even plants for medicines. But this all changed during the first half of the twentieth century, when organic chemistry developed methods to …
I just read an article about “green marketing” and how the manufacturer should downplay the green aspects of a product because “very few Americans have ever bought stuff because they want to save the planet.”[1] And I agree that most people just want their stuff, not a sermon. But when I hear something along the …
It’s the holiday season – and that usually means gifts. I have begun the annual frenzy and I’m watching my budget – yet I wince each time I hear an ad for an even cheaper price. I’m especially worried by the Old Navy ads for really cheap cashmere sweater. (Click here to read our blog …
OEcotextiles 