In the 1980’s, producers of eco-friendly textiles generally worked under the umbrella of organic food associations. However, they found that the food association was impractical for textile producers because although the growing and harvesting of food and fiber crops were similar, the processing of fibers in preparation to make fabric varied widely. The organic food …
For the past few weeks we’ve been talking about the Green Revolution, and the problem of feeding 9 billion people. With respect to the Green Revolution, opinion is still divided as to how to assess its impact. Vandana Shiva, founder of Navdanya (a movement of 500,000 seed keepers and organic farmers) said that the Green …
Last week I talked about the fears associated with feeding a world population of 7 billion – let alone 9 billion – and mentioned that there are those who see organic agriculture as a niche market, unable to provide the calories needed for those 9 billion. The topic is extraordinarily complex, and we can only …
This year construction will start on a new factory in Bangladesh. It will be called the Grameen Otto Textile Company – and it will be the first textile mill of its kind in the world. A really special mill. But first let me give you some background which seems unrelated, but stick with me: Professor …
Synthetic polymers have experienced almost exponential growth since 1950, and today about 5% of world oil production is used for that purpose. In fact, we will need 25% or more of the current oil production for making polymers by the end of this century. Some synthetic polymers are used to make fibers, and they have …
We’ve pointed out in several blog postings the names of various chemicals that are used in textile processing which are known to cause cancer. These include (but aren’t limited to) antimony, pentachlorophenol, methylene chloride, arsenic, formaldehyde, phthalates, benzenes, PVC, sulfuric acid, acrylonitrile. The fabrics we live with are full of chemicals that are known to …
Many chemicals used in textile processing – and elsewhere in consumer products – have been identified as “endocrine disruptors”. I never paid too much attention to “endocrine disruptors” because it didn’t sound too dire to me – I preferred to stick to something like “carcinogens” because I knew those caused cancer. I knew that endocrine …
Most of the time, we try to share information with you (which tends to be impersonal), but blogs are supposed to be personal. Last week, I had a personal experience I have to talk about. It was an experience that was entirely daunting, and defined for me the kind of mountain we’re trying to climb. …
Fabric might be the only product I can think of which is known by its component parts, like cotton, silk, wool. These words usually refer to the fabric rather than the fiber used to make the fabric. We’ve all done it: talked about silk draperies, cotton sheets. There seems to be a disassociation between the …
We’ve often been asked where we stand on the question of growing fiber crops on agricultural land when so many people go to bed hungry each night. In today’s world, you must add another “F” to the equation: fuel, because there is such a growing interest in biomass as energy. In fact, the picture is …
OEcotextiles 