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 …
I have an apology to make: I made a statement last week that turns out to be incorrect, based on experience from years ago. I said “it’s not unusual to find a GOTS certification logo on a product – because it’s hard to get, and those who have it certainly want to display the logo. …
If you agree with me that a third party certification is a way to give us the most unbiased, substantive information about the environmental performance of a fabric, let’s look at third party certifications which are on the market and which test finished textiles. It’s important to know what each certification is telling us, both …
We published this blog almost two years ago, but the concepts haven’t changed and we think it’s very important. So here it is again: Although most of the current focus on lightening our carbon footprint revolves around transportation and heating issues, the modest little fabric all around you turns out to be from an industry …
I got a call awhile ago from Harmony Susalla, founder and chief designer for Harmony Art (if you haven’t seen her glorious fabrics go right now to http://www.harmonyart.com). She was wondering about optical brighteners, and I discovered I couldn’t tell her much except to say that some are derived from benzene, which is a chemical …
Since the 1960s, the use of synthetic fibers has increased dramatically, causing the natural fiber industry to lose much of its market share. In December 2006, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2009 the International Year of Natural Fibres (IYNF); a year-long initiative focused on raising global awareness about natural fibers with specific focus on …
A recent report in The Financial Times of Germany alleged that a ‘gigantic fraud’ was taking place in the sale of cotton garments marked as organic by leading European retailers like H&M, C&A and Tchibo, because they actually contained genetically modified (GM) cotton. GM cotton (often called Bt cotton in India) is prohibited in …
Water. Our lives depend on it. It’s so plentiful that the Earth is sometimes called the blue planet – but freshwater is a remarkably finite resource that is not evenly distributed everywhere or to everyone. The number of people on our planet is growing fast, and our water use is growing even faster. About 1 …
I have been saying for years that fabric is the forgotten product. People just don’t seem to care about what their fabric choices do to them or to the environment. (Quick, what fiber is your shirt/blouse made of? What kinds of fibers do you sleep on?) They are too busy to do research, or they’re …
Why did the manufacturers of children’s bedding and clothing, who urged the Consumer Product Safety Commission to exempt their products from the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, consider their products safe from lead residues? In many instances the bedding and clothing designed for children are made from naturally grown fibers, often organically grown fibers. …
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