At the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM ) Congress in February, 2011, Ann Shankar from Biodye India, a company that produces natural dyes based on wild plants, made a provocative suggestion – that the term “organic textile” is not an accurate description of any textile where synthetic dyes and auxiliaries are used. The …
Illnesses — including remarkable combinations of symptoms — are on the rise. Over the past 50 years, there has been a steady increase in the incidence of children developing cancer[1], asthma[2], attention deficit disorders[3], allergies[4], autoimmune disorders[5], and others. So too are the numbers of chemicals getting mixed inside us (studies have shown that babies …
Back in 2003, the Association for Contract Textiles (ACT), a trade organization for North American manufacturers of contract textiles consisting of many of the big textile companies (click here for members), identified the need for a universal standard to better serve suppliers, distributors and specifiers. According to Petie Davis of NSF International, a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization, …
It looks like the plastic bottle is here to stay, despite publicity about bisphenol A and other chemicals that may leach into liquids inside the bottle. Plastic bottles (the kind that had been used for some kind of consumer product) are the feedstock for what is known as “post-consumer recycled polyester”. Even though plastic recycling appears …
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. …
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 …
Let’s look at just three areas in which your fabric choice impacts you directly: 1. What are residual chemicals in the fabrics doing to you and the planet? 2. What are the process chemicals expelled in treatment water doing to us? 3. Why do certain fiber choices accelerate climate change? RESIDUAL CHEMICALS …
I just don’t know what it takes to change people’s habits. We need a huge wake up call about the disastrous state of our oceans! Our oceans are our life support system. And they’re in trouble. Because this is a blog about textile issues, I wanted to remind you that the textile industry is the …
Last week we talked about the use of salt in textile dyeing. We always say the textile industry uses a LOT of three resources: water, chemicals and energy. The use of salt (a chemical – benign, essential for life, but a chemical nevertheless) bumps up the other two considerably. And though the salt itself is …
OEcotextiles 