Creating a Sustainable Future

From what I have learned these past few weeks, there has to be a significant change in the mental mode of the way we as consumers picture our future. Our mental mode shapes the way we envision and see our world, whether we are optimistic or pessimistic about the future sustainability of our world. Personally, there are three characteristic that are important in being more conscious about the sustainability of our actions and thinking optimistically and they include educating ourselves, becoming more habitual on recycling and creating foresight for the future.

Education

The past blog posts I have stressed how important it is to be educated on every aspect of our consumption decisions. I truly believe that the more educated a person is, that more informed decision can be made which results in a better decision making process. Education can take us in the right direction towards a sustainable future because if we know the latest information about a particular fiber or how it is produced, we can make decisions on whether our environment will benefit from the consumption of this product or not. The article, Limiting Consumption discusses the importance of knowing how our ecosystems are affected by our actions and how consumption goes full circle. One has to believe that educating themselves on the products and resources used and the time and effort it takes to become fully educated is worth it.

Recycling

Another huge habit that one must create in order to become more individually sustainable is the habit of recycling. I feel that our generation has been able to shed some light on the importance of recycling and has even taken it one step further into making it “the cool thing to do.” The reason I believe this has become a “cool thing” is the recyclable shopping bags. The bags have been made in multiple different colors and sizes and are very trendy right now. I have seen these bags anywhere from the grocery store, to the public libraries all the way to campus and class. As opposed to filling our landfill with recyclable goods, if we take the extra effort necessary to recycle, we can ultimately help the apparel and interior industries by providing materials that can be used to create products. This will create an interconnected cycle, linking all of us to a sustainable future.

Foresight

Another characteristic that I believe we should be conscious of is foresight for our future. The article, Thinking Ahead: The Value of Future Consciousness discusses this very concept. We all poses the ability to imagine our future and so we should shift our mental mode from a pessimistic stand point, “it doesn’t matter what I do because I am just one person,” to an optimistic point of view, “I want to create the best possible future for myself.” The article specifically states that we need to “challenge existing habitual beliefs about [our] ability to influence the future.” We have the ability to change our world and consumers mental modes to create a sustainable world by consciously thinking about our education, recycling habits and having an optimistic foresight.

The article, Visioneering: an essential framework in sustainability science,  Joon Kim states “sustainability remains an elusive concept and its nature seems unclear for the most part.” I agree with this quote 100%. The topic of a sustainable future is very hard to grasp and most wonder if we can ever become a truly sustainable culture. But I believe that if we focus on education, recycling and the foresight of a sustainable future we can become a truly sustainable culture.

Miracle Fibers: Hemp, Bamboo, Cotton

Hemp

According to the article, Hemp: Historic Fiber Remains Controversial, hemp has been a durable material that has been common in apparel and interior products since 28^th Century B.C. This textile has grown increasingly popular in the U.S. and consumers have become more aware of its versatility. Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren have incorporated this fiber in their designs which enhances the fibers popularity on a designer level as well. Along with apparel popularity, farmers have also turned to growing the popular crop instead of less popular ones like tobacco. Farmers can benefit from planting hemp because water quality can be improved because the plant doesn’t need pesticides in order to grow which also decreases harmful run off. Along with the growing popularity, there has been some controversy with the fiber as well. One of the concerns is that this fiber is also grown and harvested for the illegal drug, marijuana. Because of this controversy, it is legal to import hemp fibers and processed seeds but illegal for farmers to actually grow the plant. This poses a hardship on some farmers that are interested in growing the plant in order to make a substantially large profit by selling it to apparel and interior manufacturers. By having to import the fibers products we are spending money in other countries that are capable of growing the plant instead of stimulating our own economy. I believe that growing and farming the popular and durable fiber should be legal in the U.S. based off the several benefits this crop provides to economy and environment.

Bamboozled

“With the tremendous expansion of green claims in today’s marketplace, it is particularly important for the FTC to address deceptive environmental claims, so that consumers can trust that the products they buy have the environmentally friendly attributes they want,” ‐ David Vladeck, Director of FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection

This statement can be found on the back of the “Guidance from Consumer Advocates” brochure. This brochure and statement address a growing concern that manufacturers are mislabeling their products as bamboo when they are actually made from rayon. The controversy of mislabeling this product is detrimental to the consumer. The consumer believes that they are buying products made from this soft, natural product when in actuality they are purchasing a product that is manufactured and not grown. Rayon is made using toxic chemicals which is not environmentally sustainable, where as bamboo is found and grown in the natural environment. Federal Regulations holds the manufacturers responsible to correctly labeling the product as “rayon made from bamboo” so the consumer knows that the product is not actually made from hemp. Advertising is where the consumer is misled and where the controversy starts. The product is promoted as being made from bamboo but the fine print tells a different story. Consumers need to be aware of the labeling and not so concerned with the advertising and promotion of bamboo products.

Cotton

In a previous blog, I discussed the controversy of cotton and whether it is a sustainable crop. There are many arguments surrounding this fiber and whether it is as environmentally friendly as we, the consumers, like to believe. The article, Controvery Boiling; Gm Cotton Against Organic, states that there is no simple answer to this question. In order for the crop to be environmentally friendly, the farmer must grow the crop to the 100% organic standards. This standards includes using just rainfall as a water source and not having to plow the fields after every harvest. When deciding to grow the crop, the farmer has to solely rely on the environment and weather conditions. If it is not grown in an organic standard, the farmer can manipulate the field to the perfect conditions that cotton requires. This harms the environment because of the substantial water wasted and chemicals used. I would like to believe that we can shift to supporting only farmers and manufacturers that use 100% organic standards but this fiber is in such high demand that I don’t think it will every reach the point of being sustainable.

Miracle Fibers

When considering these controversial fibers in the design and merchandising aspects, I think it is very important to be highly educated on each fiber and where the products are coming from. We must find out if these fibers are 100% organic. And as buyers we should ask, are the products correctly labeled and should we support fibers grown outside the country or look for manufacturers that use fibers grown locally? As consumers, we must ask ourselves the same questions. We need to read the fine print in the labels and verify if a company produces products that are made from fibers that are 100% organic. If we take the time to understand the answers to these questions, we will take one more step to becoming a more sustainable industry.

I want 100% Organic Cotton please

As an apparel industry consumer and avid shopper, the first thing I take notice of the garment, after fit, is the fiber content. I prefer the feel and wear of cotton to wool and tend to shy away from synthetic fiber contents even if the fit is nice. Cotton is a very popular fiber and is the most used fiber used in manufacturing apparel: if a garment is not 100% cotton, there is a very high chance that there is a blend in which cotton is used. With the mass production of garments that contain cotton, come the side effects of producing and manufacturing this fiber.

After reading The sustainability of cotton, I was informed, in-depth, on issues that I never even considered when I was out shopping for new garments with my friends. The article addresses just some of the affects that growing cotton can have on the environment but goes into a lot of detail and provides some valid information. Some of the topics include the water use, erosion and land use. One of the pressing environmental issues is our use of water and how to limit wasting this valuable resource. Water is a major factor when growing cotton and unless the cotton is organically grown and uses just rain water from the region, many farmers use excess water in order to grow the crop. Another issue addressed in the reading was land erosion and the lack of control and management farmers are required to have on preventing land erosion. Another issue I found interesting was the use of land, specifically for growing cotton. There are limitations on where the crop can be grown because of the environmental factors such as climate and soil type. In order to improve the quality of the land, many times synthetic fertilizers are used which consequently have an impact on the natural environment. These are just some of the negative consequences when growing the in-demand fiber.

On the flip side, the Cotton, Inc website offers valuable information through informative videos that led me to form the opinion that the cultivation of cotton has the potential to be sustainable. I use the term “potential” because unless all farmers step up and take the information in the videos seriously and actually implement them into their management program, and consumers agree to recycle cotton then cotton will continually have a negative effect on our environment.

I formed this opinion based on two videos I watched from Cotton, Inc’s Multimedia Center. The first video was called Recycled Denim Insulation. In Phoenix, Arizona, a company manufactures home insulation from recycled jeans. This helps address the issue of reducing pollution and along with insulating homes, denim can also help clean oil spills and feed the hungry. In the second video titled Protecting and Preserving Soil with Today’s Cotton-Growing Techniques, the issue of land use was addressed. Farmers would forgo plowing fields into “pretty lines” and plant the crop in the residue. This would help protect soil with the residue so it wouldn’t wash away as easily and reduce erosion. Also it would help soak up rain fall better and allow for more water to be absorbed by the crop. Lastly, there would be more organic matter which resulting in more carbon absorbed from the atmosphere and is trapped in the soil.

Natural vs. Synthetic Fibers

There is another pressing issue that is recently causing some controversy in the apparel industry: the debate of whether natural or synthetic materials are better for the environment. Natural fibers include; cotton, linen, hemp and silk and synthetic fibers include a wide range of materials like nylon, polyester and acrylic.

The first chapter from the book Sustainable Fashion and Trade by Kate Fletcher focuses on the sustainable idea of material diversity. The chapter discusses that the apparel industry is dominated by the use of similar products and thus using similar materials in order to produce products in large quantities. Right now, there is a big push for “all natural” products which include 100% cotton or linen or even hemp products. There is a misconception that “all natural” products are better for the environment. According to Fletcher, producing natural products can be just as harmful as producing synthetic ones. For every one kilogram of cotton, 8,000 liters of water is used and when producing the same weight of polyester products, very little water is used but it takes twice the energy to produce polyester products than cotton.  

This is where the concept of material diversity comes into play. Apparel manufacturers and designers should use a wide range of materials in order to not deplete one fiber. Fletcher states, the choice of fiber “is central to what a textile or garment is; only that it is one amid many interconnected factors influencing overall product sustainability.” I find this quote to hold a lot of weight in considering whether or not all natural is the right decision for the environment. I think it is important to diversify one’s closet with the materials and fibers used as to not over use one product and essentially run out of the product or the materials used in order to produce said fiber.

Diversity does not just pertain to the fibers used but also the way they are produced.Textile Eschange’s Charline Ducas discusses a few interesting trends that are currently being addressed along with the harmful effects on the environment. The topic of the use of chemicals to manufacture apparel products was especially interesting to me. There are so many steps and products used to produce one article of clothing and each of these factors can have a huge impact on the environment.

This debate has two very strong sides that contain both positive and negative impacts on the consumer and the environment. The material and fiber choice is the first stepping stone in the production of apparel products and could possibly be the most important choice a designer will make.