When was the last time you physically went to a store to buy clothing? This question has been plaguing me recently as we’ve remained in quarantine; maybe because I’m a little bit of a shopping addict, I’m having changing room withdrawals, but truly it’s been months now since stores were forced to rethink and reorganize, and while necessary steps had to be taken to ensure proper safety, the shopping experience has greatly changed.
But one thing that has remained the same: the fabrics we use to make clothing. A few weeks ago, I wrote an article “following the cotton” and now would like to continue this journey of recognizing impact by helping you understand more about the fabrics most of your clothes are made from. This is just the first part in what I hope becomes a little bit of a recurring series.
Is cotton good?
The short answer: It depends. I know that’s not a satisfying response, but it truly relies on the context of growth i.e. whether the crop was grown with pesticides or in a closed-loop system with less water and chemicals. We’ve been growing cotton for thousands of years, but recently the environmental impact of this crop has become concerning, especially because of the sheer amount of water used to grow it; for one single t-shirt, it takes around 2,700 liters of water! Cotton also comes with a long history of worker exploitation which continues in many countries to this day such as China and Uzbekistan- a fact that must be remembered when purchasing cotton as a large portion of the global supply comes from these two countries.
So my tip, look for ecologically-grown cotton that doesn’t use pesticides as well as recycled cotton products.
Is silk sustainable?
I love silk. It’s timeless, elegant, and not to mention, has flame retardant and antimicrobial properties. I would be surprised to find someone who really doesn’t like its feel, but the natural fabric does come with some costs, the biggest being that usual production kills the little mulberry silkworm that creates it. Since its discovery by Chinese empress Xi Ling Shi in the 27th century BCE, humans have been spinning raw silk threads into fabric, and while the process can be considered low waste if chemicals aren’t used for cocoon degumming, many activists call out the fact that most silkworms are still boiled and killed during the extraction process to keep the long cocoon strands intact.
Good news though! Innovations have been made in the production process; with certain types of silk known as Ahimsa silk or “peace silk”, silkworms are either allowed to evacuate the cocoon prior to boiling or not harmed at all through the use of castor oil. While GOTS-certified Ahimsa silk can be environmentally friendly, the cost of it can be prohibitive for many. It should be noted though that innovation has also led to silk alternatives such as “spider silk”, which isn’t actually made from the arachnid rather from a fermentation process of yeast.
All in all, silk can be seen as a more sustainable fabric if ethical standards are maintained.
What about synthetic fabrics? What’s the difference between polyester and rayon? What is nylon?
I really cannot describe how much I despise polyester. First off, it’s a type of plastic derived from petroleum, and yes it’s cheap and durable and dominates the clothing industry with worldwide annual production exceeding 22.67 billion tons. but please know its environmental impact is just terrible. Most are not biodegradable, and many of the dyes- those known as disperse dyes- used to make these fabrics stain resistant yet colorful create toxic runoff that endangers the greater environment. Furthermore, because the production process requires intensive heating and mass amounts of water to cool, it threatens many of the vulnerable communities that it is often done in. The last thing I’ll mention are the microfibers; they are small enough to pass through sewage treatment plants and find their way into wastewater that then runs off into larger bodies of water and is eaten by ocean life, which can eventually end up in us, so o if you must buy polyester, go for second-hand- lots of good things are hiding on resale platforms like Depop!
Not all synthetic fabrics are as damaging as polyester, but nylon, the world’s first totally synthetic fiber developed around WWII, has a chemically intensive production process that uses comparable amount of water and energy. Nylon fibers are made from heating up carbon chemicals that are then spun into thread, and again these chemicals come from crude oil and create a plastic. It is a stretchy plastic though, so we use it heavily in swimwear and sportswear, but again its environmental impact is just as bad as polyester.
Ok, so now we’ve talked about two of the most heavily used fabrics in the fashion industry, especially the fast fashion industry of today, let me burst your bubble about rayon, also known as viscose rayon. Viscose is a general term that can be applied to any fabric that is derived from plant cellulose. Rayon viscose comes from wood pulp that is treated with a mix of caustic chemicals such as carbon disulphide and then spun into a fine thread. It is quite a soft fabric, fragile and highly absorbent as well, but just like most synthetic fabrics, it is highly polluting. Modal Rayon has come about which requires less chemical treatment, but it comes with its own disadvantages as well.
So what do you when most clothes are made from synthetic fabrics? Again, buy second-hand! Where you put your dollar does count, look for innovative recycled options that are available and being developed as well such as Econyl made in a closed loop system. While these recycled fabrics still come with the issue of microfiber pollution, they are a commendable effort in trying to make synthetics better.
What about all the bamboo fabrics I’ve been hearing about?
Oh bamboo, how you seem to be sustainable because of how you’re harvested not at the root like cotton and because you do require less water to grow as well as no pesticides, but sadly, your manufacturing process is not much better than other fabrics. Well truly, it depends on how the bamboo is processed into fiber because there are a few ways. If it’s bamboo linen, then raw bamboo fibers were spun into thread, but this fabric is more coarse and not in as much demand as its softer, chemically treated sister bamboo rayon. Remember our little discussion about rayon before!
A lot of bamboo rayon is made through the viscose process, which produces a lot of hazardous waste; however, in recent years, developments have been made in creating a closed loop process that recaptures and reuses almost 99% of the chemical solution used, but this system is not widely in use.
So is bamboo sustainable? When grown under the right conditions, it can be a highly sustainable crop, but because most of its manufacturing is through the rayon process, it is not the perfect answer. It might be less costly to produce than cotton and less chemically intensive as polyester, but its manufacturing has a long way to go to be truly seen as an eco-friendly alternative to conventional fabrics.
Kat Delviscio
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