Creating A Brighter Future

When thinking about how we can make our world more sustainable over the past few weeks and over the years, we have created a mental mode for ourselves. We all have to come up with a solution to solve these problems in order to achieve the sustainable environment we have all been seeking to develop. I realize that it is hard for people to adjust to routines they are not use to, but in order for us to make a difference and have an impact on the world, we have to learn to adjust to what is best for the environment and ourselves. I believe that limiting consumption, giving more than you take, and being open minded to new opportunities are just a few traits we can take to envision a more sustainable future.  

Limiting Consumption

There are two kinds of consumption, over consumption and under consumption. Neither one is better than the other. According to the article Limiting Consumption: Toward a Sustainable Culture, the political measure that combat consumption plays a huge role due to the advertising industry, shopping culture, government policies, and the weak household and community economies. These four things cause us to be over consumptuous because of the popularity and the want of the newest and latest products.  This article also states, “Whatever share of our acquisitiveness is part of our nature, the compulsion for more has never been so actively promoted, nor so easily acted upon, as it is today.” Being an apparel-merchandising consumer I feel all of us fall short in grasping that being over consumptuous is not sustainable. We hurt our environment more than we help it.  Limiting what we consume and giving back more is another valuable characteristic of being more sustainable.

Giving Back More Than You Take

In the article, Limiting Consumption Toward a Sustainable Culture, the ecological equivalent of the Golden Rule is, we should learn to give back to environment more than we take away from it. By living with this ethical principle, we can take another step towards a sustainable future. This will enable the future generations to carry on what we have started. Specifically, we can limit our consumption but also donate excess garments and interior goods to places such as the Goodwill and allow them to prosper from our poor unconscious purchases. I feel this is an important mental mode to follow in order to grow more environmentally aware and to make a difference.

Open-Mindedness

According to Thinking Ahead: The Value of Future Consciousness, Tom Lombardo states, “opening the mind to future possibilities and raises one’s perceived self efficacy in realizing positive possibilities,” is a very important characteristic in being a cautious consumer.  If we fully grasp this mental mode, we can allow ourselves to be open and wiling to accept the more sustainable solution even if it is different from what we have been doing in the past. With simple steps of being conscious of our mental mode, we can set the framework of new ideas and solutions on a sustainable ground.

When creating a mental mode for ourselves and our future we have to take into consideration these three characteristics; limiting consumption, giving back more than you take, and being open minded to change.  If we start putting these actions into motion, our future generations will benefit from our sustainable ideas and be able to carry out these aspects as well as create new innovation for their future.

Hemp, bamboo, and cotton have all been frowned upon for the way they are used. They have all be perceived one way, when really they are completely different. I do believe they play a large role in the apparel industry, however; I do not think that many people know what the fiber is they are really buying.

According to Hemp: Historic Fiber Remains Controversial, hemp is one of the most versatile and desirable fibers in the world, today. It is also a very popular fiber used in the apparel and interior industry now and has been since the 28^th century B.C. Since 1996, hemp fibers have been in high demand whether it be yarn or woven fabrics but the only way to get it to the United States is to import the fiber. Now, Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani, and Ralph Lauren have started using hemp in many of their products and are hoping to start this trend for other designers to follow. The popularity of this fiber will only continue to grow. Environmentalist and farmers are jumping on the band-wagon with the designers as well.  The network of “hempsters” is also encouraging them to support their fight in legalizing the fiber. Hemp has been compared to cotton but hemp grows without pesticides or chemicals and is also grown faster than cotton. Hemp also beat cotton with a greater tear and tensile strength.

Although this fiber has many positive characteristics to it, it also has a huge negative one. This sounds just like every other fiber we have discussed. The negative side of hemp is that it is believed to be a source for the marijuana plant.  Since it is illegal, farmers cannot grow the plant, even if they wish too. Importing the fiber is very expensive for the United States to buy, therefore; it is expensive for consumers to purchase a pair of shoes that has the controversial hemp fiber in them. I understand how harmful this fiber can be to human beings, but if farmers had some sort regulations on growing the plant the dangers could potentially be eliminated. Legalizing the hemp fiber could be better for our economy. We would not be giving our money to other countries; we would be giving to our own.

Hemp is not the only fiber that has positive and negative characteristics, bamboo does too. Are you Being Bamboozled tells us that bamboo textiles are known to be misleading. The truth about bamboo fibers is that it usually is not bamboo, it is rayon.  Bamboo is a natural fiber, whereas rayon is a manufactured fiber. Manufacturers are misleading their consumers and making them believe they are buying a natural fiber. Are you Being Bamboozled also informs us that there are no real traces of bamboo in a finished rayon product. Rayon fibers use toxic chemicals which causes’ hazardous air pollution. Federal Regulations says, “it must be labeled and advertised using the proper generic name for the fiber, rayon, or “rayon made from bamboo.” Rayon is a manufactured fiber, and according to Fabric Manufacturers, it is strong, durable, and extremely absorbent. Rayon is a popular fiber, but needs to be truthful about their products to their consumers and not misleading them. This is where the controversy begins. Consumers need to be more conscious of product labeling and less vulnerable to advertisement.

Cotton, like bamboo and hemp, also has its positives and negatives. Many believe that organic is the answer, but few know how hard it is to actually become a successful organic cotton grower. Controversy Broiling; GM Cotton Against Organic tells us how genetically modified cotton is being put on the market as organic cotton. After this debacle, they decided to come up with a Third Party Certification system, which has become the system for guaranteeing organic products for world trade. Now that they have no tolerance for fraudulent organic cotton, they have become stricter on who grows this fiber. This certification has made it hard for small organic producers to be certified because of the qualifications that have to be met because they do not want that to happen to them again. They have come up with a small farmers association called Chetna Organic Farmers Association, which is supported by the United States eco centres for utilization of manure. Chetna claims its philosophy rises about a certification, it is reflected more in practice than just in paper. The Chetna Organic Farmers Association has proven that it is reliable and dependable, worldwide. Organic cotton does not only have a large support group, it is also more sustainable than natural cotton. It may be hard to be an organic cotton grower, but it has been proven by the Chetna association that it is possible to do. Cotton has a very high demand, but I feel like 100% organic cotton, not genetically modified cotton, could be in high demand as well. We just have to know where the organic cotton is coming from and if it is from a dependable source, like Chetna Organic Farmers Association.

Hemp, bamboo, and cotton are all different from each other. Yet, each one of them gets misused. Hemp gets used for marijuana, bamboo gets used for misleading rayon labels, and organic cotton gets misused for genetically modified cotton. Consumers need to become more educated on what fibers they are buying and where they are grown. They all have their positives and negatives but we should focus on which ones are 100% organic and if the label reads correctly.

Organic > Pesticides

Being such a t-shirt fan, I find it hard to not buy a soft, comfortable cotton t-shirt despite of the damaging influences it embodies. I feel like there are also more people than not who feel the same way I do. I do believe that the growth of cotton is harmful to our environment because of the human and environmental impacts. Cotton is very common and is the number one fiber used in the apparel industry, which is why we continue to purchase it. In The sustainability of cotton report there are facts that support the unsustainable impacts on human life and the environment.

As we sit here talking about how cotton and other fibers are harmful to our environment, I feel as if we forget how dangerous it can be for the cotton growers. According to The sustainability of cotton article, annually, there are around 40,000 lives lost nationwide due to the pesticide treatments. This is something that could be preventable just by stopping the use of pesticides.  Which, in my opinion, is a valid reason why we should start growing organically.  If you sit and think about it, we are wearing those pesticides on our bodies, which may even be causing harm to ourselves.  The sustainability of cotton report also informs us that a National Cancer Institute Study found that there is a higher risk of leukaemia for children whose parents treated their homes and gardens with pesticides.  These pesticides used to make cotton do not only harm the cotton growers, they are also hurtful to ordinary people trying to grow gardens and keep their homes clean. Along with the negative human impacts, there are a few important environmental impacts.

A lot of people believe that if you put pesticides on something it will grow faster or be stronger or be better, when really it seems to always have a negative impact instead of a positive one. The sustainability of cotton article shows us just how destructive these chemicals are to nature. Once, in Alabama, there was a pesticide contamination runoff that killed 240,000 fish. It is also estimated that around 67 million birds are killed each year due to the use of pesticides. These are just a few examples of the harmful effects that are caused as a side-effect to growing the popular crop.

After watching Today’s Cotton: Fiber –and More video in the Cotton Inc. Multimedia Center it showed me how the rest of the plants are used after they use the fiber and lent for clothing.  They use the rest of the cotton plant for food products, cattle feed, and also mulch.  Although these are positive ways to use the rest of the cotton plants, they do not necessarily out way the damages the pesticides create to our environment.  

There Is Always A Solution To Every Problem.

Have you ever taken a look in your closet and thought, I wonder how many cotton fields this closet consists of?  Probably not because most of us have never cared or have been consciously aware of what fibers our clothes have in them.  Maybe we should all go look in our closet just to see how many articles of clothing consists of cotton or natural fibers and how many consist of synthetic fibers.  I guarantee you; we will all have more natural fibers because cotton is so soft and comfortable on the skin.  Although the question is, “are natural fibers worse for the environment or are synthetic fibers?”  We may be hurting the environment more by wearing those cotton t-shirts we all wear everyday.  Maybe using synthetic fibers is the answer? OR maybe diversity between the two? Now that’s a thought.

In today’s world, everyone is all about “going green,” however, we need to step back and think about what that really means and how “going green” may even be hurting the environment.  Instead of having such a negative perspective on synthetic fibers because they are harmful to the environment or take large amounts of energy to produce, we should think positive and see how they could actually benefit the environment.  Synthetic fibers can be seen as a positive aspect in the apparel industry because these fibers are known for their style longevity and durability.  And instead of being so bias about “natural” fibers, we should consider how harmful they can also be to our environment. 

In Chapter One, Material Diversity, Fletcher shares with us that with 1 kilogram of cotton it takes 8,000 liters of water and 1 kilogram of polyester hardly uses water, if any.  Although, polyester does use twice the energy cotton does to make.  However, cotton is very harmful to the environment due to the water usage, pesticides, and fertilizers used to produce these fibers, synthetic fibers are just as harmful because of the high energy consumption and also the chemicals used to produce these fibers.  Both synthetic and natural fibers have their strengths and their weaknesses.  What we need to do is figure out a way to make them both eco-friendly.

There is always a solution to a problem and Textile Eschange’s, Charline Ducas addresses just that.  She tells us what is harming the environment as well as trends that are being addressed in our environment.  She tells us of a solution to decrease the amount of water, chemicals, and energy used to make the natural and synthetic fibers that is more efficient and less harmful. I personally found the dying process to be the most interesting. Everyone owns a pair of jeans, but no one realizes how much goes into making one pair of jeans.  Ducas share with us a new technology that is currently taking place in the denim industry that consists of dying the fabric and also producing the pair of pants.  Like I said, there is always a solution to a problem, we just have to put in the extra effort to solve the problem, like Ducas. 

So, is using synthetic fibers the answer?