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?
Grace, yes growing cotton can be harmful for the earth, but learning and growing cotton organically reduces the impacts of the harm cotton has. Per the Material Diversity, the greatest sustainability challenge for cotton lies in reducing pesticide, fertilizer and water use and promoting better information and conditions to farmers. By cultivating cotton organically, addresses many of these issues. Charline Ducas's video is one step into making people aware that we need a change because what we are doing is not going to last much longer because of the impacts. Organic cotton may not be as strong, but if we changed our ways of over-cleaning, we just might be able to make them last just as long, but there will have to be a change made first.
ReplyDeleteMaegan, I agree, organically grown cotton will be a solution to many people we face today. Organic, natural, and synthetic all have their positive aspects and negative aspects, we just have to figure out a way for the apparel industry to stop wasting so much synthetic fibers that are damaging the environment in the landfills, as well as finding a solution to keep natural fibers from destroying the environment. I feel that being apparel students, we are a little bias about natural fibers because we like to change our wardrobes frequently and we know natural fibers are biodegradable and not harming the environment once we throw them out. But so many people out there do not enjoy buying new clothes, they do not care to have the newest and latest trends, they want their clothes to keep shape and not wear out and their answer is synthetic fibers. Ducas does a great job in telling us and showing us how to make people aware how they are affecting the environment.
Delete