When various environmental problems were first talked about in the early 1990s, it was the issue of garbage that became particularly prominent in discussion.
At the incineration plant she saw massive volume of clothing that was disposed of. She was hit by the reality of the plastic garbage that would never biodegrade, even after 100 or 200 years when it comes time to dig out the landfill. The following questions came across her mind,‘Is it ok to throw away this much? ‘Is a disposable society cool?
The population of the Earth has dramatically increased in the past 100 years from a mere one billion a century ago to over seven billion in 2011. In order to cope with this explosive population increase synthetic fabrics like polyester, nylon and rayon were developed. Likewise for dyes, as natural dyes shifted to chemical types.
Until now, materials used to make synthetic fabrics have relied solely on petroleum based products. In addition, energy used for such things as powering automobiles and heating systems has been supplied almost exclusively from oil. Oil resources however, have limits. With this in mind, we must consider what sort of clothes, made from what material will man be wearing in the future? The first difficulty we faced was how to strike a balance between biodegradation and durability.
Ecomaco wanted to review the mass production and mass consumption ways of manufacturing in the 20th century, and started on the production of materials. ECOMACO was the first in the fashion industry to take notice of the lactic acid fiber produced when fermenting plant starch. They succeeded in sublimating lactic acid fibre that was neither petroleum based nor anything that had previously existed in nature, but the next generation in textiles unique in its beauty and functionality. In addition to lactic acid fibre, ECOMACO uses only eco-friendly materials such as silk, organic cotton, bamboo and Japanese paper. These materials are fully biodegradable and pleasant on our bare skin.
PLA FIBERS
The fiber is made of non-edible corn, characterized by a weak acidity similar to that of healthy human skin. Oka has been striving to develop PLA as a worthwhile textile for the future, and as a replacement for petroleum based fabrics.PLA fibers completely biodegrade in to CO2 and H2O in about two years after being buried or left in water.
TORAY
PLA fibre named ‘ecodear’ produced by Toray Industries, a cutting edge global company recognized for its innovative green fibre products. Naturally-derived raw. Producing textiles good for the skin - starts by carefully selecting natural raw materials.
Eg:Biomass-based:
3GT fibers, PLA fibers, thermoplastic cellulose fibers, bio-based nylon
Environmental load reduction:
Non-halogen flame-retardant fibers for curtains
COLOR/ DYEING
ECOMACO organizes perfect color schemes for their fabrics. This was satisfied by colors long rooted in Japanese culture and artistry. Carefully chosen materials are dyed in collaboration with craftspeople in Nishijin, Kyoto, who take immense pride in their 130 year old tradition. Delicate and deep colors, similar to seasonal transitions. ECOMACO’s materials are dyed using rape blossoms, peony, or apple branches thinned out from trees and normally disposed of.
FUKUMOTO SENKO
The fabric is then dyed with original and beautiful ECOMACO colors by Fukumoto Senko, a dyeing studio in Kyoto with a 130-year tradition. This dyeing studio expresses subtle shades of color, inspired by the changing seasons in Japan.
KOBATOU TEXTILES
The fibre from toray is converted in to fabric by Kobatou Textiles, Founded in 1950, a textile manufacturer renowned for its advanced textile techniques in Gunma Prefecture.They are expert in weaving a complex pattern fabric using a jacquard loom and a dobby loom. ECOMACO's textiles have evolved from a strong collaboration with Kobatou Textiles.
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Further research and questions that I had to look into after the presentation. What happens to clothes after it's use or after it's thrown away?
The fashion industry presents a waste problem. Globalization has provided us with a cheap supply of clothing, so cheap that many consumers consider it disposable.
Examples of what happens in canada and u.s ,
In Canada, textile waste accounts for four per cent of materials in landfills. On average, 80 per cent of that material is still wearable.Recycling old clothes and textiles is a start. Every year, 75,000 tonnes of textiles are recycled into raw materials for furniture, cars, paper and other items. That’s a lot of waste staying out of the landfill. The most important way of reducing textile waste, though, is through changing the fashion-conscious to the earth-conscious. Instead of buying new clothes each season, why not re-style last season’s to make your own fashion statement—a statement that says you want to be part of the climate protection solution.Americans discard an estimated 68 pounds of clothing a year, while buying 10 pounds of recycled clothes. In 2006, 2.5 billion pounds of fabric were kept from the landfills by used-clothing purchases . Yet about 99 percent of what is thrown away can be recycled. Clothing and household textiles, consisting of fabrics such as cotton, polyester, nylon and rayon, make up almost 5 percent of the total garbage in landfills.
Clothes are typically recycled by donating them to charities like the Salvation Army or Goodwill Industries, which will provide tax forms for deductions . They also sell them at consignment stores for store credit or cash or on the Internet through auction or donation sites. Charities will either sell the used clothing and use the proceeds for their work, or donate the items to the needy.
Benefits of recycling clothing - There are multiple environmental benefits associated with recycling clothing. It reduces the amount of pesticides used in growing cotton or to make fabrics from petroleum sources and the water needed to dye fabrics, and cuts down on the pollutants, greenhouse gases and volatile organic compounds released into the water and air from manufacturing processes.
Clothes should be recycled or biodegradable clothes should be introduced -
Recycling unwanted clothing reduces landfill waste as well as the amount of resources needed to produce new clothing. It also lessens the waste produced by the manufacturing process, clothing scraps end up in the landfill, too. Used clothing can be donated, sold or disassembled for the fabric.The reality is that a lot of clothes are going to end up in landfills, despite efforts to the contrary. So, a handful of manufacturers are developing biodegradable garments that will at least not make things worse.
It's all about choosing the right fabrics and disposing of the wrong fabrics the right way. The 'right' fabrics are the ones that are biodegradable and sustainable. Clothing made from materials like organic cotton ,polylactic acid fiber,hemp, and bamboo will eventually decompose. Clothes made from synthetic fibers won't. They'll be around forever as evidence to future generations.
What are the fabrics other than PLA that are eco- friendly and biodegradable? A few of them are :
Vegetable leather : Designer Suzanne Lee came up with a completely biodegradable fabric called vegetable leather. The fabric is made out of green tea, sugar, bactera and yeast. It takes two weeks to grow and then it can be moulded, dried, cut and sewn to be used like any other fabric. The only issue about this fabric is that it will eventually harden and degrade in five years.
Ingeo : It's a man made fiber made out of corn. It combines the qualities of natural and synthetic fibers in a new way. Strength and resilience are balanced with comfort, softness and drape in textiles. In addition, Ingeo fiber has good moisture management characteristics. This means that Ingeo fiber is ideally suited to fabrics from fashion to furnishings.
Tencel: It's the brand name for a biodegradable fabric made from wood pulp cellulose.It's created from the lyocell fiber, and is becoming increasingly popular as an eco-friendly alternative to fabrics such as polyester, nylon, and even cotton. In practice, many fabrics combine various fibers so it’s common to see Tencil combined with linen, rayon, lycra, micro denier polyester or cotton.It's 100% biodegradable, and will decompose within 8 days under the right conditions.
Soy silk: It's an eco-friendly fiber made from tofu manufacturing waste. The fiber is made entirely of soy protein which is a by-product from the manufacture of tofu.Soy silk is currently made in China is available under the soysilk brand.
Now,
What is a polymer?
A polymer is a large molecule composed of many repeated sub units, known as monomer.
Polymers are of two types :
Synthetic polymers : Synthetic polymers are derived from petroleum oil, and made by scientists and engineers. Examples of synthetic polymers include nylon, polyethylene, polyester, Teflon, and epoxy.
Natural fibers : Natural polymers occur in nature and can be extracted. They are often water-based. Examples of naturally occurring polymers are silk, wool, DNA, cellulose and proteins.
What is a polylactic acid (PLA)???
It's a thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn starch, tapioca roots, chips or starch, sugarcane.
(thermoplastic :It's a polymer hat becomes pliable or moldable above a specific temperature, and returns to a solid state upon cooling.
Aliphatic : compounds composed of hydrogen and carbon and do not contain aromatic rings of atom.
Polyester :It's a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain.It includes naturally occurring chemicals, such as in the cutin of plant cuticles, as well as synthetics through step growth polymerization such as polycarbonate and polybrutyrate . Natural polyesters and a few synthetic ones are biodegradable, but most synthetic polyesters are not.)
Two links for more reference on PLA Fiber :
link from Toray industries : http://www.toray.com/business/products/fibers/fibers/fib_009.html
and http://www.2wtextile.com/PLA-Fiber.htm
The fibre from toray is converted in to fabric by Kobatou Textiles, Founded in 1950, a textile manufacturer renowned for its advanced textile techniques in Gunma Prefecture.They are expert in weaving a complex pattern fabric using a jacquard loom and a dobby loom. ECOMACO's textiles have evolved from a strong collaboration with Kobatou Textiles.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Further research and questions that I had to look into after the presentation. What happens to clothes after it's use or after it's thrown away?
The fashion industry presents a waste problem. Globalization has provided us with a cheap supply of clothing, so cheap that many consumers consider it disposable.
Examples of what happens in canada and u.s ,
In Canada, textile waste accounts for four per cent of materials in landfills. On average, 80 per cent of that material is still wearable.Recycling old clothes and textiles is a start. Every year, 75,000 tonnes of textiles are recycled into raw materials for furniture, cars, paper and other items. That’s a lot of waste staying out of the landfill. The most important way of reducing textile waste, though, is through changing the fashion-conscious to the earth-conscious. Instead of buying new clothes each season, why not re-style last season’s to make your own fashion statement—a statement that says you want to be part of the climate protection solution.Americans discard an estimated 68 pounds of clothing a year, while buying 10 pounds of recycled clothes. In 2006, 2.5 billion pounds of fabric were kept from the landfills by used-clothing purchases . Yet about 99 percent of what is thrown away can be recycled. Clothing and household textiles, consisting of fabrics such as cotton, polyester, nylon and rayon, make up almost 5 percent of the total garbage in landfills.
Clothes are typically recycled by donating them to charities like the Salvation Army or Goodwill Industries, which will provide tax forms for deductions . They also sell them at consignment stores for store credit or cash or on the Internet through auction or donation sites. Charities will either sell the used clothing and use the proceeds for their work, or donate the items to the needy.
Benefits of recycling clothing - There are multiple environmental benefits associated with recycling clothing. It reduces the amount of pesticides used in growing cotton or to make fabrics from petroleum sources and the water needed to dye fabrics, and cuts down on the pollutants, greenhouse gases and volatile organic compounds released into the water and air from manufacturing processes.
Clothes should be recycled or biodegradable clothes should be introduced -
Recycling unwanted clothing reduces landfill waste as well as the amount of resources needed to produce new clothing. It also lessens the waste produced by the manufacturing process, clothing scraps end up in the landfill, too. Used clothing can be donated, sold or disassembled for the fabric.The reality is that a lot of clothes are going to end up in landfills, despite efforts to the contrary. So, a handful of manufacturers are developing biodegradable garments that will at least not make things worse.
It's all about choosing the right fabrics and disposing of the wrong fabrics the right way. The 'right' fabrics are the ones that are biodegradable and sustainable. Clothing made from materials like organic cotton ,polylactic acid fiber,hemp, and bamboo will eventually decompose. Clothes made from synthetic fibers won't. They'll be around forever as evidence to future generations.
What are the fabrics other than PLA that are eco- friendly and biodegradable? A few of them are :
Vegetable leather : Designer Suzanne Lee came up with a completely biodegradable fabric called vegetable leather. The fabric is made out of green tea, sugar, bactera and yeast. It takes two weeks to grow and then it can be moulded, dried, cut and sewn to be used like any other fabric. The only issue about this fabric is that it will eventually harden and degrade in five years.
Ingeo : It's a man made fiber made out of corn. It combines the qualities of natural and synthetic fibers in a new way. Strength and resilience are balanced with comfort, softness and drape in textiles. In addition, Ingeo fiber has good moisture management characteristics. This means that Ingeo fiber is ideally suited to fabrics from fashion to furnishings.
Tencel: It's the brand name for a biodegradable fabric made from wood pulp cellulose.It's created from the lyocell fiber, and is becoming increasingly popular as an eco-friendly alternative to fabrics such as polyester, nylon, and even cotton. In practice, many fabrics combine various fibers so it’s common to see Tencil combined with linen, rayon, lycra, micro denier polyester or cotton.It's 100% biodegradable, and will decompose within 8 days under the right conditions.
Soy silk: It's an eco-friendly fiber made from tofu manufacturing waste. The fiber is made entirely of soy protein which is a by-product from the manufacture of tofu.Soy silk is currently made in China is available under the soysilk brand.
Now,
What is a polymer?
A polymer is a large molecule composed of many repeated sub units, known as monomer.
Polymers are of two types :
Synthetic polymers : Synthetic polymers are derived from petroleum oil, and made by scientists and engineers. Examples of synthetic polymers include nylon, polyethylene, polyester, Teflon, and epoxy.
Natural fibers : Natural polymers occur in nature and can be extracted. They are often water-based. Examples of naturally occurring polymers are silk, wool, DNA, cellulose and proteins.
What is a polylactic acid (PLA)???
It's a thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn starch, tapioca roots, chips or starch, sugarcane.
(thermoplastic :It's a polymer hat becomes pliable or moldable above a specific temperature, and returns to a solid state upon cooling.
Aliphatic : compounds composed of hydrogen and carbon and do not contain aromatic rings of atom.
Polyester :It's a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain.It includes naturally occurring chemicals, such as in the cutin of plant cuticles, as well as synthetics through step growth polymerization such as polycarbonate and polybrutyrate . Natural polyesters and a few synthetic ones are biodegradable, but most synthetic polyesters are not.)
Two links for more reference on PLA Fiber :
link from Toray industries : http://www.toray.com/business/products/fibers/fibers/fib_009.html
and http://www.2wtextile.com/PLA-Fiber.htm
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