I like to make responsible choices by finding functional solutions; solutions that make the biggest benefit from the smallest impact. Many choices that are guiding my steps in creating my business come what I have learned about the textile industry. I want to create clothing and gear solutions while reducing the waste and negative impact they might have on the world. Here I will give you a little background on what some of the issues are, how I came to learning about them, a little textile 101 education, and elude to ideas for some future blog posts.
I started working on my fashion design certificate because I wanted to make clothes that fit and flatter my personal shape, style, and budget. I’ve taught myself how to do a lot of things because I can’t afford to hire it out, and sewing became one of those things. The more I learned about sewing and the fashion industry, the more the more curious and concerned I became about textiles. As I took classes and did research I was shocked to find out more about the magnitude of the textile industry and its environmental impact. The fashion industry as a whole has created an unsustainable system where profit is put above making responsible choices. The world is currently going through a phase called ‘fast fashion’, very simply this is means relatively inexpensive clothes are made extremely quickly, and they are not made to last; worn a few times then thrown away or at least replaced every season. They are wasteful and hurt not only the environment but the people that make them.
All fibers have some environmental impact, but they are not created equal. In a very short summary there are two main classes of fibers: Natural and Manufactured. Natural fibers include things like cotton, linen, silk and wool. They break down in nature and decompose after they are no longer useful in textiles. Producing natural fibers into cloth has its own environmental impact, but that’s another blog. Manufactured fibers are a little more complicated and have a few more categories, but the biggest category is the synthetics, things like polyester and nylon. These fibers don’t break down in nature. Think about that for a second. So, If I buried my grandmother’s olive green polyester pant suit from 1967 in the back yard and went out and dug it up today, it would still be intact, gross (okay it was always a little gross, but now worse), but it would still be there. When I was a little kid in the 60’s and 70’s almost everything I wore had some polyester in it. This made it washable and it didn’t need to be ironed, this was fairly new technology and it kept my mom from having to go to the cleaners. That’s because synthetic fibers are basically made out of plastic and come from petroleum products and most of these were invented in my grandparents life time. The technologies keep improving and the fibers are much nicer now than that horrible olive green outfit, but the fibers still don’t break down. If you start to think about all the mass of the clothes that don’t break down on a global scale that waste becomes fairly shocking. In general, over 85% of all textiles have a linear life span: they are made, they are used, and then they are discarded (not recycled, up-cycled or reused in anyway – all of these topics will have future blog posts). They end up In landfills and are often burned to decrease their mass (burning plastic – you know the smell). They also end up as micro-plastics. Over 70% of micro-plastics found in waterways come from fibers, i.e. synthetic textiles. That being said, the world’s population has more than doubled in my lifetime and all those people need clothes. Synthetic fibers are relatively cheap and can be mass produced. In short we need synthetic fibers, they provide very important and useful features that we rely on. When I looked at my running gear nearly all of it was made from polyester fabrics. Why do we run in fabrics that are basically made out of plastic? I will be writing much more about that in the future as well as: insights about other textiles; thoughts about reducing waste, minimizing impact, and making good choices; updates on recycling options; and even tips on laundry and keeping your gear from smelling like a dead goat.
I’ve come up with a lot more questions and I don’t have solid answers for all of them yet, I’m still learning. The blogs will start with what I already know, I hope you find them entertaining and fun, kinda geeky and educational too. I’m hoping it will raise some awareness and encourage better choices, but I’m not here to judge or “greenwash”. I might not use formal citations in each post, but I will always attempt to separate out facts from opinions and if I find good sources I will link them. I do believe we need to treat our clothes more like true friends vs followers. Instead of massing a huge wardrobe, we need to avoid the throw-away one use items and mend and repair the items that really mean something to us. I want to come up with practical solutions for the race shirts that never fit and were never worn; and for the shirt that represents a true achievement but it now has a hole and is starting to fray.
If you have questions, thoughts, or feedback, feel free to leave a comment. The comment tab is up by the title of this blog (I didn’t design the layout). You’ll need to enter your email to comment, but I won’t sell your information—and honestly, I don’t have time to spam you anyway.
