silence for our
Earth
Sustainability
or pay the price
Why?
Our textiles industry has honestly lots of work to do. If you care about the environment like I do we need to act fast. According to a report by Kiran Pandey our industry is hugely responsible for the carbon emissions the world sees today, coming in at 10% which will only see a drastic increase to 60% by 2030 if we don’t implement a sustainable fashion model soon.
Fast fashion and the consumer mindset… It’s unfortunate that clothes are so readily and easily available to us know, long ago clothes were cherished and made to last as it was held with high value and respect. From fabric manufacturing improvements to introduction of the internet, made clothing more accessible to the average person, but it also devalued it. Clothes are now worn, not taken care of, frequently washed and wasted.
The solution
Consumer awareness and education will help improve our current linear business model. Where we see clothes being manufactured, distributed and wasted. We should educate and reintroduce the value of well made clothes and clothes built around a circular mode of business (clothes are produced, bought and recycled or repurposed). When we learn to look after our clothes our mindset will change and we will start to realise that they have just as much value to us as a house or a car, they serve a huge purpose in our daily lives, keep us warm, cool, not naked… I mean it’s such an essential part of our lives.
Wool for our future
Why wool? Specifically Merino wool, is an ‘active fibre’ meaning it will react to your body. It can keep you cool when it’s hot and warm when it’s cold. It absorbs moisture and can help control body odour. Merino wool fibres are extremely fine giving it the soft and gentle feel to you skin, it also carries elastic properties making them stretchy, and be able to return to its original form.
Wool is also biodegradable! wool is composed of keratin which is similar to the proteins that make up our own hairs. Keratin can be broken down by our natural microorganisms and don’t have any negative impacts on our environment. Wool can also be biodegraded when kept in warm and moist conditions. They even provide nutrients to soil! wool will act as a fertiliser providing a source of nutrients, improving water holding, aeration of soils and reducing erosion. On the contrary, clean and dry wools won’t biodegrade which allows them to be kept for a longer period of time which is perfect for your wardrobe.
From a biological point of view, wool survived for a long time meaning its properties must be beneficial in the hosts survival. An interesting study of wool on eczema patients saw that there was a reduction in eczema symptoms when the patients wore superfine Merino wool garments. These patients were ranging from infant to adults and a comparison was made between wool, cotton, nylon and polyester garments and showed that wool and cotton had the greatest benefits. I mean if this isn’t reason enough to start shifting our perspective to the wonders of natural products over synthetic I don’t know what else I could say to convince you further.
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Here’s a link to the Wool mark website for more information, highly recommended
https://www.woolmark.com/
For more information on sustainability check out this link below
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/environment/fashion-industry-may-use-quarter-of-world-s-carbon-budget-by-2050-61183
Here’s a link to my Pinterest board for this blog:
https://www.pinterest.com.au/seungiljun0/blog-assessment/
Foreseeable fashion by JSI 