Have you ever thought about the carbon footprint of manufacturing your favorite shirt?
The average cotton shirt emits 2.1 kg of carbon dioxide (CO₂), and a polyester shirt more than twice as much (5.5 kg). Perhaps unsurprisingly, the fashion industry is responsible for around 5% of global CO₂ emissions, The Conversation reported.
Some natural fibers can also cause major damage to the environment. An ABC investigation has revealed that hundreds of hectares of pristine tropical savannah in the Northern Territory have been cleared to make way for cotton farms, sometimes without permission.
So are there more sustainable textile products we should be producing and buying instead?
Studies indicate that some "unconventional fibers" are new eco-friendly alternatives. Among them are fibers produced from waste, remember coffee waste and recycled plastic bottles, as well as from seaweed, orange, lotus, corn and mushrooms.
Brands such as Patagonia, Mud Jeans, Ninety Percent, Plant Faced Clothing and Afends are among the leaders in using sustainable fibers in their products. The real turning point, however, is likely to come when more of the biggest names in fashion get on board and it's high time they invested.
There are two types of traditional fibers: natural and synthetic. Natural fibers such as cotton and linen have some advantages over synthetic fibers derived from oil and gas.
When sustainability is considered, natural fibers are preferred over synthetic ones, for example due to their ability to biodegrade and their presence in the environment.
However, some natural fibers (especially cotton) require a lot of fresh water and chemicals that are toxic to the environment to be harvested. For example, growing 1 kilogram of cotton requires an average of 10,000 liters of water.
In comparison, synthetic fibers use significantly less water (about one hundredth) but significantly more energy.
Petrochemical fibers produced from fossil fuels - such as polyester, nylon and acrylic - are at the heart of fast fashion. Another big problem with these products is that they don't break down easily.
As they slowly degrade, petrochemical fibers release microplastics. They not only pollute the environment, but also enter the food chain and pose a health risk to animals and humans.
You may also have encountered blended fabrics, which are produced with a combination of two or more types of fibers. However, they present challenges in sorting and recycling, as it is not always possible or easy to recover the different fibers when they are combined.
Amid the overconsumption of traditional fibers, several global fashion brands have started using new fibers derived from seaweed, corn and mushrooms. Among them are Stella McCartney, Balenciaga, Patagonia and Algiknit.
Other emerging natural fibers include lotus, pineapple and banana fibers. Lotus fiber is extracted from the stem of the plant, banana fiber is extracted from the petura (the stem that connects the leaf and stem), and pineapple fiber is extracted from the leaves of the pineapple.
The process of extracting fibers from waste such as orange peels, coffee grounds and even from waste milk proteins has also been well studied and clothing has been successfully produced from these materials.
All of these examples of non-traditional fibers are free from many of the problems mentioned earlier, such as the high consumption of resources (especially fresh water), the use of toxic chemicals, and the use of large amounts of energy (for synthetic fibers).
In addition, these fibers are biodegradable at the end of their life cycle and do not release microplastics when washed.
Meanwhile, there has been a huge increase in the use of recycled synthetic fibers, which reduces the use of virgin materials, energy and chemical consumption. Recycling of plastics, such as drinks bottles, to make clothes is also becoming more common. Such innovations can help reduce our dependence on raw materials and mitigate plastic pollution.
Moreover, choosing appropriate color combinations during fabric recycling and processing can avoid the need for dyeing.
Fashion companies can reduce the burden on the environment by investing heavily in the production of sustainable fibers and fabrics. Many of them are still in the stage of scientific research or have not received wider commercial application.
Fashion manufacturers, major fashion brands and retailers need to invest in research and development to increase production of these fibers. And machine manufacturers also need to develop technologies for large-scale collection and production of raw materials, such as sustainable fibers and yarns./BGNES
