What’s really hanging in your closet? What are your clothes made of, and how do they affect the environment? Time for a short “what to wear” education.
AN INSIGHT INTO YOUR WARDROBE
Synthetic fibres are fibres that are manufactured artificially in chemical compounds. The raw material for artificial fibres can come from forests and other cellulose-based raw materials and is called regenerated fibres. If it comes from oil, it is called synthetic fibre.
Today, we make most clothes from as much as 64% of synthetic fibre. Of these, regenerated fibres account for about 6 per cent, and the remaining 58 per cent are textiles made from synthetic fibres, i.e. fossil oil. Cotton accounts for about 24 per cent.
DO YOU WALK AROUND IN OIL?
Polyester, polyamide/nylon, acrylic, and elastane/spandex/lycra are some examples of synthetic materials made from oil.
As oil comes from non-renewable sources, using such materials is not sustainable for the environment. Also, small particles, microfibers, are released when we wash clothes. Treatment plants often find it challenging to capture the smallest fibres and end up in the environment and further into the ecosystem. Because synthetic fibres are plastic, they are difficult to degrade, and it takes many hundreds, even thousands of years before they disappear.
A SHORT CLOTHING SCHOOL
TIP: Look at what the clothing label says next time you shop. What does it say that the shirt you want to buy contains material?
SAY NO: Synthetic fibres, for example, Polyester, polyamide, acrylic, and conventionally grown cotton.
KINDER: Choose organically produced natural materials such as organic wool, organic linen, organic cotton, and organically grown regenerated fibre.
Organic cultivation ensures that the cultivation occurs without chemical pesticides and artificial fertilizers and that the plants are not genetically modified.
