Eco-Friendly Design in Contemporary Fashion

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Abstract

This paper aims at describing the usage of fashionable designs that are environmentally friendly. In another word the paper aims at giving the outcomes of growing certain fibers specifically for fabric making, designing, and marketing not forgetting the social-economic factors that are hygienic and friendly to the environment. In this case, fibers are plants that need to be treated during processing; designing and they too require the usage of herbicides, fertilizers, and other chemicals that are hazardous to the environment at large. But the level of effect to the environment can be reduced when environmental-friendly herbs are used.

In textile industries, man-made fibers are used because they are cheap to manufacture, but the fact that chemically produced polyesters are non-environmental friendly. This is because these fibers are non-biodegradable and pose major threats to the environment, people, and animals. The invention of organic cotton has allowed the continued use of fabrics to design various fashions of clothes.

Introduction

In every situation, there are the benefits and purposes of growing specific fibers to win the market of various designs. Therefore, various fibers have been grown to meet the target and other fibers are being worked for in research for better and environmentally friendly fibers that sell quickly and easier to design (Julia Engelhard, 1996).

In recent research, various fibers have been proved to be environmentally friendly. They include organic cotton, animal wools, hemp, soy silk, and bamboo among others. The above-mentioned fibers have got their merits and demerits toward the environment but they are the best so far because they are environmental-friendly (D. Mackenzie, Louise Moss, 2004). It is not a normal thing to find a fiber that has got no side effects on the environment because these are plants with their pests and they too require to be protected. Secondly, the fiber has to be processed using chemicals and other agents to attain the best fashionable design, again this is unavoidable especially when a strong and healthy plant has to be obtained. In short, chemicals such as potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen, and other herbicides must be used to get a good yield.

Aims

To evaluate fibers that lead to those designs and fashions which are friendly to the environment?

Substatement One

Does the growth of those fibers have an impact on the environment?

Substatement Two

Does the processing method interfere with the intended design and what is the side effect to the environment?

Executive Discussion

According to the journal on Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 115, Number 9, 2007, the growth of fibers highly interferes with the environment. It has been discovered that man-made fibers together with other fibers such as synthetic cotton lead to environmental degradation as various designs and fashions of clothes are concerned. Man-made fibers are major contributors to environmental degradation due to the complicated process of achieving the desired material plus the design. This is because, by the time that fabric is ready, many detergents and other agents are used. Not all these agents are environmentally friendly.

However, versatile fibers such as synthetic cotton, hemp, etc used in textile industries have got hazardous impact on the environment due to the high use of herbicides and pesticides not forgetting various processing agents that are used during the manufacturing of clothes.

The above image shows wasted effluents from a textile industry that might contain toxic chemicals hence polluting the environment.

For example, according to the information released by the USDA, synthetic cotton that is grown specifically for synthetic fibers highly requires too much water consumption and is pesticide dependent. Besides that, the effluent may hold several toxics that is both harmful to the environment and the

This image shows one of the most versatile and highly demanded cottons. This crop is environmental-friendly because it is resistant to pests.

Going on, eco-friendly fibers must meet the desired quality for a fashionable design. Therefore, various fibers that are designed must include subsidies that reduce their prices of growth, processing and with less impact to the environment as high production and growth yield is achieved. To achieve this, environmentally-friendly fibers are being worked on. This is because these fibers are easily biodegradable and their products are renewable as opposed to the chemically polymerized synthetic fibers such as polyester (millennia).

Another factor is the ecological track of the biodiversity and the cost of the chemicals used by the time the fiber is ready for marketing. Some of the most potential eco-friendly fibers used in the textile industries include animal wool, organic cotton, etc. organic cotton that is friendlier to the environment than chemically polymerized synthetic cotton and polyesters. This is because as opposed to indigenous cotton, organic cotton does not require wide usage of chemicals such as herbicides, pesticides, and insecticides during their growth period. In the process, naturally available dyes are used during the manufacturing and this helps to reduce the environmental hazards that are caused by the chemicals.

This makes most of the farmers invest in it as well as the textile industries manufacturers. The engineering of the Aztecs colored cotton enhanced the designing and marketing of various fashions that are environmentally friendly (Sally Fox, 2004). This type of cotton helped to design clothes made of cotton and they do not fade and the garment is more attractive after washing.

Besides organic cotton, the hemp plant is used in fashion designing because it is also environmental-friendly. Hemp fibers are effective in textile industries because it naturally produces long fibers that can be span easily without spending too much in the process of manufacturing. Hemp has been proved to have a little footprint on the environment. This is because this plant grows very fast and densely with a lot of fibers.This saves time and reduces chemical usage. Furthermore, hemp requires little water and it is resistant to many pests hence it reduces the cost of production.

Another factor that makes hemp to be environmentally friendly is that its fibers last long and they resist rotting because of their strength. Therefore this plant is used in designing various fashions of jeans and shirts besides other fashions of clothes. Hemp fabrics are designed in a variety of weights, smoothness, or softness leading to the designed textures. This leads to the availability of hemp fabrics in different shapes and forms including clothes, ropes, yarns, belts, and other fashionable designs and products manufactured from this versatile fiber plant.

Wool is another product used in fashions and it comes in various designs. Wool is a vital raw material that is produced by environmental-friendly peasants because it has few caveats besides being a pleasant resource. Wool is regarded as environmentally friendly because if proper sheering is done, bleaching and dyeing it remains to be economically safe to the environment because wool is biodegradable if it is treated well.

Soy Silk

This is another protein product that can be engineered to yield dependable and widely used material for textile industries. This is because soy silk can naturally adsorb to dyes, therefore, causing little damage to the environment, and can finally be knitted or woven like any other fiber. Note that one can come up with various colors of soy silk. After all biological bringing up of silkworms is friendlier to the environment.

Bamboo

Fibers gotten from bamboo are renewable and can be used in the process of getting more fashions and designs of clothes. Bamboo is treated as environmentally friendly because besides being renewable, it has antimicrobial properties that naturally occur in the fiber. This makes the fabric breathe and the manufactured garment or cloth is easily biodegradable. Bamboo grass does not require too much treatment with chemicals hence it reduces the effects of chemicals that would be used.

Corn Fiber

According to Cargill Dow Polymer company, chemicals discovered by Dow company have been used to modify or engineer certain leaves of corn by extracting polysaccharides and starch resulting in fibers that can be used for making fabric garments. More markets are being targeted by developing highly standardized Ingeo. The resultant fiber can be spun into the desired yarn or it can be woven into a fabric ready to be knitted.

Milk silk is another eco-friendly fiber that is currently being developed and engineered. Milk silk comes from genetically engineered silk from spiders. The resultant fiber is highly biodegradable. This makes it to be used in the manufacturing of biodegradable sutures and other materials used in the manufacturing of bullet-proof.

To have fashionable designs that are environment friendly, one has to get proper mechanisms to come up with biodegradable fibers that require little use of chemicals such as herbicides, fertilizers, pesticides. Going on, the manufacturing and processing methods must include measures to curtail usage of toxic or environment non-friendly agents and dyes. All these factors are aimed at achieving the intended designs and fashions that are both economic and environmentally friendly.

The cost of processing a certain fashion of cotton garment by the time it is ready to be worn has been proved to cause more harm to the environment. Researchers estimate that about 22 percent of the entire insecticide used worldwide is applied when growing cotton plants. Besides that, bleaching and dyeing the same cotton to give the desired fabric generates toxins that are disastrous to the ecosystem. It has been estimated that the growth of abundant cotton to make one shirt call for more than 250 gallons of water. World biodiversity such as forests has been threatened by the continuous use of rayon in cotton processing. Some synthetic fibers such as polyester whose raw materials come from petroleum-based products are hazardous to the ecosystem.

Therefore research on organic fiber is being developed in order o combat the environmental impacts of the fast fashions that are designed to meet the competition in garment and cloths production. Due to the above factor, many manufacturers are getting ready to come up with eco-fashions. The International Standards Organization encourages the production of fibers whose whole growth cycle plus the processing method wont have a great impact on the environment as sustainable consumption is enhanced. This makes the ISO come up with control standards that would be followed for a certain material to be approved as environmentally friendly.

Other approaches are being encouraged to have a competitive fashioning and designing of clothes as the biodiversity is maintained. This includes the growth of organic cotton, bamboo, hemp, and other fibers that are environmentally friendly. This is achieved by growing plants that can resist pests, herbicides, pests, grow faster, and matures quickly without too much consumption of water. Some of these plants do not require more inputs by the time they are fully grown. Due to the above factors, organ cotton and hemp have been grown in several countries by several textile industries that advocate the usage of environmentally friendly fibers.

For example, more than ten countries are investing in organ cotton. This has enabled the sale of cotton to grow overwhelmingly by 28 percent in the previous years and the sale of organic cotton garments for women hit 32 percent.

Current Development

Garments made out of cotton are somehow expensive due to their quality and durability. Because of the above factor, more inventive eco-fashions are being developed to meet all classes of customers including the consumers in developing countries who would require similar fashions This includes consumers of casual clothing to Haute fashion design. Some of the current undertakings include the continuous recycling of cotton garments or t-shirts. It has been discovered that recycling used cotton saves more energy and labor because almost more than 21000 liters of water that would be spent is saved per kilogram of cotton, note that the cotton plant is water-intensive.

Textile industries consumers are embarking on measures to combat environmental degradation. This includes the development of the Sustainable Consumption Institute to monitor the amount of carbon being emitted during processing. One such institute includes Tesco Company in Italy. This is a good measure to lower pollution and safeguard the existence of biodiversity. Several companies have endorsed these efforts because they are both friendly to the environment and have a sense of business.

Conclusion

For effective and environmentally friendly fibers, organic cotton and wool among other fibers give a solution to designing various fashions and winning the market for qualitative and durable clothes. The manufactured fabrics must be taken care of because of the cost and impact they cause to the environment. However, some phosphate-free and detergents are friendly to the environment that should be used during washing or bleaching cotton fabrics. Besides that, organic raw materials should be used because they are pesticide-free. This helps to reduce the environmental damage of both people and the environment.

References

Burall (1991) Green design and fabrics, Miller, New York

Cotton crop and its product life cycle. Web.

Cotton crop cultivation and fine fabrics. Web.

Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 115. 2007.

Environmental journal, Volume 116, No. 2. 2008.

Fiber production from organic cotton. Web.

L. Molinaro and Patricia Choli (1992) World of business and the environment, Island Press, London.

Mackenzie and Louise Moss (2004) Needle work and knitting methods Knox Burger, New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers.

Julia Engelhard (1996) environmental friendly cotton fibers, New York, Harding Barrons publisher.

Sally Fox (2004) Organic Clothing and awareness. Web.

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