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What type of textiles are the most energy-efficient to produce when concerned with clothing choices, taking into account practicality?
Erin Stark, Devyn Walesiak, Kaitlyn Haraphongse, Katelyn Ngo
What does sustainability mean in fashion?
The Fashion Industry
- Per every 60 billion kg of fabric produced, reducing the amount of:
- electricity (1074 kWh)
- coal (132 metric tons)
- water (6-9 trillion liters)
- The use of longer lasting fabrics
- Manufacturing and purchasing clothing that takes less energy to produce
- Reusing and recycling the clothing we already have
- Synthetic fabrics takes decades to decompose what organic and natural fabrics takes only a few months
How much energy does it take currently
Energy Used Currently
- Currently, it takes 1,074 billion kWh of electricity (2008) to produce to produce 60 billion kg of fabric
Most Popular Textiles
Most popular fabrics currently
- 65% of all textiles produced are made from synthetic materials
- These include polyester, nylon, acrylic and polypropylene
- These materials, especially nylon, are the most energy demanding to produce when compared to several other fabrics
- This is due to their durable, waterproof and stretchy qualities
Ideally...
- organically grown flax fiber
- statistics show flax fiber uses upwards of 5 times less energy to produce than traditional cotton
The Best Choice
Why?
Why?
- organic farming systems used just 63% of the energy required by conventional farming systems
- At 10 MJ of energy per KG of fabric, flax fiber uses significantly less energy to produce compared to several other textiles
Hypothetical Results
Reduced greenhouse gases
Decomposable
Less water used in production
More efficient energy use
Reusable and recyclable
Hypothetically...
4.
1.
A Possible Fit
5.
2.
6.
3.
Practicality
Is it realistic?
- While organic flax is the most energy sustainable, organic cotton is more practical
- It is much easier to find, as it is available at retail stores such as H&M, Adidas and TOMS
- It can be found for more reasonable prices than flax
Prices and materials
Prices
1. Indigenous: 100% organic Pima cotton ($88.00)
2. Zeme: 100% organic cotton ($49.00)
3. Rawganique: 100% organic European hemp ($129.00)
4. Mango: organic cotton ($15.99)
5. H&M: cotton ($29.99)
6. TOMS: 100% vegan canvas ($60.00)
References
Estimating the carbon footprint of a fabric. (2011). Retrieved from https://oecotextiles.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/estimating-the-carbon-footprint-of-a-fabric/
Fabric focus: synthetic fabric. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.loveyourclothes.org.uk/guides/fabric-focus-synthetic-fabrics
The Issues: Energy. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.commonobjective.co/article/the-issues-energy
Watson, J. (2007). 97.4% Net Energy Savings from Reusing Cotton Clothing: LCA & The Salvation Army. Retrieved from https://www.treehugger.com/style/974-net-energy-savings-from-reusing-cotton-clothing-lca-the-salvation-army.html
What Are Our Clothes Made From?. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.commonobjective.co/article/what-are-our-clothes-made-from