The textile industry is the second largest producer of pollution in our environment. Textile manufacturing is an incredibly complex process and the most commonly used fabrics, cotton, and polyester has disastrous effects on the environment and humans.
It has been said that "Fashion is part of the problem but it is also part of a solution". Luckily, there has been a great movement towards "eco-friendly" fashion. The ideal situation is to reduce the waste from pre and post-production. Cotton is a natural material and mostly worn but it takes a huge amount of water to produce. A normal cotton shirt takes 3,000 litres of water to produce. Now the industry is thinking of going back to nature and producing sustainable textiles from plants, ocean, and food waste. The future materials are:
Banana fibre
Banana fibre is similar to Bamboo as it is versatile. Eventually, it is better than Bamboo because it is one of the strongest fibres. Banana fibre is environmentally friendly as it is biodegradable and hopefully rolls out to commercial use also.
Hemp
Hemp is made from marijuana plants and it is similar to Bamboo because it is versatile. It is fast growing and has less impact on the environment. It is already being used in certain types of clothing. You are also called 'hipster' by your mates if you wear hemp clothes.
Pineapple leather or silk
Pineapple material is quite interesting and unique and has already been patented. There is a company named Pinatex that produces leather products from pineapple plant waste. It is an environmentally friendly process and doesn't cause harm to anything.
Coconut fibre
Coconut fibre is made up of coconut husk and is called coir. It is not versatile as it comes from the husk of the coconut which is quite hard. Therefore, it is not used for clothes but for bags, shoes and brushes. It has already been used in Sri Lanka.
Chitin fibre
This fibre comes from food waste mainly from crustaceans shells. It is environmentally friendly, versatile and cheap as you can incorporate the waste from the food industry. It has amazing bonding properties which can reduce the use of artificial dyes. It has already been used for a large variety of manufacturing processes. These are some of the fibres which can be used to control environmental damage. As a customer, you have the power to initiate change in society. There are many more exciting materials out there that can be adopted to ensure sustainability and help the planet.
