EcoChic or EcoFad?

I could never understand why anyone would pay $35 to free advertise Tommy Hilfiger or $200 to free advertise Adidas, etc. I propose a tee shirt with "generic" printed across it and cost the same as a regular tee.

If they are really trying to be green the hemp clothes used to last for generations.

Trendy is Fad. Some well made Hemp work clothes that last would save lots of resources.

Brad

UV has a point, however wasn't it the US who caused the legislation that almost killed the hemp industry?

Perhaps instead of sustainability, we should look at recyclability! I would argue that polyester is sustainable as fibres can be manufactured from recycled polymer from drinks bottles, however once made into a textile it is almost impossible to recycle whereas the same polymer can be remade into bottles which can then be recycled into bottles and so on.

The fact that sustainability is a buzz word should say everything, the world will keep on spinning as long as marketing types keep spinning everything for us

Hello lastoneleft,

US who caused the legislation that almost killed the hemp industry?

I have a feeling the Cotton Lobbyist had a big part of that. Hemp grown for fiber is not psycho active, but hemp fibers were putting a big dent in their market. The Distillery industry could also have had a concern of market loss.

Recycled hemp makes very high quality paper.

Brad

Dear UV, I wasn't trying to suggest that hemp wasn't a good green fibre, on the contrary, it leaves cotton in the shade from an environmental perspective, but the fact remains that the US applied so much red tape to the production of hemp that most growers went out of business!

Lobbyists will always have an agenda and the idea that hemp was a psychogen is ridiculous, if not the sailors would have been smoking the hemp ropes that moored most ships in the 19th and 20th centuries.

From an environmental perspective, cotton is disastrous, it accounts for nearly 70% of the annual gross tonnage of pesticides used in the world, no other crop is this heavy on pesticide. The answer to this was genetic modification which has its own drawbacks!

Recycling of cellulose based materials from textiles into other textiles is possible, you would end up with a viscose type product, but the environmental impact of this production may be very harsh, I am not too sure. The fact is that cellulosic materials do bio degrade and as such have a lot lower environmental impact as they will add to the fertilisation of soil whilst biodegrading, the problem that I see it is with synthetic fibres such as nylon and polyester. When made into a textile, they are not bio degradable and would require a harsh set of processing conditions to recycle into anything.

One of the main problems is the ethic that seems to have existed for the last 10 years, it is often said that we live in a disposable society, this cannot go on forever. A change in attitude from society needs to happen so that more realistic clothing can be produced, there is little or no point in producing clothing based on a required performance unless you can recycle it when its use has ended. Perhaps we need to keep clothes for longer, who knows?

In short, I believe that a change in the thinking of mainstream society needs to happen before green ethics can actually work!

Hello lastoneleft,

I should have been more direct (so if this is to direct I'm over compensating), I agree with you completely on both posts.

US applied so much red tape to the production of hemp that most growers went out of business!

Yet the drug business they said was the reason is thriving world wide.

On a side note I have the Congressional statement where in a Senator(?) brought up the CIA has a Judicial pass/go ahead to bring in drugs to the US as a matter of public record. (some where) Can we say non traceable funding.

Cotton is also one of the most damaging to land as far as using up the minerals.

The short term thinking of a throw away society is all about greed. Even the use of recyclable materials can be miss managed. Look at the timbers for rail roads. They still eat a major portion of our forests but little has been done to stop the disposable loop do to short term profit. I have looked into the dynamics of the issue but see little progress to fix it.

For green ethics to work the ethics also have to be based in fact not fad. Much like saying oil is running out. Much more left than used, BUT that does not mean we should just use it up because we can. Nor do I have the right to tell another country they can't use theirs up. On the other hand if they do, not by economic oppression from outside, do we incur the responsibility to help them after they crash.

Brad

Dear UV,

I agree whole heartedly with you, it seems odd to be talking to people with a like mind. Perhaps the politicians of the world can get their head around this!

I find most have the wrong motivation and have see the not for sale ones get machine guns pointed at them and their families. To have the power to deal with this and not be corrupted by it is a rare breed.

I'll get off my soap box for a a while, just finished a 13.5 hour shift and need a skateboard for my dragging butt.

Brad