American Apparel, peddler of made-in-the-USA t-shirts and semi-pornographic ads, has introduced an innovative new product: the
Bag-O-Scraps. It reminds me of Dan Aykroyd's Saturday Night Live skit where he sells a Bag O'Glass as a child's toy. Like the Bag O'Glass, the Bag-O-Scraps is not a nuanced product: it's a bag of scraps of leftover fabric. ...
The US Geological Survey Water Cycle chart shows which way the water flows--or not.
The tagline: “The world thirsts for it.” The company:
AirDye, a fabric dyeing firm that uses 88-95% less water in its printing process than the conventional textile industry. The blog: posts factoids like “One-third of the world’s population doesn’t have access to clear drinking water.” Its website's calculator shows how many gallons of water AirDye saves per article of clothing, ex: a guy’s hoodie: 31.25 gallons. Just a clever promotional greenwashing tactic? Not quite. ...
For most people their connection with Cordura probably began with a daypack or duffle bag sewn for this tough, durable, texturised nylon that looked rather like a heavy duty canvas. Cordura has had a colourful history, which we cover below. A new chapter in the story started this month when Invista formally announced the
Cordura Cares sustainability platform.
A major component of which is Cordura EcoMade. After many decades of being primarily a nylon textile, the Cordura brand, as it applies to the likes of backpacks, bags and luggage will now embrace 100% recycled polyester, complete the tagline: “Turn Discarded into Durable.” ...
Dear Pablo: With the energy and water used in washing and drying, isn't it actually more environmentally friendly to use paper napkins instead of cotton?...
Here is something that is 100% recycled, but doesn’t look it.
ECOALF is the new fabric developed by the Spanish company
fun&basics, made from recycled PET bottles. It is a high quality textile: flexible, tension resistant, long lasting, waterproof and lightweight. The first bags made from ECOALF are a toilet bag, a small bag, a cabin trolley and a large, wheeled luggage bag. The fun thing about them is the visualisation of the recycled bottles. Each bag tells you exactly how many 75cl PET plastic bottles were needed to make it. ...
The other week I was sitting in a medical waiting room reading, as you do, a copy of Reader Digest. There was an intriguing article about Jackie Heinricher, her Booshoot company, and the plan to bring large scale bamboo cultivation to North America. At the time I thought I should follow up on that story.
So I was very surprised to come home and find in my email inbox a missive regarding outdoor sock company Bridgedale’s connection with Booshoot and their Plant A Boo campaign. It seems once upon a time the US had 5 million acres of bamboo under crop. The
Plant A Boo project is looking to reinvigorate this swift growing grass as a domestically available resource for furniture, flooring and textiles....
More images below
Now here’s something happy for rainy days: the Spud Raincoat, made from potatoes and designed by the guys from
Good for Environment! Under the brand name
Equilicuá, they make thought provoking products such as the
Econo, a water saving device for potted plants. The Spud Raincoat is for times when plenty of water is falling from the sky, and will definitely cheer you up on a grey day. The coat educates every by-passer on bioplastics by telling them “I was a potato”. And indeed, this waterproof coat is made entirely of bioplastic derived from potato starch and other natural resources, which makes it a 100% biodegradable and compostable product. And to give it the final touch at the end of its product life, the coat has integrated seeds so that plants grow out of it once it is returned to the earth!...
Ever get all the way to the store only to realize you’ve left your reusable bag at home? After years of collecting new paper and plastic bags because their 99 cent, store-branded bags were forgotten, worn out or too small, Chris and Kate Charbonneau decided to develop their own solution –
Joey Totes. They are durable and convenient reusable bags designed to hold up to a whopping 40 pounds each.
We like that they stow into a tiny built-in pouch (so it’s hard to misplace) and they easily fit into a purse or coat pocket. Even better, each pouch can also store at least one other tote (two for the “
Big Joey”), so all of the bags are kept in one place....
You know when you find something and love it so much that you have to order one in every color? That’s exactly how we feel about Natural Knotty’s 100% bamboo pashminas. They are a new addition to
Natural Knotty’s collections, and they are super affordable which makes them a great gift too. Packaged in a great, reusable bamboo cylinder box made from segments of bamboo - they arrive ready to gift.
Naturally Knotty's mission is to connect people with elegant and fashionable products made from factory scrap, overstock, remnants, recycled, and eco-friendly materials.
...
Planet Finds had a
Maker Faire booth showing off Wrap-Ti, a product that expands on the art of furoshiki, or gift wrapping with a piece of fabric. ...
I couldn't resist stopping by a booth that had piles of squishy, gorgeously dyed yarn, especially when their sign boasted that the yarn is dyed with solar power. I had to find out just what that meant...and squish some yarn....
How many times have you heard, “when I grow up, I will…” Heck, some of us are still saying it as we think about our dreams as a child. These words are exactly what inspired Kat Henderson, founder of the company
When I Grow Up, to make her mission about promoting eco-values to children through her socially conscious clothing company, and to inspire people to embrace what matters most.
The line of certified, 100% organic cotton
“Value Statement Tees” are manufactured in the U.S. and printed with water-based ink. With the tag line: “Wear it, Teach it, Live it,” each tee is designed with simple, original “I will…” statements reflecting important life values. What do you value? ...
We were just reading about
302designs and think that it’s such a cool company. It’s a clothing label that takes a poetic, artistic, and approach to inspire, define, and push the limits of the t-shirt fashion status quo. With tees that are organic and sweat-shop free they also convey a powerful, philosophical, and motivational message through each creative design. Additionally, every one of 302's designs is a symbolic representation of a moment in an individual’s life and is printed on an
American Apparel t-shirt. Our favorite organic tee is
“Elevation” which reads “let not the colors of your feathers determine your heights.”...
Spring Fling at the Alpaca Extravaganza. Photo via Flickr: by Barnoid
Since the Dacron sweaters of Sixties and polyester leisure suits of the’70s, synthetic materials have taken a chunk of the market share from natural fibers, impacting developing countries and the profits of small-scale farms. So the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN hatched the idea of making 2009 the
International Year of Natural Fibers. The goal is to heighten the fibers' profile as a key to
sustaining farmers around the world. Stories of changes happening are impressive, from the return of sisal farms in Tanzania to educational programs about removing pesticides that significantly increase yields....
Remember the British technical surfwear company, Finisterre, whom we found were making some really cool gear with innovative knits of
merino wool from New Zealand? We alluded then to some ultra-fine wool that they were exploring much closer home. In North Devon, Just a couple of hours up the coast from their base in Cornwall, as it turns out. Well, some more of the story has recently been revealed. And it involves a rare breed of sheep that has almost been lost....
Image:
ECHA
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has announced the start of the first REACH enforcement project. REACH = Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of CHemicals. One goal of the enforcement project is to check if any chemicals are still coming onto the market in the European Union which were not registered by the 1 December 2008 deadline. Registered substances, also known as phase-in substances, may continue to be sold while manufacturers gather and submit the required test data to prove that use and sale of their chemicals is safe. But companies that somehow missed the deadline will be in for a surprise: the law promises that any chemicals which are not registered may not be sold. Only after all data is gathered and submitted can these chemicals once again be sold in Europe. No data, no market.
A tear-jerking video explaining why the EU acted to implement REACH, and how REACH is expected to be the first law to
really guarantee consumers protection from harmful chemicals, has been distributed by the cleverly named YouTube user
eutube:...
With spring right around the corner we know it’s time to clean out the closets, donate old garb, and update with more basic yet
sustainable pieces that can be worn every day. For great wardrobe additions, look no further than
econscious and their new online retail store. It’s a great place to find eco-fashion tees, polo shirts, hoodies, beanies, hats, totes, aprons and reusable grocery bags in a variety of colors -- all while trying to do your part to protect the planet. With the launch of their new online store,
econscious is now serving a growing demand for organic and sustainable apparel and accessories for men, women, and youth that are not only fashionable and comfortable, but are certified as well....
Not to suggest that Nau are feeling depressed at all, just that after sticking very tightly to a palette of earth tones, they have now infused their line with a variety of strong blue hues. And they also go for gold with a new ochre colour. Nau craft clothing only from high spec environmentally benign materials. Their styling strives to bridge the divide between active outdoor pursuits and urban life. All the while pushing the envelope of apparel design.
For example, this northern Spring they offer a three layer waterproof/breathable jacket in a stretchy knitted recycled polyester. And there are reversible shirts of super fine organic cotton -- wear stripes one day and a block colour the next (two shirts for the price of one.) Fine gauge merino wool knit is fashioned into polo shirts and skirts. While on skirts, one product that has my brow wrinkled: a waterproof/breathable skirt? In an above-the-knee length? Maybe if I was a woman I might fathom the need. More pix below....
Yesterday we talked about the
marvels of sheeps wool, and how its microsopic scales (image above) help make it one of nature’s warmer fibres. We also mentioned how super fine merino is bred so its scales are tiny enough not to become a skin irritant.
The same scales that make coarser wool prickly also result in some friction between fibres, will can lead to felting, a form of shrinkage due to fibres matting up. Some wool processing uses
chlorine washing to reduce the effect of scales on shrinking and prickling. But a new process by a Canadian company is said to use electricity to zap their wool, instead of water and chemical intensive baths....
Covering the upcoming merino summer wool collection from
Ibex the other day brought to mind
Finisterre and their merino wool range. This small,
award winning, British company from Cornwall, make technical apparel for surfers. Not so much for when they are gliding about on waves, but when forced to hang about on terra firma. It is a tightly focussed line, (with a broader appeal than just to waxheads), but one infused with a strong environmental and social conscience.
Aside from making waterproofs that don’t need coatings or membranes and insulated garments with recycled polyester shells, the team at Finisterre have taken to merino wool with gusto, offering some fabrications not readily seen elsewhere [*]....
We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the
if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.
on 10.27.09
