From Farm Wastes to Fabrics
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO 
on 09.15.06
It turns out that chicken feathers aren't just a good material for circuit boards; they may also turn up on the runways in Milan and New York in a few years. Scientists Yiqi Yang and Narendra Reddy of the University of Nebraska presented their research on turning agricultural wastes such as chicken feathers and rice straw into fabrics at this week's meeting of the American Chemical Society:
“We hope that the research reported here will stimulate interest in using agricultural byproducts as textile fibers, which would add value to agricultural crops and also make the fiber industry more sustainable,” says [Yang]...After processing, the chicken feather fabric resembles wool (both contain high levels of the protein keratin), and rice straw transforms into a material similar to linen or cotton. While both fabrics are in early development, we hope that, in the near future, we have reason to say "How lovely! That must be chicken feathers..." ::Newswise via The Worsted WitchWith millions of tons of chicken feathers and rice straw available worldwide each year, these agricultural wastes represent an abundant, cheap and renewable alternative to petroleum-based synthetic fibers, Yang says. And unlike petroleum-based fibers, these agro-fibers are biodegradable. The development could be a boon to the nation’s rice and chicken farmers, Yang says. ...
Chicken feathers and rice straw also could become “green” fabrics used in carpets, automobiles, building materials and a host of other everyday applications — all at potentially less cost and with novel and sometimes superior properties than their synthetic counterparts, the researchers say.
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- 8 Fun Green Ways to Manage Stress (Kissing is One of Them)
- How to Use a Solar Oven: Beans and Rice Recipe
- Forget about Pills: Eat Away A Bad Mood!
- Forget Going Green Because It's the Right Thing to Do—Go Green to Make Your Neighbors Jealous
- Build a Greenhouse without Going Broke
- 5 Reuses for: Watermelon
How is this any different than the use of fur in clothing? Sure, it may use up some of the presently discarded materials, but if it were ever to become a real industry there would be the risk of chickens raised solely for their feathers. It seems logical to me we'd have another animal cruelty crisis looming...
The "risk of chickens raised solely for their feathers"??
I guess the eggs and meat would be thrown away on farms raising chickens for feathers, the way the feathers are currently disposed on farms raising eggs and meat...
there is aready an animal cruelty crisis with the way chickens are raised for food.
How many feathers do you get from an average full grown chicken?
How long is the average feather, and how much does it weight?
Thanks!