Textiles
Table of Contents
Introduction
Textiles come in many forms and can often be recycled, but most ends up in landfills.
Natural textiles can often require large amounts of water, but synthetic materials are often worse, since they require large amounts of water, fossil fuels, and then end up shedding microplastics into the environment.
On this page we discuss some types of textiles. We also provide resources and guides for picking the more eco-friendly textiles as well as reducing impact.
Fibrous Plants
We've been using plants for thousands of years, but recent trends have pushed fashion towards synthetic fabrics made from petroleum byproducts. In order to ween humanity away from fossil fuels, it is vital to switch back to natural fibers.
Abacá
"The abaca plant is native to the Philippines, some areas of Indonesia and in the South East Asian tropics region."
The plant, also known as Manila hemp or medriñaque during the Spanish colonial period.
Banana Silk
Banana textiles have been used for centuries in countries like Nepal, the Philippines, and Japan. The fibers are extremely strong, but smooth like silk.
Banana fibers are more sustainable (using less land and water) that most other fabrics, and absorb dyes better than cotton.
How Banana Waste Is Turned Into Rugs, Fabric, And Hair Extensions | World Wide Waste
5:26 minute video showing the steps used to make textiles from the 2 tons of waste produced by each 1 ton of bananas grown.
Dogbane
Hemp
Milkweed
Milkweed is native to Central and North America. Both the stem and fluff from the seed pods provide textile materials. The stem can be broken down to produce long, durable fibers like dogbane, hemp, and nettles, while the fluff is very soft but short. Due to the shortness the fluff is best used as stuffing or mixed with longer fibers such as silk or cotton.
SeaCell
This fabric is made from seaweed.
Stinging Nettles
Leathers
Mushroom Leather
Mylo Sustainable "Unleather" made from mycelium with renewable energy.
Recycled Textiles
Sails Fabric
Sails fabric is very strong and durable so as to stand up to intense weather condition. Sailing is a lot more eco-friendly than using fossil fuels, but sails will start to rip in certain places and eventually need to be replaced. To keep the fabric out of landfills, sails can be cut into smaller pieces and used again as bags or other heavy-duty items.
Sari Silk
This can be used to produce yarns or ribbon.
Textile Guides
HEALable offers a variety of guides to help consumers, designers, farmers, and companies determine which textiles are more sustainable and ethical. These include Plant-Based Materials, Animal Derived Materials, Synthetic Materials, a Sustainable Fabrics List, a Vegan Materials List, a 100% Vegan Brand List (split into brands by country) and Fashion Brands.
Natural Dyes
Flowers
Fruit
Lichen
Lichens are tiny communities of 3-4 different types of organisms. They often have medical value, can be edible, and some have historically been used as dyes or for other properties such as thickening soups or as natural preservatives.
Usnea Lichens
"Like many other lichens, beard lichens have... been used historically for dyes, to create orange, yellow, green, blue and purple textiles." - The Woodland Trust: Beard Lichens
Suggested Reading
This section is for books and audio books.
Natural Dyes
A Garden to Dye For walks you through basic safety for at-home dyers, non-toxic materials, and useful topics from making and using mordants as well as colour modifiers. Learn how to collect and make your own mordant from fallen acorns, how to do cold dye baths, hot dye baths, and even solar dying with jars left in the sun. The author started out as a gardener, and walks you through how to sustainably harvest anything from roots to flowers, how to make mordant from rusty metals, as well as kitchen waste that offers pretty colours including coffee, onion skins, and soak water from black beans if you want blue or purple!
Upcycling & Recycling
Restyle & Restitch for Little Ones shows you simple ways to turn old adult clothing into free or affordable baby clothing. The Swedish author provides pretty photos showing where pieces were cut from, traceable patterns in the back pages, the front pages are full of useful tips for total beginners and intermediate crafters. If you don't understand any of the instructions, look for step-by-step guides online as there are many with photos as well as videos that are great at demystifying sewing terms and techniques. One of the bags is sewing machine free, and several ideas in this book could be sized up for older children of even adults.
Grants & Funding
International
Awesome Foundation "Every two months, the Vegan Chapter of the Awesome Foundation grants $1000 to an awesome vegan project, no strings attached."
Beyond Animal "Where investors and vegan businesses meet" "Using technology, for online funding, networking and business services, to accelerate the transition to an economy free of animal exploitation. Our vision: a kinder, cleaner, healthier world."
EA Animal Welfare Fund "The Animal Welfare Fund supports advocacy, research, and movement-building work aimed at improving the wellbeing of nonhuman animals, primarily farmed and wild animals. This includes corporate and policy advocacy, research, and the promotion of alternative products."
Further Reading
You may also be interested in...
End of Life & Waste Reduction
By recycling textiles, buying second hand, and buying recycled products we can help reduce the impact of the textile industry.
Textile Production
The following focuses on topics that can help farmers reduce their impact.