When entire cities are poisoned by textile chemicals dumped into the local rivers, destroying the water supply; we have to ask ourselves: When has fast-fashion gone too far?
It may not affect you right now, but all rivers lead to the oceans.
Most of us don't know much about our clothing, the journey it has traveled before we saw it in a store, or the land, water and lives affected in its production. I remember the first time I made the connection between these issues and my own life. It was a moment of inspiration, and part of the dream that built this company.
Every time you spend money, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want.
I ran the fabric through my fingers; it felt soft and the texture was pleasant to the touch. A look at the tag revealed that it was made of 100% cotton.
Recently I'd read that cotton was the most-used textile crop in the world. It is a major source of income for many countries including China, India, and the US.
There is only one problem: production of cotton clothing is polluting our planet and decimating our freshwater. More than half of the world's pesticides and herbicides are used by the cotton industry. One T Shirt takes 700 gallons of fresh water to produce.
And yet cotton covers only 5% of the earth's cultivated land.
I moved on to browse some other clothing, all the while contemplating the issues surrounding the cotton industry. In a world that relies heavily on cotton as a cash crop, with so many jobs tied to its production and use, what can we do? Attempting outright removal or trying to stop this toxic industry in its tracks would have serious effects on local and global economies.
Holding a Puma moisture-wicking shirt I wondered if synthetics could provide the answer…
What if there was a super crop? An Arnold Schwarzenegger of a textile plant?
Polyester solves some of the problems created by the cotton industry, but ultimately it is just another type of plastic, and its impact on the environment is no less devastating.
I feel that nature always provides a solution.
A solution that requires less water, grows faster, is more adaptable to different climates and growing conditions, takes up less space, uses less pesticides, creates more durable cloth, is warmer in the cold, cooler in the heat, anti-bacterial, and UV resistant? Sounds too good to be true.
Where on earth would I find such a plant? Does one even exist?
I walked out of the store empty handed but was filled with the determination to find a better clothing solution than cotton or polyester.
My research to find a more sustainable textile source led me to some particularly interesting results. Yes! There is a super-plant and it does fit every requirement I imagined in that store!
And it is…(drumroll please)… Bamboo!
"You mean, that's it? That's the answer, it's that simple?"
Well…Yeah. More or less.
Bamboo is an absolutely amazing plant to turn into textiles for a number of reasons. First of all it's a technically a grass, which makes it as tough as a weed. It can grow in such diverse climates and growing conditions, it does not have to take up land or resources needed for food crops.
Just to name a few more, it requires less space than other textile crops and needs little to no pesticides (because of natural antibacterial properties). It's warm like fleece in the winter and cool like cotton in the summer heat, and is far more durable than either.
Now before you get worried we're taking food from the precious pandas, rest assured, there's plenty to go around.
