Trending in Textiles

By Tori Markin, Business Administration, 2021

When you are looking to buy a new shirt, you may be looking for style and affordability. Though, how often do you consider the actual textiles used to produce that shirt?

With 16 million tons of textile waste in 2015 alone, consumers need to take a hard look at what companies use to manufacture their clothing. Beyond thrifting and second-hand buying, ensuring that new clothing is produced responsibly needs to be a major focus for both companies and consumers.

Currently, cotton and polyester are the most commonly used textiles, but both have their own negative implications. Cotton production is incredibly water intensive, and accounts for 16 percent of worldwide pesticide use. In addition to large bodies of water, these pesticides also pollute the minimal resources in regions with water scarcity. Polyester is also incredibly problematic, given that washing polyester textile releases thousands of plastic microfibers into the environment, which pollute ecosystems and taint natural food chains. Polyester also has a drastic carbon footprint, and produced 706 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide in 2015 alone.

What are the other options? Clothing companies continue to delve into the world of sustainable textiles to curtail their environmental impact, and attract the attention of the increasingly conscious consumer market.

Cellulose-based fibers have the potential to transform the garment industry. The textile industry regards Tencel, also known as Lyocell, as the environmentally friendly textile of the century. Tencel has similar qualities to cotton, such as high levels of durability and moisture absorption. If anything, Tencel wrinkles less and many people consider it to be softer than cotton.

Tencel, made from wood cellulose, is naturally biodegradable. The production of Tencel has no harmful emissions, and the chemicals used in its production are also biodegradable and recyclable. The eucalyptus trees used for Lyocell pulp require no chemicals nor irrigation, making Lyocell significantly more sustainable than polyester and cotton.

Producing Tencel is currently more expensive than producing cotton or polyester, which hinders the market growth of Tencel. However, garment companies often respond to consumer demands. Next time you go shopping, take a moment to look at the tag, and consider what is used to make your clothes.

Engineering and Technology Research (2017). DOI: 10.12783/dtetr/apetc2017/11079

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