Guide to eco friendly textiles  for a sustainable travel mindset

Cotton production accounts for 40% of the total textile fiber market and is still a major industry in countries like the US and India.

Cotton is a natural fiber made from renewable resources but it requires a lot of land and water to grow. It is often produced from GMO seeds and it demands a high load of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Besides the intensive cultivation process, other processes, like dyeing and finishing, require a heavy amount of toxic chemicals dyes, water, and energy usage. Cotton mills in developing countries are major culprits for water and soil pollution, leading to the loss of natural resources and an increase in health problems.

In countries like India and Pakistan, cotton production has been pointed a finger for farmers indebtedness and a rising rate of suicides, as well as an alarming depletion of potable water sources in regions that are susceptible to drought.

Organic cotton has been touted as a more sustainable alternative to conventional cotton. It is grown from non-GMO seeds and it doesn’t use synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. Organic agricultural practices are better for the soil and protect biodiversity, and certification tries to ensure better and fairer working conditions and protection of communities.

Saying that organic practices lead to lower yields is a common argument used by conventional farming advocates, although organic cotton actually appears to produce higher yields compared to its conventional counterpart.

Nevertheless, cotton, being organic or not, still uses a lot of land and water resources, compared to other fibers, and an organic cotton T-shirt can still be dyed using toxic chemicals, so not all is perfect.

Still, organic seems to be a better choice, as it will probably have a lower environmental and social impact. Always look for certified cotton and check the labels for any of the two certifications available: Organic Content Standards (OCS) and Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).

Wool is a natural fiber that comes from the fleece of sheep (merino), goat (cashmere and mohair), llama, alpaca or rabbits (angora). Wool is a great fabric: it’s breathable and suitable for both cold and warm weather. It also requires little care and less washing than synthetic fabrics, as it doesn’t hold smell and is quite durable.

Nevertheless, wool raises some environmental and ethical concerns. Mulesing is a controversial and painful practice, in which strips of the animal’s skin are removed to prevent disease. Also, animal welfare organizations have been alerting the public to animal overexploitation and violence, especially in large-scale production units.

Land for sheep grazing is traditionally unsuited for crop production, which makes wool more sustainable than cotton if we look at the fact that cotton uses arable land and requires an intensive irrigation system. But, let’s not forget the problem with methane emissions and the fact that industrial operations have huge numbers of animals in the smallest effective land area, leading to soil erosion due to overgrazing practices. Also, wool needs to be cleaned (scouring) after shearing, sometimes with the use of chemicals that contaminate water sources and land.

The best is to buy certified wool clothing, that ensures the fabric was produced with good agricultural practices, prioritizing animal welfare and using eco-friendly methods to clean and process the raw material.

These three fibers are called bast fibers, which means that the fiber is extracted from the stem of the plant, through a process called retting. This allows for the fibers to be released from the fibrous stem and it can be done through a natural process or through the use of chemicals.

Linen is made from the fibers of the flax plant and has been used as a textile since the beginning of civilization. As a fabric, linen is cool and fresh, breathes well and is highly resistant. Comparing to cotton, growing flax seems to be more sustainable because it requires less water and land and no use of chemical fertilizers. Due to its low flexibility, it can wrinkle easily and ironing is a must if you want to get that sleek look. This can increase energy use so if you want to have a lower environmental impact, dry it in a clothesline and learn to love its wrinkles, some say that’s what gives it its charm.

Hemp is made from the fibers of Cannabis sativa plant, an industrial variety that has been used since ancient times as fiber, food, and medicine. Hemp crops are highly productive, yielding many times more than cotton and flax and they also don’t require any pesticides. It is considered one of the most sustainable fibers out there. The fabric has similar properties to linen, making it a great option for hot climates, as it also has UV protection properties.

Ramie, also an ancient fiber crop, is made from the stem of an herbaceous plant native to Asia. It’s a strong fiber that is mostly used in combination with other fibers to produce textiles with better properties since it has a silky touch and doesn’t wrinkle easily. It’s not as popular used alone as a textile source because the fiber is hard and expensive to obtain, compared to other alternatives, and it’s not as durable.

Bast fibers seem to be better alternatives to cotton due to their low impact on the land and little use of pesticides, fertilizers, and water. Nevertheless, the biggest impact of a fabric is usually on the processing and consumer use phases. Often, heavy chemicals are used in the dyeing phase, so it’s best to opt for natural dyes or just wear the natural colors of the fabrics. Linen has beautiful gray or beige hues that give a distinct look to anyone’s style. Due to their lower flexibility, linen and hemp wrinkle easily and energy use to care for these textiles might be higher if you iron your clothes.

Rayon, modal, and lyocell are fabrics composed of cellulosic filaments. Cellulose is a polymer extracted through a chemical process from the wood pulp of beech trees, pine trees, eucalyptus or bamboo. It is a natural fiber but its extraction is actually a man-made process so these fabrics are often called semi-synthetic. They are biodegradable nevertheless, as the fibers are 100% natural in origin. They have very interesting properties, such a soft silky feel, highly breathable and they can absorb moisture better than cotton.

Rayon, or viscose as it is known in Europe, was developed in the 19th century as a cheaper alternative to natural silk, also called “artificial silk”. The production process for rayon fabrics consists in extracting the cellulose from the wood pulp by soaking it in a chemical bath and then spinning it to create a filament. Unfortunately, some of the chemicals used in the process are very toxic, and most factories have no way to recover them, releasing them into the environment, which contaminates water supplies and becomes a hazard. Also, many rayon-based textiles require dry cleaning and that amounts to the environmental impact. Using rayon textiles is therefore not recommended if you are trying to reduce your footprint.

Modal and lyocell are technologically more advanced than rayon and their production and properties are different too. Modal, for example, is stronger when wet and it doesn’t shrink when washed, as it happens with rayon. It’s also softer than cotton and for that reason is used in underwear and undergarments and, because it’s highly absorbent and breathable, it’s a great choice for activewear. Nevertheless, modal’s production system is the same as rayon’s so it isn’t the best environmental choice.

Lyocell, on the other hand, is a type of rayon that was developed by the Austrian company Lenzing, under the trademark Tencel. Tencel has nanofibrils (nanotechnology) whose properties can be changed to make products with distinct characteristics. It’s revolutionary also in its production process as it uses a gentler solvent that is recovered up to 95% in a closed loop. Tencel is highly breathable, highly absorbent, it has antibacterial properties and it can be manipulated to have stretching qualities, making it a better choice for activewear and underwear than synthetic fibers like nylon or polyester. It’s actually such a versatile fabric that it can be virtually used in any kind of garment and, environmentally, it seems to be a top choice.

Fabric made out of the pulp of the bamboo grass has been touted as the alternative to cotton, as it’s a fast-growing plant that requires much less water and land to grow and virtually no pesticides or fertilizers.

The fabric also possesses desirable qualities: it’s breathable, has excellent moisture wicking properties and some antibacterial properties as well. It’s silky and soft in touch and it has insulating properties, keeping you cool in summer and warm in winter.

Although this seems to be the promised alternative to less environmentally-friendly fabrics, such as cotton or polyester, bamboo fabric is not without its controversy. In fact, the process to turn the cellulose in the bamboo bark into a fabric is similar to the one used to make rayon and, as we have seen above, its use of heavy chemicals to turn it into a fabric is a big no-no in terms of environmental impact. Also, most of the fabric being sold is actually bamboo rayon, which means it uses this process to make the fiber, thus destroying any environmental claim attributed to bamboo fabrics.

Monocel® is a recent Norwegian technology where the bamboo fabric is produced through the lyocell method, combining the best bamboo fabric has to offer: the fast regeneration of the raw material and the environmentally-responsible practices of the production method. This is a recent innovation, so it is still not easy to find a wide variety of products in the market but, hopefully, this will change in the near future.