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Non-toxic clothes – do they exist? Cotton is a versatile and natural material, but also the most sprayed crop in the world. And synthetic fibers leak micro plastics. So what can you actually wear?
The fabric guide below gives some clues, but hardly all the answers. The true key to a sustainable and chemically clever wardrobe is consuming less. Choose a few favourites to wear and take care of for a long time.
BAMBOO grows fast and thrives without pesticides. However, bamboo viscose requires large amounts of toxic chemicals: about 5,5 kilos for one kilo viscose fabric, to produce. Lyocell of bamboo is a more ecofriendly alternative.
COTTON grows on bushes in large fields. It demands large amounts of water and is sprayed with a lot of pesticides if it is not organically grown. Cotton is the most common clothing material: comfortable to wear and easy to wash, but wrinkles easily.
LINEN is a strong and a little stiff fabric, made of the fibers in the flax stem. Flax is grown in relatively cold countries. It doesn’t require a lot of pesticides, but herbicides are used. Producing linen is laborius, yet linen is more ecofriendly than for instance cotton or synthethic fibers.
HEMP needs neither pesticides nor fertilizers. It can cope on nutritionally poor soil, it binds the soil with its long roots and it is biologically degradable. Hemp fabric is strong, and it looks and feels similar to linen. A sustainable choice.
SILK is a fabric woven of silk thread from the cocoon of the silkworm. Silk is soft and beautiful, but the pupa dies when the cocoon is taken advantage of. Wild silk is sometimes made of the empty cocoons of fully developed butterflies.
WOOL from sheep keeps the warmth, even when wet. The wool fat is dirt repellent: hanging out your garment for ventilation instead of washing it is often enough. Wool is quite ecofriendly, except for woolfat in the washing water.
ACRYLIC is a chemical compound very similar to plastic. The production is complicated and resource demanding, using solvents and a lot of chemicals. Acrylic is sensitive to warm washing and easily burles. When washed, micro plastics leaks out in the water.
ELASTANE or Lycra is an elastic fiber used in combination with other materials to make them stretchable. It is similar to plastic, requires a lot of chemicals and solvents to produce and leaks micro plastics when washed.
NYLON or POLYAMIDE is strong and elastic, doesn’t wrinkle and dries fast. Another plastic-like synthetic fiber devouring chemicals and leaking micro plastics.
POLYESTER is one of the most common clothing materials: strong and stretchable. The plastic-like fiber is extracted from petroleum using chemicals that may be carcinogenic and end up in nature if the purification of water is insufficient. Micro plastics leak out in the washing water.
FLEECE is soft and brushy. Made of very porous polyester your fleece sweater sends more than 1 900 tiny plastic particles down the drain in every wash. The micro plastics are too small to get caught by the treatment plants, and so they end up in nature and get eaten by plankton which is food for fish.
CUPRO is made of cotton waste. The manufactoring process resembles the one of viscose.
LYOCELL (or Tencel; a trademark using FSC-certified raw material) is made of cellulose, but produced with more ecofriendly methods than viscose. The chemicals are used in a closed system and the solvents are more gentle. Lyocell is strong and resistant to washing.
MODAL is quite similar to viscose, but the raw material is nothing but beechwood.
VISCOSE is made of cellulose from for instance fir-tree. Very hazardous chemicals are used for softening the wood pulp so it can be spun to fibers. Chemicals and lots of water are also used for weaving the fabric. Viscose is a soft breathing fabric with a beautiful fall, and it keeps the color well.
From study circle to Operation Non-toxic Day-nursery to Chemically Clever Åland to Chemically Clever Island – what a journey for a small NGO!
Why eat local food? Because you know what is in it, you know the producer and you can trust the producer. In the Kärdla Christmas Fair during the weekends in December 2020 the fair kiosks contained a lot of Hiiumaa goods.
Welcome to explore our diverse projects at the Icelandic EPA, such as Hanna's House - online educational material on chemicals in our homes, lectures and parental café on chemicals in our everyday life, and a guide to throwing an environmentally themed hackathon.
"How can we make conscious, healthy and sustainable choices in a world marinated in chemicals? Chemically Clever Island is a cooperation project focused on chemical facts and awareness raising."