Is one better than the other?

Most people today know that is some way, shape, or form the production on clothing is hurting our environment, but the better question is in which way do we hurt our environment less.  Obviously, everyone needs clothes to wear on a daily basis and some people like to have an excess amount of clothes.  Going without clothing is obviously not an option.  So the next step is to figure out if natural fibers or synthetic fibers are better for our environment.  However, I am not sure that there is a right or wrong answer to this question.  I can see how my coworker, Sally, feels that natural fibers are much better for our environment, but at the same time I think she needs to be a little more open minded and research this topic a little more.

For example, in the reading Materials Diversity it compares natural fibers and synthetic fibers. Both kinds of fibers have positives and negatives.  Cotton, for example, uses tons of our water.  Water used for cotton varies from 29,000 liters per kg of cotton in Sudan to 7,000 liters per kg in Israel. Even though Israel uses much less, 7,000 liters per kg is still a very large amount of water.  In some areas lakes have gone dry and oceans have decreases in size because of the amount of water used to water cotton crops.  Large amounts of synthetic fertilizers are also added to cotton crops and can result in nitrate contamination in water. Pesticides are also used on cotton crops which eventually ends up in our water. Another natural fiber that you do not think would harm the environment because it comes from an animal is wool.  However, wool actually does harm our environment in some ways.  Pesticides are also used on the sheep and if they are not taken care of properly these pesticides can work there way into our water as well.

However, there are also down sides to synthetic fibers. For example, although it takes much less water to produce polyester than it does to produce cotton, it takes much more energy to produce polyester than it does to produce cotton. If the discharge from making polyester is untreated it can cause harmful chemicals to be released into the air. Acrylic is even worse for the environment that polyester.  To produce acrylic you need more water and more energy than you do to produce polyester. Acrylic can also put off harmful chemicals if left untreated.  However, if these synthetic fibers are treated they should not let off harmful chemicals.

As you can see there really is no right or wrong answer.  In my opinion it depend on what specific item you are purchasing.  For example if it is something that needs to last you a long time and will get lots of wear and tear, then you might want something made out of a synthetic so it will last longer. On the other hand if it is something that will not last you as long maybe you should take Sally's view point and go with the item made out of natural fibers so it will decompose faster and be healthier for the environment in the long run.  I have again come to the conclusion in my blog that our costumers need to be more informed so they know exactly what they are buying and exactly how making it affected the environment and how it will affect the environment after you are finished using it.

Fashionable or Sustainable? Your Choice!

When shopping at the mall most of us make our decisions on what we by based on how cute it is and how well it fits.  Should we be doing more than basing our decision off of just that? Although, before now I have been guilty of basing my buying decision on how something looks, after reading these two readings I believe we should all take a second look at the garments that we purchase.  Are there garments organic? Was this garment made in a sweatshop or was pesticide used on the cotton used to make this garment? By asking ourselves these simple questions we could be helping our environment.  

I do believe the fashion industry is guilty of hurting our environment.  The industry does not directly tell you exactly what to buy or what not to buy.  However, the industry does not discourage people from purchasing items that have negatively affected our environment. For example, before reading the Fashioning Sustainability article I had no idea how much energy went in to making jeans much less laundering them on a regular basis. The fashion industry also keeps styles changing very quickly.  This makes for lots of clothing going to waste.  If the fashion industry encouraged people to recycle their old clothing we would not have to send over 1.2 million tons of clothing to landfills each year.   The energy used to produce and launder our clothing along with the pollution from waste clothing is a huge factor to global warming which was discussed in the ESMA article. 

I am definitely in full support of the article A Tale of Two T-Shirts. I think that if we are choosing to buy something that is harming our environment we should have to pay more for it to help give back to our environment.  Organic items or items that are more sustainable are usually more expensive anyways.  It is not fair that an environmentally friendly person has to pay more to help the environment when the average person is paying less and hurting the environment.  We only have one earth to live on and we must not take advantage of it.  If raising the price of a cotton t-shirt can change someone’s mind about buying it then I definitely think we should take advantage of that. 

My challenge to you is this, next time you are shopping don't base your decision solely off of how cute or stylish the item is.  Think about how and where the product was actually made and if it could have had a poor impact on our environment.

The Past Can Help Our Future

Our world has always had economical issues, but as each day progresses our economical issues continue to get worse and worse.  In the reading, Lessons of Easter Island, I learned that the worlds population has not been using their resources responsibly since before the 1500's.  Although, the people living on Easter Island thought that they were technologically advanced by using the tree trunks as a way of moving their heavy stones, they did not realize at that time that they were destroying their forests. Eventually the land had no trees.  People could no longer build homes out of wood and had to build them into the hillside or out of flimsy vegetation. Because there was no way off of the island, because there was no wood for canoes, the people of Easter Island had no other choice but to use what little resources they had left until they died.

Just like the people of Easter Island the people in today's world are also using up their resources faster than they probably realize. The Eco Millenium reading tells us about how the way people are using their resources today is destroying our world.  Before reading this article I had no idea how important using our resources responsibly really was.  I had no idea that the impact of natural disasters, such as floods and fires, had increased because of our lack of natural forests.

In the article, "Pollution is Destroying Our World Day by Day" it talks about how the amount of pollution we have in the world today is destroying what resources we still have left.  For example, we have a limited amount of water left on our planet and we are polluting it with the off run of chemicals.  This effects not only but also everything that lives in the water.  We also pollute the air every day by doing things as small as even starting our cars. Air pollution is hurting our ozone and changing our climate.  Before long this will start to effect our plants, animals, and even the lives of the human population.

As you can see the environmental issues we face are not new.  The world has been dealing with these since way before our time.  However, it is now our responsibility to deal with these issues before they start to destroy the world we are now living in.  This is the only world that we have and if we do not take care of it we will end up like the people on Easter Island.