THE ELEMENT
Can sustainable fashion start from food waste? Sustainable fashion and some alternatives that have recently been developed in the chemistry research field. With the rise of global warming and threat to the environment, the need to develop or change the sources and exports of human fashion is greatly increased. Sustainability in general is seen as an essential part of the change needed to decrease human effect on the environment. So what actually is sustainable fashion? Sustainability itself is being able to maintain and meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. In terms of fashion, being sustainable would focus on sustainable sources of material, shipping methods, packaging and other social and ecological aspects. For materials to be sustainable they need to tick a certain number of boxes. Namely they must be organic, natural, biodegradable fabrics, use parts of recycled clothing, repurposed materials and use Non-toxic dyes.
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What are some examples of unsustainable fabrics? Polyester - this is not biodegradable [takes an extremely long time to be broken down naturally by the environment] and when it is being produced it is partially derived from oil. The oil and gas industry is a major contributor to greenhouse gases that are causing the global temperature to rise significantly each year. Cotton - it can take more than 20,000 litres of water to produce one cotton tshirt and a pair of jeans. The excess water ends up polluting rivers with the chemicals produced when making cotton clothes. Leather - although it is a byproduct from another industry, the carbon footprint of this industry is extremely large. The tanning process of leather uses chrome. This produces a lot of toxic waste and serious harm to industrial tannery workers.
What is vegan leather? Vegan leather is a material that mimics the look and feel of animal leather. Historically, vegan leather was produced using unsustainable and non-eco friendly PU (polyurethane). This is a type of plastic which is incredibly damaging to the
