fill smart, f eel warm
UNIVERSIDAD DE LOS ANDES DEPARTAMENTO DE DISEÑO FILLING GREEN MANUAL DE PROCESO PROYECT FOR THE BIODESIGN CHALLENGE 2019 VALENTINA CARDONA GABRIELA CASTELLO SOFIA CERÓN VANESSA NO M AT I L D E O R D U Z
fill smart, f eel warm
SENDING WARMTH FROM THE TROPICS TO THE COLDEST AREAS OF THE WORLD Filling Green
Contents
01 INTRODUCTION
05
INVESTIGATION PROCESS
02
PROBLEMATIC
06
PROTOTYPING
03 RESEARCH QUESTION
07
SOLUTION PROPOSAL THE PERFECT COCKTAIL
04
OPPORTUNITY
08
WHAT’S NEXT?
01
Warmth is essential to human life. We moderate our homes and clothing in cold climates to protect us from the harsh environment. While some people may think that using animals’ fur for our own benefit is justifiable, at Filling Green we strongly disagree. By now, it is no surprise that the production of fabric in the fashion industry is causing deep environmental damage. Not only are animal species like birds, sheep, and cows being exploited for their fur, there has also been an increasing production and use of plastic that takes hundreds of years to biodegrade and has contaminated our land and ocean. Fortunately, our generation has gained intellect and ability to source and create alternatives that are ethical and cruelty free, which is why our team took this as an opportunity to find a solution to this problem in the fashion industry.
02
Challenges Today, one of the most common materials used to fill a winter jacket are down feathers. Not only are they great insulators, but they are also very lightweight and have great compression resilience. However, the way in which these feathers are obtained is extremely unethical and cruel. Alternatively, many other brands use polyester which is equally as unsustainable as it continues to add up towards the plastic contamination found in our land and ocean. Even though many sustainable brands have used recycled polyester, this material is still very contaminating because it releases microfibers that harm our aquatic species. Therefore, we wanted to address this problem in the fashion industry and saw this as an opportunity to create a plant-based alternative for the stuffing used in thermal jackets.
D OW N F I LLING Down is the softest layer of feathers closest to birds’ skin, primarily in the chest region. Currently, most luxury outerwear brands use down feathers to fill their winter jackets. Down feathers are usually located in the chest region of geese and ducks, and are highly valued by manufacturers of down clothing and comforters because they do not have quills. However, the process in which these feathers are obtained is cruel and unethical. These birds are often kept in breeding flocks and are plucked repeatedly while they are still alive which causes them considerable pain and distress. Typically, they are lifted by their necks or delicate wings, their legs are physically restrained or tied, and their feathers are ripped right out of their skin causing their skin to be torn open. Plucking may begin when they are just 10 weeks old and it is repeated in
six-week intervals until the birds are slaughtered for meat long before they would naturally die. That means, in 1 year a goose or duck could be plucked up to 8 times. Usually, a normal winter jacket uses the down feathers of about 7 geese and it takes the down from approximately 75 birds to make an average comforter. The countries where the down is usually obtained have no regulations for animal abuse. In 2012, one million geese were plucked alive only in Europe, today there is an estimated production of 3000 tons from which 90% is produced in China. Although the majority of feathers come from China, they are also “produced” in Hungary, Poland, Turkey, the European Union and the U.S.
POLY E ST E R F I LLI NG Polyester is a generalised term for any fabric or textile, which is made using polyester yarns or ďŹ bres. It is a shortened name for a synthetic, man-made polymer, which is most commonly referred to as a type called polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The alternative for down feathers most commonly used is polyester, a textile fiber that causes great levels of contamination as it takes more than 200 years to biodegrade. Most polyester comes from PET plastics that are derived from crude oil. Fracking technique is used for the extraction of crude oil, it pollutes water, soil, and air with toxins. Our landfills, cities, oceans and natural habitats are overflowing with it as only 9% of the plastic we produce can be recycled. Recently, many sustainable and eco-friendly brands have started to use recycled polyester as stuffing for insulation jackets. However, recycling plastic also has its limitations. It is
commonly believed that plastics can be infinitely recycled, but each time plastic is heated it loses its properties and degenerates, creating lower quality products. (Patty Grossman, FashionUnited). Additionally, according to a study made by Plymouth University, each cycle of a washing machine releases more than 700,000 plastic fibers, which contaminate our water sources and end up in marine ecosystems harming our aquatic species. Recycled PET also takes 59% less energy to produce than virgin polyester, but it still requires more energy than most natural fibers like cotton, hemp, and wool.
03
Research questions
CAN WE CREATE A PLANT BASED ALTERNATIVE TO DOWN AND POLYESTER FILLINGS ? What are the characteristics of down feathers? How can we provide this characteristics through different materials? What are some plant-based materials available in our country, Colombia? How can we test the properties of the natural fibers?
03
Research process
F E A T HE RS CHAR ACTER IZATION FEATHERS: OUR REFERENCE POINT To begin the research process, we studied the characteristics of feathers to understand what makes them so warm and appealing for winter jackets. We found out that it is less their material as it is their physical structure what gives them the high thermal properties. Feathers have a main spine where all the barbs are attached to and stand from. Down feathers have the same structure in a smaller version, the barbules have little hooks to create an interlocking structure which creates a more resistant surface and it is what makes them thermal insulators. (foto) This is where we put our interest because it is the interlocking system what makes them thermal insulators: the room that is left between the hooks and barbs act as still air capsules which then perform as a barrier to avoid
temperature exchange. Temperature exchange is what normally happens to create a balance between two milieus, which, in this case, would decrease the temperature of the body that is wearing the down jacket. There is also a very important chemical characteristic that helps feathers maintain the warmth which is their sterol membrane that makes them hydrophobic. This is crucial for them not to absorb cold fluids that change their temperature quicker than the feather itself and also to keep their moisture balance. The physical structure and flexibility of down and feathers are also responsible for their high compression resilience qualities as the barbs, barbules and hooks are subunits that point in different directions so that they recover their shape when they all return to their original direction.
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T H ER M A LI T Y The capacity to help the body retain human heat in cold conditions
We also asked people what characteristics are the most important for them when buying a down or thermal jacket and found out that these are the most important ones:
The capacity to regain its original shape, after it has been compressed
COLOM B I AN BIODIVER S ITY A S A N OPO R TU NITY We started our research on natural fibers by analyzing those we had in our region. Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world due to its mountain ranges that have different thermal floors. For hundreds of years, palms, trees, vines, reeds, herbs and aquatic plants have offered the Colombian artisan a wide variety of soft and hard fibers that are used to create a great variety of objects full of cultural tradition and identity. Natural fibers are abundant; there are more than 380 types from which only 10 have been commercially used. One of the key values we had set ourselves throughout this project was to not have to produce more product in
order to supply the needs of production. That is why out of these 380 natural fibers we carefully selected 15 based on their physical characteristics, production processes and volume of production like hemp, flax, kenaf, ramina, coconut fiber, corn fiber, pineapple fiber, jute, banana fiber, orange fiber, Manicaria saccifera palm, and sugarcane. Soon after, we realized that most of these fibers come from byproducts produced in crop plantations and could make a greater impact by taking into consideration the energy consumption and environmental impact. This lead us to investigate further the wastes and byproducts that are produced in our country and the posibilities that this would bring us.
WAS TE R ATES AND BY P R ODU CTS Waste man agement As we started our research on byproducts we found that there is an increasing amount of organic waste that is building up in our landfills in BogotĂĄ, Colombia. We found out that the biggest farm market found in our city, Corabastos, produces 6.2 tons of organic waste on a daily basis; that is 88.5% of the total waste produced. However, this waste, which is essentially byproducts from crops and fruits, is not separated from regular trash so it ends up at DoĂąa Juana landfill where it releases greenhouse gases that go into the atmosphere as they decompose. Not only is this situation occurring in many of our farm markets around the city, but also in rural plantations where organic residues are
simply discarded. We took this problem as an opportunity because by utilizing and giving discarded byproducts value, we can prevent them from going into landfills and reduce the amount of waste and gases that goes into our atmosphere. Additionally, we fulfill one of our core values, which is to not have to produce more materials for our production cycle.
B ypr o duc t Byproduct is a secondary product derived from a manufacturing process or synthesis of something else.
FIBER S AND BY P R ODUCTS A S ECOND AP R OACH We concluded that by using byproducts from crops to produce our fibers, the environmental impact that we generate would be minimized. We then started studying only fibers that could be obtained from crop byproducts, to see if they could help us fulfill the characteristics that a thermal filling needs: Softness, thermality and shape resilience. We studied the following:
hard, it would need an enzyme to be softened.
Coconut ďŹ ber:
Corn husk:
It is a byproduct from coconut consumption as people tend to eat the inner pulp but not the outer shell. The fiber has thermal insulation properties, as well as resistance to impact and bacteria. The CO2 footprint is of 1,52-1,68kg/kg. 1000 Coconuts produce 10kg of fiber. The fiber is
Orange peel:
The fiber is obtained by extracting cellulose from orange peels that are residues. The process through which the fiber is obtained is called industrial pressing and nanotechnological processing. The fiber is very soft however, the nanotechnological processing is patented. It is a byproduct from corn crops, the fibers are soft and have thermal properties. To obtain the fibers a though artisanal extraction process is required, there is no machinery to help the process.
OUR F I B E RS After analyzing many byproduct fibers we decided that the following three would be the most suitable for our needs:
Manicaria saccifera palm (Tururi sac)
This palm tree has a woven sack to protect it’s fruits, when these are liberated it falls to the ground as a byproduct from the tree’s reproductive process. The sack has great shape resilience an high thermal properties
Pinneapple leaf fiber Pineapple crops are native from Colombia, they are widely cultivated around the country with a production of 950 tons per year. The pineapple fibers are obtained from the pineapple plants leaves through an extraction process that can be done artisanally or with a decorticator machine.
Corn silk The corn crop is one of the most abundant around the world, each plant has from 400 to 600 corn silk fibers, these fibers have high softness properties and no process is required to obtain or treat the fibers.
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06
Prototyping In order to analyze the fibers we where working with, and we took microscopic pictures of them. These pictures allowed us to understand their structure, and the origin of their properties. Also, the differences amongst them so that we could classify them and find a way to create the cocktail. Then, we tested the fibers by submitting them to different temperatures in order to test their resistance and durability. Finally, we tested the capacity of retaining warmth that each fiber has and we compared them to feathers so that we could measure the difference.
F LUCTU ATING TEMP ER ATURES T E ST ( durabilit y ) From the start, the durability of the fibers were tested because they needed to be resistant not only to the exposure of cold weathers, but also the fluctuating temperatures they could be exposed to. Therefore, the fibers were inserted in a small textile pocket and were left in the refrigerator at a temperature of -20℃ for intervals of two hours. Afterwards, they were left at room temperature for two hours and were inserted back into the refrigerator for two hours. We continued this pattern for a total of seven days, inserting the fibers in the refrigerator approximately 6 times a day, and observed the results. The experiments showed us that the fibers had good durability since there was no apparent decay or fungus in them, maintaining their structure.
MANUAL EXTRACTIO N One of the reasons we chose to work with the fibers of corn silk and the tururi sac was that these didn’t require any process to extract the fibers, as they came directly from the plant. Nonetheless, the pineapple leaf did require an extraction process that we accomplished by removing the waxy layer off the leaf with a hacksaw. After this layer was removed, the fibers could be pulled out. This process takes a long time, however it can be rapidly done with a decorticator machine for a greater scalability
CLEA N I N G A N D DRY I N G PROCES S Once all three of the fibers were obtained, they underwent a washing and drying process as we needed to remove any organic and unwanted residue. They were washed by hand with no detergent and were left to dry in room temperature. This process allowed the fibers to dry completely which prevented them from decaying or growing any funguses.
TE ST I N G T H ER MAL P ROPE RT I ES In order to understand the thermal properties of the fibers several tests where performed. Our goal was to understand if the fibers help the body retain heat in cold conditions and compare them with feathers. With the purpose of simulating body heat we warmed up water to 37 degrees and put it inside small water bottles, then we put a submersible sensor (DS18B20) into the water to measure temperature, this sensor was connected to a protoboard and then we used arduino program to read the data gathered. For each test 3 of the water bottles where used and covered with small “jackets�, one with a feather filling, another with our fibers and the last with no filling for a control sample. After
finishing the setup of bottles, fillings and sensors these were submitted to a cold treatment of -15.3 degrees celsius in a fridge for 15 minutes and results were recorded every 2 seconds for 15 minutes. The following tables show the thermality results we obtained for each of our 3 fibers. The Y axis represents the change of temperature in degree celsius and the x-axis shows the time span in minutes. The lighter green line stands for the bottle tested with feathers, the brown one for our fiber and the bright green one for the control sample.
Table 1 In here we can see that the filling which helped the most to retain heat was the one with feathers, in second place not very far away was the tururi sack and finally with a big difference the control sample. The results allow us to conclude that even though the feathers retain heat better than tururi sack, the tururi sack still has a thermal capacity, however to be part of the cocktail it needs to help us satisfy the other two characteristics too.
Table 2 In this test the feathers show a slightly higher thermality than the pineapple fiber, nevertheless, difference is very small therefore, tururi sack is a very good option for a thermal filling.
Table 3 Finally, in this test we can see that corn silk helped to retain heat better than feathers making it one of the principal components that a filling needs.
07
Solution proposal
THE P ER FECT COCKTAIL
T HE PE RFECT COCKTAI L The cocktail was mixed through a felt making process, which required the fibers to be wet. Then, each fiber was combed with a card brush, a small brush covered in hundreds of pieces of metallic wire, which allowed us to tangle them to each other, creating a unified felt made from the combination of the three fibers. Finally, the felted fibers were left to dry in room temperature.
45 % 20% 35%
M a n i c a r i a s a c c i f er a P i n ea p p le lea ves Co r n s i lk
T ES TI NG FI LLI NG GR EEN We then repeated the same experiment but with the Filling Green cocktail to prove how it behaves compared to feathers. After repeating the experiment 6 times we calculated the rate of temperature change of the three samples and were very pleased to find out that the temperature change rate for our fibers was smaller than for feathers. The biggest column, being the control sample was not insulated with anything so its temperature dropped drastically in the 15 minutes of the experiment. The other two insulations, the blue one consisting of down feathers and the green one consisting of our cocktail were able to maintain their temperature for a longer time.
S O CIAL IMPACT As a socially focused team, it was important for us to create a product where we were not only creating a better life for geese and ducks, but also benefiting our community. That is why we decided to work with the local farmers in Colombia, monetizing the waste from their plantations, which are usually discarded, and create added income. Additionally, we created a potential eco-cycle, where byproducts from corn, pineapple and Manicaria saccifera palm plantations are recycled and converted into thermal fillings, which are then decomposed as fertilizers and used to grow crops and produce more byproducts.
S USTAINABILITY According to the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, we believe we are accomplishing goal #12 which calls for a responsible production and consumption, substantially reducing waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reusing. Also, we are accomplishing goal #11: Make cities inclusive, safe resilient and sustainable, which says, “Rapid urbanization challenges, such as the safe removal and management of solid waste within cities, can be overcome in ways that allow them to continue to thrive and grow, while improving resource use and reducing pollution and poverty.”
08
What s next We believe that Filling Green is a first step towards a new and more sustainable possibility for eco-conscious brands and could potentially cause a great impact in the fashion industry. Nonetheless, in terms of scalability for our project, our next step would be to look for other plant-based fiber alternatives derived from byproducts all around the world. This way, we can reduce the transportation cost of our fibers whilst decreasing the carbon footprint otherwise generated if we were to transport our product from Colombia to many other countries. Additionally, other key step towards the development of our filling is to test our fibers by creating a thermal jacket completely with our cocktail. This way we can further test properties like comfortness, thermality, compression resilience and softness in a more realistic way.
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