Recycled polyester is up and coming both in practical wear and in style wear. The name would suggest it is made of polyester material waste, but it's in fact made of other plastic waste such as bottles. It does still nevertheless have a lot of disadvantages. The hand feel is a bit less smooth, it is in some cases combined with standard polyester, and it has higher costing. The latter obviously is an issue if polyester is your material of option for prices reasons. Another notable point is that when used on fleece, it launches a lot of microfibre in the oceans after customer wash. Because polyester has certain performance that other materials do not have, the use is difficult to avoid. Therefore the new developments in recycled polyester are essential actions towards sustainability.
linen
Linen is probably the most sustainable of 100% natural fibres. Unlike cotton, it does not need a great deal of pesticides to grow. Most significantly, it grows based upon a natural water supply. Farmers do not need to water the land in order to grow linen, it grows simply by water. Therefore it grows in areas with more rains, such as Belgium. One disadvantage is the energy consumed on domestic ironing. A linen shirt uses about 15% more energy on ironing than a cotton t-shirt, because check here of the old and wrinkly nature of the material.
Hemp has extremely similar advantages as linen. It reduces land and water use. Hemp is also a natural herbicide. Due to the fact that hemp has actually been connected with Cannabis, not all countries have a great deal of hemp cultivation (yet). China is by far the biggest manufacturer of hemp, followed by France. When turned into material, hemp has similar look as linen. It's just a little bit more difficult in hand feel. When combined with other fibres such as cotton, the hand feel can be made a bit more soft.
organic cotton and pima cotton
Organic cotton can be found in different grades and certifications. The most pure kind is GOTS, which covers the whole supply chain up to the ended up product. OCS certification means the raw material is naturally cultivated, but the remainder of the processing is done conventionally. BCI cotton is not natural per sé. It is cotton purchased through an NGO that helps & supports farmers in the establishing world enhance their farming approaches. Pima cotton is long staple cotton grown in the U.S.A.. It is ruled out natural, however it is an item of modern-day and sustainable cotton farming.
Cupro & Lyocell
These man-made fibers are wood pulp based. Wood pulp based fibres such as viscose are often incorrectly categorised as natural fibers. Even if the product is plant based, the procedure of making the filaments is as polluting is the making of polyester. Cupro and Lyocell however are made by modern innovation that has much less impact on the environment. The smart minds at Lenzing in Austria take great care at the developing of sustainable fibers such as tencel, which is their trademarked brand name of lyocell. For brands that can manage the luxury rate level, this offers a great service for sustainable clothing production.
Eco Vero Eco Vero is a new brand name of Viscose developed by Lenzing in Austria. The wood pulp utilized as basic material is from sustainable sources. The production process fulfills the high EU ecological standards and can carry the ECO label. In addition, on the finished product, it is easy to analyse and trace back whether it's genuine Eco Vero or not. Basically all of the popular traditional viscose materials such as Crepe Marrocaine can all be made in Eco Vero. Hand feel and outlook sensible, they are not distinguishable. Many brand names are now changing from conventional to Eco Vero Viscose.