The most sustainable fabric is a material that is concentrating on providing the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own necessity. This concept of cloth is embedded in the three principles of sustainability which are economic, environmental and social. Cotton, linen, hemp and tencel are the widely produced natural materials today.
These fabrics are all-natural ones, they are all plant-based. Cotton is from the cotton plants, linen is from flax, hemp is from a variety of the cannabis sativa plant species and tencel are from wood pulps. The cotton plants, flax and wood pulp trees are easy to grow and are all highly biodegradable, unlike manmade fabrics that take hundreds of years to decompose.
Among the above-mentioned resources, cotton is mostly produced, making it the most sustainable in terms of production and demand. A year of harvest gives us an average of 27 million tons of cotton produce. The best part of it is you can also recycle cotton like the other plant-based material. But despite all of this, cotton is the thirstiest and most chemical-demanding crop to grow. The pesticide displays a negative impact on the planet and the people who grow it.
On the other hand, linen, hemp and tencel require little water and pesticides besides regenerating easily. Linen even cultivates in poor-quality soil and every part of the plant is used, so nothing is wasted. The boundless feature about hemp is that it can be grown all around the world and naturally fertilises the soil it grows in making it much better for the environment than other crops.
Tencel is said to be 50% more absorbent than cotton and requires less energy and water to produce and more to this, the chemicals used to produce the fibre are managed in a closed-loop system. The solvent used is recycled, which means reducing the dangerous waste for nature.
Synthetic fabrics like polyester can be sustainable too. The sturdy polyester can be made from recycled plastic pet bottles. Engineering reprocessed polyester also requires far lesser resources and would divert plastics from landfills and oceans. It’s just that human efforts and disciplines are badly needed in this kind of endeavour. Imagine all the recyclable plastic materials that the human race produces every year, it could easily outweigh the annual production of cotton.
Instead of dumping or incinerating it, we could make it as other useful substances like fabric. This waste could lead to profit and cheaper polyester in the market. As a matter of fact, the debate is always on about this matter. Because being the most sustainable fabric requires certain codes. Other textile is better in a field but is bested in the other. Here at the Yorkshire Fabric Shop, we will deliver to you the best of each kind of fabric and even more. We will present the very best synthetic fabrics that you have seen.