6 Eco-Friendly Fabrics for Everyone

There are three main criteria to categorize any fabric as eco-friendly. First, they should be easily renewable. Second, is how much land and other support systems is required by the plant or animal to grow it and give it to us. The third and last being how much chemicals are being used to grow or process it and does it affect the environment or ecological system. It is also essential that the fabric should be comfortable also.

Hemp is the first of the Eco-friendly plant product that could be used as fabric. It gives more fiber than most other plants for the amount of land used. Besides it requires no herbicides or fertilizers of any type. It's dense growth, discourages growth of weeds and requires very less water for growth. The long fibers of hemp help to spin them easily. This fiber besides being Eco-friendly is long lasting too and would be excellent to wear as a pair of jeans or a shirt. This product is widely available as fabric, woven or knit, as yarn, ropes and belts and in the form of various useful products.

Wool, also one of the wonderful Eco-friendly fabric can be produced by a farmer by grazing his sheep. An environment friendly farmer can look after his sheep well and also take great care to shear his sheep. However it would not be Eco-friendly to get wool from factory farmed sheep who are kept under miserable conditions and no or very less care is taken to shear the sheep without severe nicks on it's skin. Besides, the bleaching and dyeing done in factories cause harm to the environment. Hence always insist on hand woven wool if you wish to use Eco-friendly fabrics.

Organic cotton, grown the Eco-friendly way without use of pesticides, herbicides, or insecticides is steadily increasing with many Eco-friendly people opting to use it. The manufacturers making organic cotton fabrics use natural dyes as opposed to chemical and artificial dyes which reduces the chemicals used which disturbs the ecological system. It is interesting to note the recent trend of growing colored cotton that contains no artificial colors and can be grown in long fibers. Besides this cotton grown in different colors are vibrant and do not fade or bleed color easily. Hence, Eco-friendly lovers go in for organic color cotton next time you shop for fabrics.

Soy silk made from the bye-product of tofu is Eco-friendly and has great scope for growth in this century. When these liquefied proteins are made into fibres and spun it makes it highly receptive to natural dye coloring. This silk is environment friendly as it is made from the valuable wastes. I
it can be used like any other silk by the elite Eco-friendly people.

Bamboo, has antibacterial properties and the fabric breathes easily. Besides it is a highly renewable grass and offers great potential to offer Eco-friendly and biodegradable fabric. Bamboo offers great scope to be developed as an Eco-friendly fabric in future.

Fortrel Ecospun or a polyester fibre which can be made from the recycled plastic bottles can be easily made into fleece that could offer warmth and durability. This could be a great Eco-friendly and recycled fabric given the number of plastic bottles one disposes off each year. Using this fabric besides being Eco-friendly can help reduce or use of precious resources.