Gardening Myths & Misconceptions

Author
Patrick Whitefield 

A beautifully presented book debunking the many myths of gardening. Evokes a 'big sigh of relief'.

Author: Charles Dowding

Publisher: Green Books

Publication year: 2013

RRP: £9.95

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This is a book that can evoke big sighs of relief, along the lines of ‘Thank God, I don’t have to do that any more!’ Even more satisfying is to get the seal of approval for something you already don’t do. For me it was garden hygiene. According to the author all that business of washing your seed trays, pots and modules each winter to prevent the carryover of disease has a purely historical origin: in the big country house gardens that used to employ a lot of under-gardeners, there wasn’t much to be done in the winter, so the head gardeners had them washing pots rather than sit around idle. There’s no biological reason for doing it.

Charles Dowding is one of the leading gardeners of our times. In particular he’s the champion of no-dig vegetable gardening. Not only has he spent his life growing vegetables but he also has a questioning, radical mind and is the first to contradict accepted practice if it conflicts with his own experience. He’s written many books about gardening but this one is different. It’s not a general guide, which tells you all you need to know and what you need to do. It tells you what you don’t need to do, and it will be as interesting for experts as for beginners. 

It’s only short but it punches well above its weight because it leaves out all the stuff everyone’s agreed about and homes in on those points that are debatable. Is watering best done in the evening? Is it worthwhile to whitewash your greenhouse in the summer? How important is crop rotation in a small domestic garden? Does companion planting reduce plant diseases? He’s not dogmatic and to many of these beliefs he gives a ‘partly true’, or ‘true but misleading’. And for each myth that he explodes he gives a clear explanation of why it isn’t true. 

Being the great no-dig man he is, a lot of his myths have to do with the supposed benefits of digging and if the book has a fault it’s perhaps an over-emphasis on this. But even if you’re already a committed no-digger you’ll still find plenty of gems here on every aspect of vegetable gardening. A small hardback, the book is beautifully produced and would make a good present for any gardener.

Patrick Whitefield is a permaculture teacher and author. See patrickwhitefield.co.uk

Further resources

Watch: Charles Dowding and no-dig bed experiments
Watch: Charles Dowding and the benefits of a hotbed
Books from Patrick Whitefield

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For further information log on website :
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The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible

Author
Thomas Smith

Rather than fighting our way to social change, in his new book Charles Eisenstein gives us a new story and a visionary insight into an infinitely complex and interconnected world where small actions can help a more beautiful world of abundance to come to fruition. A book of empowerment and hope for the thinking activist.

Author: Charles Eisenstein

Publisher: North Atlantic Books

Publication year: 2013

RRP: £17.99

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Charles Eisenstein has come far since he was forced to self-publish his transformative breakthrough tome, The Ascent of Humanity, with The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible seeing him return with a beautifully-nuanced, accessible, and thoughtful exploration of a new narrative of interbeing and interconnection, to transcend our Cartesian, dualistic, technological and control-based culture.

While Eisenstein’s last book, Sacred Economics, focused his thinking around separation onto the sphere of economics and the spirit of the gift, here we return to the awe-inspiring and all-encompassing scope found in The Ascent of Humanity, which drew on a bewildering array of fields such as ecology, anthropology, archaeology, evolutionary biology and quantum physics to explore a paradigm shift to a new holistic world view.

Much of the text found in the new publication consists of an easy-going and thoughtful dialogue with critics – both external critics who, for example, have questioned his air-based travel choices, and his internal voices of separation and cynicism, which constantly query whether he is simply falling victim to, in his ironically-chosen words, 'New Age puffery' in naively asserting the possibility of a new ontological paradigm, a new story of the self and of the people.

Eisenstein spent much of his twenties working in Taiwan as a translator and, while there, immersed himself in eastern spiritual thought, particularly daoism, a fact which comes across strongly as the philosophical foundation for the book. His work dovetails neatly with permaculture, not least with the influence of daoism also strongly evident in 'father of permaculture' Bill Mollison’s early thought and daoist principles such as wu-wei (non-action), being core to another permaculture classic, Fukuoka’s One Straw Revolution. Eisenstein, echoing Fukuoka, informs us that “There is a time to act, and a time to wait, to listen, to observe. Then understanding and clarity can grow. From understanding, action arises that is purposeful, firm, and powerful.”

The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible turns conventional thinking on reality and social change upside-down, an approach which for many leads to burnout and sees change as coming from the old story of planning, force and overtly-political movements. Charles does not assert that there is never a time for struggle and violence. Simply, “All things have their place in this world: the buck struggles against the wolf, and sometimes he gets away. It is just that, because of our ideology, we apply the mentality of fighting, struggling, and warfare far beyond its proper domain.” Instead, we get a visionary insight into an infinitely complex and interconnected world where, while these things may have their place, even the smallest actions, such as care for a loved one, can ripple chaotically and help a more beautiful world of abundance to come to fruition.

Often, to paraphrase David Mitchell, the author of Cloud Atlas, we can feel powerless to enact effective positive social and environmental change in any way, feeling like a mere drop in a limitless ocean of global woes. Thankfully, The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible reminds us, as Mitchell did, that while this may be an existential truth, equally the story can be turned on its head, with the ocean consisting of a multitude of small drops, each connected to the next in myriad ways. “Enlightenment,” Eisenstein assures us in this important book, “is a group activity.”
Tom Smith holds an MA in Sociology and Philosophy, a Permaculture Design Certificate, and lives at An Teach Saor (The Free House) a permaculture small-holding in Galway, Ireland.

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Further resources

Connected -  be an agent of change
Check out The World We Made by Jonathon Porrit, Forum for the Future
Hope springs in the darkest hour

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For further information log on website :
https://www.permaculture.co.uk/book-reviews/more-beautiful-world-our-hearts-know-possible

Edible Perennial Gardening

Author
Jennifer Lauruol

An attractive book filled with a range of edible perennials for any size permaculture garden, with a warm introduction and useful directory of plant sources.

Author: Anni Kelsey

Publisher: Permanent Publications

Publication year: 2014

RRP: £14.95

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I read this very attractive book with interest, as I am always looking for ways to explain gardening with permanent edible plants to my garden design clients.
Anni Kelsey usefully describes how to grow and manage a rich polyculture of edible plants in a small suburban English garden. She explains the theory with reference to the late Japanese pioneer of polyculture Masanobu Fukuoka, and to the works of current practitioners Martin Crawford, Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier. This helps the reader understand the concepts and accept Anni's enthusiastic 'wild is beautiful' approach. 

Written in an engaging yet erudite style, Anni recounts her experiences of several years in the manner of a neighbour sharing a cup of tea. This record of how she transformed her damp and shady suburban garden into a perennial polyculture invites the reader to ‘have a go’ without fear of failure. Banished is the spectre of allotment perfectionistas keeping military order on perfect vegetable plots. This is helpful; some of my clients now feel drawn to this style of gardening thanks to Anni’s honest description of her experiments.

The most useful part of the book, after the warm invitation to simply get going, is the directory of plant sources and the instructions about which elements are needed to create a successful perennial polyculture.

As a planning tool I felt that leaves, roots and tubers were well covered; I was disappointed, however, by the small amount of information on edible flowers, even though this is covered elsewhere in the literature. Flowers communicate beauty so effectively I felt more emphasis should have been given to this element to help neighbours and newcomers understand and accept the polyculture style more readily.

I liked the very useful list of plants and suppliers. Latin names appeared in the text descriptions but were absent in the appendix. In my experience Latin names are still the nomenclature of choice with online nurseries and plant suppliers both in the UK and on the Continent, so I hope a future edition would include them the appendix.

Viewed through the eyes of most of my mainstream clients and workshop participants, the book might appear rather far to one end of the ‘wild’ spectrum of gardening styles. Many of the people I teach and design for do not have the botanical knowledge or experience to be able to differentiate amongst such a large number of plants in close proximity, and would be intimidated by the complexity. These people are interested in the idea of layered gardening, but need time to learn a palette of wild edible plants and acquire a working knowledge of the families which domesticated vegetables belong to before being able to make use of this book with confidence.

I find Edible Perennial Gardening an excellent addition to my own library of permaculture and forest garden literature, and I recommend it to readers who already have a working knowledge of botany, foraged wild edibles and basic vegetable gardening.
Jennifer Lauruol is a permaculture designer at www.carpe-diem-gardens.co.uk

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For further information log on website :
https://www.permaculture.co.uk/book-reviews/edible-perennial-gardening

Making Money from Holly, Ivy & Mistletoe

Author
Ben Law

Ben Law shares how he makes money from his holly tree at Christmas time and how growing your own mistletoe can also be profitable.

I have a holly tree at Prickly Nut Wood which is for many reasons, is very valuable to me. It is a large mature tree and provides plenty of berries that are important bird food over the winter; When I arrived at Prickly Nut Wood, its bark was being devoured by rabbits and I took action to aid its recovery; The berries are a welcome flash of colour amongst the winter stems of deciduous tree; but also, it has a very high economic value.

Our native holly (Ilex aquifolium) is dioecious, meaning it bears male and female flowers on different trees. The holly tree I refer to is female as male trees do not produce berries. Prickly Nut Wood's holly tree has produced an abundant crop of red berries every winter for the past 23 years.


^{(Large female holly at Prickly Nut Wood)}

I prune the holly usually around the end of the first week in December. Using a long arm pruner, (which I also use for the apple trees), I cut off a number of boughs of berried holly and then store them in my workshop which is cool and will keep the holly fresh.

As December draws on, the birds begin to strip the tree of its berries - I bundle up my holly and deliver it for sale the week before Christmas when finding berried holly can often be challenging. I usually earn around £40 in total for my holly bunches. Over 23 years that equates to £920. If I manage another 30 years at Prickly Nut Wood, the holly tree will have earned me £2120 and will still be growing to provide an income for the next woodland dweller. An oak could not fetch near to such a fee in 53 years of growth.

Ivy and mistletoe can also be harvested and sold. Ivy can be cut when it hangs in long garlands and these can be attractive in wreaths, as can the berries but like the holly, the berries are an important winter bird food, so harvest sparingly.


^{(Mistletoe and berries)}

Mistletoe can be cultivated as well as found in the wild. It uses the nutrients of the tree it grows in and is partially parasitic, which means it takes some of the energy from the tree. I harvest my mistletoe from a number of trees locally but I am now seeding some of my own apple trees and will begin cultivating mistletoe in them. Once established the mistletoe responds well to a hard prune and this can be carried out at the same time as you would prune the apple tree - cutting a cash crop while you carry out your winters pruning.


^{(Bunches of mistletoe stand out in winter, these are growing on Lime)}

If you then use your apple prunings as scion material for grafting new apple trees, you are adding real value to your winter’s fruit tree pruning experience - stacking functions.

Mistletoe is usually spread by birds (in particular the mistle thrush) who eat the berries. As the seed passes through the bird, it sticks to the bark of the tree where it lands. The white casing around the seed is like a natural glue making it easy to transfer berries to the tree you want to cultivate it on. The key to success is ensuring the berry is ripe, so avoid the seasonal festive mistletoe and wait until March before transferring the berries.

For further information log on website :
https://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/making-money-holly-ivy-mistletoe

Traditional Beekeeping: the Bee Hotels of Switzerland and Germany

Author
Katy Runacres

Katy Runacres is researching traditional smallholding methods in Europe. This week she has been exploring beekeeping and particularly the beautiful 'bee hotels' found in Switzerland and Germany.

Beekeeping was and still is a very important aspect of European smallholding and farming.

I have researched a number of different types of bee house and beekeeping techniques from various regions of Switzerland and also the Black Forest region of South Germany.

Beekeeping was vital for many farms and even today lots of families use the products from bees in their everyday life. Small scale farmers could use wax for candle making and the honey for eating and for making medicinal herbal medicines. Today, Switzerland still uses lots of honey in healthy food such as the traditional Bircher Muesli, invented by a doctor to improve the health of his patients. Also it is still used in main stream medicine and relaxation remedies.
In the Alpine region of the Berner Oberland, Switzerland, you will often see traditional bee hives. In the Alpine villages such as Adelboden and Frutigen up in the mountains much small scale independent farmers and smallholders have a large beehive at the bottom of their land, garden or field.

The Alpine regions tend to have a traditional design that everyone follows. It is usually a small brown shed with a painted front. The front is painted in all different bright colours and has lots of openings on the front for the bees to access the hive. Inside the beehive it is separated into sections - the main section for the bees to live and produce honey in and the quartered off part for the beekeeper to make observations and notes from. Also this area for the beekeeper is used for storage of equipment.

These type of beehives are also nicknamed 'Bee Hotels' as they can be quite elaborate with decoration on the front to make it look like a building as you will see in one picture. The bright colours on the front are thought to attract the bees as they appear like bright coloured flowers. 




Conversely, in the Black Forest area of Germany the approach to beekeeping is rather different. Farmers would work often as a cooperative and have communal beehives to use for the whole community. Honey was an expensive product that could be traded for items not available or easily produced in the region. The beehives were of a very different design, a more natural shape that imitates how bees nest in the wild. They are called straw skeps. They are straw baskets placed upside down with the entrance for the bees being a single entrance underneath the basket. They are good in that the shape allows the bees to create more natural combs. This makes happier, healthier bees but they are difficult to use. It is difficult to see inside the hive to check for any pests or diseases and is not possible to harvest honey without destroying the skep.



If you would like to discover more about different smallholding methods go to http://thegoodlifeinpractice.wordpress.com/

Katy is a 24 year old smallholder, blogger and cook. She currently smallholds in Switzerland including keeping chickens, but will return to her native Suffolk, UK later in the year. Katy is a member of the Suffolk and Essex Poultry Club and has a diploma in Countryside Management. 

Further resources

Apiculture and permaculture: keeping bees
Smallholding Methods Across Europe: Fruit Drying
Keeping bees in towns and cities
We also recommend: Natural Beekeeping by Ross Conrad and Top-Bar 

Beekeeping by Les Crowder and Heather Harrell.
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For further information log on website :
https://www.permaculture.co.uk/readers-solutions/traditional-beekeeping-bee-hotels-switzerland-and-germany

Organic Eucalyptus - An Alternative Material To Cotton?

Author
Rozie Apps

Eucalyptus is a fast-growing tree with the potential to be an ethical and eco-friendly material for the fashion industry, but only if it is planted in the right place.

Working towards a sustainable, ethical and ecological lifestyle is important to the health of our planet and ourselves.

We question where our food comes from, how has it been grown, or where our electricity and energy comes from. Are they renewable? Ethical? Sustainable?

But what about our clothing?

The clothing industry hasn't reached the same level of sustainability as food and energy. Cheap clothes are everywhere and are too easy to avoid.

But there are alternatives.

Here we explore how eucalyptus can be turned into a sustainable fabric for good quality and ethical clothing. 

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a woody flowering tree or shrub. There are around 700 different species, mostly found in Australia and southeast Asia but several varieties grow in Europe, America and Africa. It is a fast growing plant that has attracted attention for producing an oil that can be used for cleaning and as a natural insecticide. When it is harvested, it is cut rather than uprooted, and so grows back, and with speed, making it a renewable material. An essential oil extracted from eucalyptus leaves contains compounds that are powerful natural disinfectants, which makes it a popular fragrance for soap makers. 

Unlike organic cotton plants, eucalyptus is woody and therefore needs energy input to convert it into a soft fibre before it can be used for clothing.

Eucalyptus as a material

Eucalyptus as a material is known as Tencel Lyocell. It is made from the pulp of eucalyptus trees.

Eucalyptus Tencel is produced using a lyocell process exclusively from the wood pulp of eucalyptus trees certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), and the fibre carries the Pan-European Forest Council (PEFC) quality seal.

The eucalyptus goes through a similar process as other semi-synthetic natural fibres, such as Viscous bamboo fabric, but the Lyocell process used to make eucalyptus is more benign and eco-friendly.

To make Tencel Lyocell Eucalyptus garments, the eucalyptus wood is pulped, reduced down into a cellulose viscous solution that is forced through spinnerets. These stringy fibres that come out of the nozzle are spun into a soft, lightweight and breathable fabric called Tencel.

The only chemical used in the Tencel manufacturing process is the non-toxic solvent, amine oxide, that allows closed loop processing where up to 99% of the chemical is perpetually re-used, minimising the impact on the environment and conserving energy and water.

The MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for lyocell rates the amine oxide solvent used to digest the wood pulp as being non-toxic. About 99% is recovered and recycled during the manufacturing process. Also, waste products in the air and water from the manufacturing process are minimal and considered harmless.

Lyocell fiber is eco-friendly since products made from it can be recycled and Lyocell is biodegradable because it is a cellulosic fiber. Products made from Lyocell can be recycled or digested in sewage. The fibre will usually degrade completely in just eight days in waste treatment plants.

The European Union (EU) awarded this process the Environmental Award 2000 in the category 'technology for sustainable development'.

The downfall 

Although the process of creating eucalyptus material can be considered semi-sustainable, and the plant itself can be coppiced to grow again, the planting and growing of it is considered environmentally destructive.

Huge expanses of native forests have been destroyed to make way for eucalyptus plantations. One area hugely affected is the Iberian Peninsula across Spain and Portugal. Portugal has the second largest eucalyptus plantation (300,000 hectares), which has meant severe degradation of the environment, draining marshland and destroying vital woodland. 

The Iberian Peninsula is home to diverse ecosystems of trees, plants and wildlife. These include the critically endangered Iberian lynx, Spanish imperial eagle and great buzzard. Also found here are native cork oaks (Quercus suber) and holm oaks (Quercus ilex), most of which have been felled.

If eucalyptus can be grown without clearing great swathes of native ecosystems, it could have a great chance in leading sustainable fashion.

Permaculture clothing

Permaculture magazine have teamed up with Rapanui, an ethical UK based clothing company, to launch its very own permaculture clothing range (alongside other select items). Rapanui produce beautiful t-shirts and sweaters that a comfortable as well as artistic, using organic cotton, bamboo and eucalyptus. Rapanui also use safe dyes, sustainable materials and source their products from factories that follow the Fair Wear principles. Their UK factory is also wind powered. We feel strongly about sustainable fashion and know our readers do too… It's great to have companies like Rapanui out there already designing and making the changes needed available. See https://permaculture.teemill.co.uk

Rozie Apps is assistant editor of Permaculture magazine.

For further information log on website :
https://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/organic-eucalyptus-alternative-material-cotton

Growing Pumpkins & Squashes Vertically

Author
Maddy Harland

Maddy experiments with using the vertical as well as the horizontal to grow small pumpkins and squash up, stacking more plants in garden beds.

Some years ago I visited Rebecca Hosking and Tim Green on the farm and saw their raised bed veggie garden. Tim had woven hazel domes over the beds to grow squashes upwards rather than have them trailing on the ground.

There are definite advantages to this idea. Firstly, the young squashes have a better chance of getting away as they climb a structure away from slugs and snails. You can also stack more plants if you use vertical as well as horizontal space. Useful in a smaller garden. When the plants crop, the squashes are suspended above the ground and less vulnerable to slugs.

Last year one of my squashes climbed up a sweetcorn in perfect Native American style. So this year I wanted to work with this idea. I thought of weaving hazel domes like Tim's but I went for a simpler, quicker design. The Sustainability Centre had fenced a pond with stock wire (to stop our young visitors from falling in) and had some of a roll left over. Not really enough to be useful for fencing. I asked 'The Management' if I might have it and was kindly given permission to take it away.

My squash and mini pumpkin patch was to be on an area I had mulched with cardboard and black plastic. First of all I removed the plastic and checked how the bindweed was doing. I also inadvertently disturbed some very valuable visitors.

 


With wire cutters in hand I unrolled the wire roll and cut a strip 17 squares long to fit the space.



Bluey the Dog was a great help holding down the wire.



I then rolled the wire into a circle and secured it by banging a hazel stake into the ground and secured it with plastic ties. I also used garden wire on one circle. Then I used the excess wire on one end of the fencing and wrapped it around the other end to hold it together.



Here's the 4 circles in a row. Sorry about the lack of light - it was raining.



I have planted two plants on each circle, a greater density than I would plant if I was only growing squash on the horizontal but I think it will work. The varieties are mini pumpkins (I am not sure bigger varieties of pumpkin would be supported), and butternut, spaghetti and sucrine du berry squashes.

Mirabelle the Dog became very fascinated with the whole project and spent hours gazing with admiration at my work. In fact they both did.



I think they were after a sight of the toads...

I will mulch this area with straw once the pumpkins have got away or if we get a sunny spell. I won't risk creating a slug habitat before then. If I can get some woodchip though I will mulch now. To protect the young plants Tim placed some crushed charcoal around them and added crushed egg shells on top. Slugs don't like traversing either of these.

I will post a photograph later in the year and let you know how successful this project is. If you grow squash on structures please let me know how you get on too.

Further resources

Make the most of your unused space amd grow vertically
How to make vertical raised beds for urban green spaces
5 ways to grow edibles vertically

Edible Cities: Urban Permaculture for Gardens, Yards, Balconies, Rooftops and Beyond for a special price of £11.21 from our Green Shopping site (also available as a pdf)

Permaculture in Pots: How to Grow Food in Small Urban Spaces for a special price of £9.70 from our Green Shopping site (also available as an eBook)

Edible Perennial Gardening: Growing Successful Polycultures in Small Spaces for a special price of £11.21 from our Green Shopping site
Maddy Harland is the co-founder and editor of Permaculture - practical solutions for self reliance established in 1992. You can read a free copy online by clicking HERE. You can subscribe to our digital issue for just £2.75 ($2.99) a quarter. A digital subscription also enables you to read and search our back issues but if you like the lovely paper edition please see SUBSCRIBE.

For further information log on website :
https://www.permaculture.co.uk/articles/growing-pumpkins-squashes-vertically

Fashion answers call from the woods

​The world is using more and more textiles, and there is a growing demand for sustainable materials, such as fibers from wood.

PUBLISHED: 12/4/2015 10:00 AM

​Construction, furniture and paper – wood is truly a versatile raw material. It is also taking big strides in an unexpected direction.

Environmentally-friendly and inexpensive, viscose and other textiles made from wood fibres are becoming more popular as an alternative to cotton. "It is extremely promising," says Sirpa Valimaa, who is part of Stora Enso’s Biomaterials team.

Viscose, also known as artificial silk, was patented in the late 1800’s. While it has been around for some time, it is not until recently that is has become a contender to cotton and polyester – the world’s favorite raw materials for garments. It isn’t without merit.

For one thing, viscose transports humidity much better than cotton. As any jogger will testify, a sweaty T-shirt will stay wet on your back all day. A shirt made from viscose will feel dry within minutes. Production-wise, viscose also has an advantage. While it takes almost 12 000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of cotton, you can make 26 kg of viscose with the same amount of water.

 
"The world is using more and more textiles, and there is a growing demand for sustainable materials, such as fibers from wood,” says Ms. Weronika Rehnby who works with sustainability issues at TEKO – Swedish Textile and Clothing Industries Association. "We are looking for renewable and reusable material, and in that respect viscose produced in a sustainable way is a very good alternative”.

So where does fashion enter the picture? Is it really possible to make something fashionable from a tree? Not only is it possible, it is already being done. "Viscose, lyocell and tencel are all made from fibres. While fast-growing bamboo and eucalyptus have traditionally been used, spruce and birch are also viable alternatives. The challenge for the industry is to come up with sustainable processes," says Sigrid Barnekow at Mistra Future Fashion, a research programme working to develop ecologically adapted textiles and create a new and more sustainable way of fashion.

As societies worry about what is known as “peak cotton,” viscose and other alternatives are gaining popularity among garment makers. "We are very optimistic about this new trend", adds Sirpa at Stora Enso. She emphasises however that Stora Enso does not limit itself to finding an alternative to cotton. "There are many other uses for textile pulp," she says and points to ongoing trials with making cellophane, sponges and even casing for sausage.

Others are equally positive in their outlook. Sigrid Barnekow of Mistra Future Fashion thinks that textile pulp can be a new important focus for the forest industry. "Currently, viscose accounts for 4% of the total market in Europe. We believe the demand will grow even further," she says.

For further information log on website :
http://www.storaenso.com/newsandmedia/fashion-answers-call-from-the-woods

TENCEL

TENCEL® branded lyocell fibers from the house of Lenzing. They are of botanic origin, since they are extracted from the raw material wood. Fiber production itself is extremely ecofriendly, due to the closed loop system. On the day that the TENCEL® fibers were invented, a new chapter was written in the history of fibers. Textiles of TENCEL® fibers are more absorbent than cotton, softer than silk and cooler than linen.



Botanic Fibers

From wood to fiber

TENCEL® fibers come from nature and make use of photosynthesis which has, since the beginning of time, been an important mechanism in nature and the basis for life on earth. In photosynthesis the energy from the sun is absorbed by various dyestuffs, primarily green chlorophyll, and converted into chemical energy. In this respect, the starting products of carbon dioxide and water are converted into dextrose and oxygen. The more TENCEL® fibers you have, the more oxygen.

Ecological production

Closed loop process

The unique closed loop process makes TENCEL® fibers the fibers of the future since the solvent used is recycled by almost 100% in the closed loop process. This special process received the "European Award for the Environment" from the European Union.

For further information log on website :
http://www.lenzing-fibers.com/en/tencel/

Sustainable Fashion Design Begins With Sustainable Materials

Using sustainable materials to make the fabrics which are then shaped to create clothes is the perhaps the most basic way to achieve sustainable fashion design.

This article, part of our series on Sustainable Fashion, explores 5 innovative materials that are sustainable alternatives for designers. They've appeared in the last couple of decades, but aren't yet widely known to consumers.  Most are in use today, and all create new options for designers with an eye on sustainability.

Modern Sustainable Materials & Fabrics

Most of today's apparel doesn’t break down easily when discarded, ending up in polluting landfills for decades or even centuries. So some basic changes in the fashion industry's attitude to sustainable materials would have a major long term benefit to the planet.

If more fabric itself is sustainable, several of today's fashion industry challenges around pollution and sustainability would be immediately addressed.

Many designers acknowledge this in their work, using fabrics based on natural materials we've known about and used for centuries. Cotton, linen, hemp and silk are just some with an ancient history.  Although even these can cause problems, with modern agriculture causing troubling effects on the environment.

But if sustainable textile materials are defined as those that don't exhaust non-renewable resources, we have other options thanks to modern technology and research.  Teams today and in recent years have been developing materials that don't use polluting chemicals and toxins while being manufactured.

The results are innovative sustainable materials and fabrics that are viable alternatives to fashion industry norms. Some are from plant sources, others have origins you certainly wouldn’t associate with fabrics.

Here are 5 new sustainable materials you ought to know about if you have an interest in sustainable fashion, especially consumers who want to know more what goes into their clothes​.

---

Next Jumpsuit - 100% Tencel

1. Tencel
(Eucalyptus trees)

Austrian company, Lenzing is very active in man-made fibres. They first created Modal which today is mainstream and used in a variety of apparel.

TencelR is another sustainable eco-friendly material in their stable. Originally created as Lyocell in the 80’s it's now branded Tencel.  It's regenerated from wood cellulose from farm grown eucalyptus trees. 99.5% of solvents used in its fibre creation are reused, creating a near closed loop system.

TencelR fibres are soft, absorbent, very strong when wet or dry, wrinkle-resistant and biodegradable. TencelR is used for a variety of apparel from underwear to denim today.

Read more about Tencel at this link.

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2. Seacell 
(Wood cellulose & seaweed)

What happens when you take wood cellulose fibre and add sea weed to it? You get a sustainable material called Seacell, created by SmartFiber AG, a German fibre manufacturer of lyocell fibres.

Cashmere fashion with Seacell

Just over a decade old, SmartFiber AG use the same nearly close loop system of lyocell but then add Icelandic seacell into it as a substrate to improve its use as a fashion textile. This gives consumers the benefits of seaweed which the makers say include Vitamin E and antioxidant properties.

Read more about Seacell at this link.

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3. Chitosan or Chitin Fibre
(Crustacean shells)

SwicoFil, another German natural and synthetic fibre manufacturer, have created something called Chitosan or Chitin Fibre.  It's one of their many sustainable materials, but probably the most memorable!

Creative sustainable fashion design!

Chitin is related chemically to cellulose, but is a semitransparent substance that makes up the hard outer covering of crustacean shells like crabs and lobsters.  It's mixed with viscose to create fabrics which are antibacterial, bio-degradable, hypoallergenic and with high moisture absorption.

Read more about Chitosan at this link.

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4. Corkshell
(Wine corks)

Made with a by-product from wine cork production, this is an FSC certified cork powder.

Sustainable material from by-product of wine cork manufacture

This natural granulate is crushed and merged with the fabric in a patented process from Schoeller. The result is a material that has a 50% higher thermal insulation which is breathable, soft and lightweight.  This creates options for not only more sustainable fashion design, but more functional too.

Read more about Corkshell at this link.

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5. QMilch
(Milk protein)

You might think this is fiction or an April Fool, but QMilch is a fabric made from milk protein, casein. Not just milk protein, but milk that can no longer be sold.

Milk - an unlikely source of sustainable material for fabric

Not only is the fabric made from an unlikely material, but it also has a surprising number of positive characteristics for sustainable fashion design. It’s biodegradable, antibacterial, anti-allergenic and soft and comfortable to wear. It can be used by itself or blended with other materials like silk or cotton.

Set up by a biochemist turned fashion designer, just five years ago, this sustainable material holds a lot of promise, but is still not available from suppliers. Hopefully that will change in this coming year.

The next time you are out shopping for clothes, take a closer look at the details of the materials and technologies that are used to make them.  If you start looking at the fabrics for signs of sustainable fashion design, you might be pleasantly surprised by what you discover.


For further information log on website :
https://www.zayahworld.com/sustainable-fashion-design-needs-sustainable-materials/