FASHIONBEAT
By Evelyn Yap
Green collection
IF YOU are thinking of wearing environment-friendly clothes to help save the Earth, be prepared to pay 10 cents to 25 cents more per dollar for a T-shirt or pair of pants. Developing earth-friendly clothes costs time and money, and research is where the bulk of the higher cost goes to.
Here is how the rag trade is affecting the environment. By checking the clothes tag, you can help reduce damage to the earth.
DYES
Normally: Chemical dye or inks are used to print or fix a colour onto raw fabric. Two-fifths of the colouring does not fix itself onto cloth and is flushed into rivers, canals and finally the sea.
Look out for: Low impact dyes. Mostly from plants such as indigo from the indigo plant, these fix or stick onto a cloth at a rate of 95 per cent. Only 5 per cent goes back into the waterways.
Impact: Better sea life.
FABRICS
Normally: Cotton farms use pesticides and herbicides to control worms and weevils that spoil the crop, which inevitably seep into the soil.
Look out for: Organically grown cotton. No synthetic substances are used to crop or soil during growing or harvesting.
Impact: Clean air, water and a soil free of toxic chemicals.
PRE-SHRINKING/ SOFTENING
Normally: Chemically preshrunk cloth use a resin which is again flushed into waterways.
Look out for: Cloth that has been compacted or mechanically shrunk. These are put through special rollers which push threads closer together — similar to how handicraft weavers compact their weaves with a hand-held stake.
Earth-friendly softening use enzyme, not chemical washes, which are biodegradable.
Impact: Saves energy, better waterlife.
THE METAL BITS
Normally: Hard metals zinc, nickel and chrome make strong zips, safety pins and metal fasteners. But cyanide is needed to rustproof or electroplate the hardware. After rustproofing, the cyanide is flushed into the waterways.
Look out for: Copper alloys like brass and nickel-silver are softer, but non-rusting and needs no electroplating.
Impact: Healthier waterways.
Source : The Straits Times, June 7, 1992
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