Artificial fabrics need to be intelligently upgraded

The prevalence of vegetarianism has made people tend to choose plastic imitations made of plastic or polyester . Fur is a favorite fabric . However, in recent years, moral consumers have launched a boycott around the world, strongly opposing consumers to buy all animal-derived products and proposing the replacement of traditional animal products with artificial fabrics.

But in fact, artificial fabrics are not as good as people think.

Artificial fabric fiber is harmful

The US Sustainable Garment Coalition has established a material sustainability assessment system that encourages people to use artificial leather in this scoring system. It believes that continued use of animal leather will promote the continuous development of animal husbandry, which in turn will lead to overgrazing and greenhouse gas emissions. The chemicals used in the tanning of animal leather are also somewhat toxic.

However, this scoring system only considers the environmental pollution of the clothing in the production process, and consumers do not consider how these materials will eventually be used and disposed of. These materials will naturally differentiate and degrade after use, and will not pollute the environment.

Artificial fabrics and plastic products themselves will bring many problems. Their materials are extracted from non-renewable oil, which cannot be biodegraded by themselves, and will also pollute the marine ecological environment. In fact, if a wool coat has an advantage in terms of service life, if it is finally discarded, it can be gradually decomposed over time; and a jacket made of synthetic material is piled up even if it is piled up. The service life is very short, and it will not degrade into other components after abandonment. It will also produce artificial microfibers that are harmful to the sea and cause environmental pollution.

In the end, the impact of artificial fabrics on the environment has caused quite a stir in the world. Researchers at the University of California found that polyester wool jackets release at least 2 grams of this tiny fiber at a time during each wash of the washing machine. These fibers eventually flow with the washing water to the sea, so washing the polyester fabric with a washing machine will release More than 500,000 microfibers. These plastic products will continue to absorb more toxic substances when they flow into the ocean. Other microbial pathogens will also adhere to these micro-fibers... The micro-fiber fibers that flow with the water to the sea can be taken up by marine organisms and damage their digestion. system. In the fish market of some coastal cities, more than 20% of the marine fish contain this fiber, and these contaminated seafood foods will continue to spread after being caught; and these are detached from the clothes. Fine fibers will also enter our lives in the form of dust, with water in the living, and their shadows in the air.

Although artificial fabrics bring benefits to animals such as cattle and sheep, they can also harm the creatures in the ocean invisibly, which is a very difficult problem.

High-tech fabric

But now people want to use technology to create truly safe and environmentally friendly high-tech fabrics. Perhaps these high-tech fabrics can reduce environmental pollution: some fashion brands are working on developing a leather fabric made of plants, such as pineapple. A natural leather substitute made of leaf fiber is a successful example: the long fiber in the pineapple leaves is extracted by a machine, and it can be used after being compressed and processed. The leather product made from the plant fiber is more than that. In the past, the quality of any type of artificial leather was good, and the touch was closer to real natural leather, which also saved a lot of cost.

Yeasts in laboratory culture dishes are also used to produce leather substitutes. These yeasts are genetically modified to produce collagen – an important component of animal skin tissue that is extruded into flakes and then made into a leather substitute that we need through a green, harmless tanning process. The whole production process is controllable, so the weight and texture of the leather can be customized according to the requirements of the customer.

In the future, the use of stem cells to produce artificial hair and rayon is no longer the only idea that exists in books. High-tech fabrics may bring new changes to the apparel industry and even the fashion industry.