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Green Little Heart
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Innovative materials for more environmentally friendly and sustainable Retail
Green Little Heart lifts innovative brands that work with new Sustaintech to produce tomorrow's products for Retail - such as bags, shoes, clothes, swimwear etc. Green Little Heart gives them a channel and a voice! Read our article and find out what Pinatex is? Or Econyl? Or how you can actully build a bathtub in wood.
Today we present some pioneers in innovative and environmentally friendly materials for sustainable clothing. There are new creative and innovative materials that close the circle and are like a fresh breath?
Seaqual
Seaqual Initiative is an association of actors who fight against litter in the oceans.
Plastic has been found in over 60% of all seabirds and in 100% of all species of sea turtles that mistake plastic for food. And when animals consume plastic, it can cause life-threatening problems, including poorer fitness, nutrient uptake and food utilization - all crucial to survival. ”
The Sequal Initiative works to clean up the oceans together with NGOs and recycling industries around the world by turning sea and beach debris into clothing. Even the fishermen help Seaqual in their mission to stop environmental degradation and impoverishment through their participation in Seaqual Friends where they give the plastic they catch in the fishing nets to Seaqual. This is how the Seaqual material is made - from marine debris. By upcycling marine plastic, Seaqual not only helps the planet. They also provide an innovative material to many brands and manufacturers, who then create fantastic environmentally friendly products.
The rubbish is sent to special centers where it is converted into plastic flakes, into pellets, into yarn and finally into recycled textiles. It closes the circle and is completely circular.
Have you heard of the newly discovered fifth world ocean?
Interesting facts about the newly discovered ocean, called the fifth ocean on World Ocean Day on June 8 this year and named the Southern Ocean, which is the water that surrounds Antarctica:
Let's keep all five oceans clean and not litter them with plastic waste.
Some of our amazing Vendors/Brands who work with Seaqual are Canussa , Yuccas Swimwear and +Three.
Tencel - From forest to fashion! A better alternative to the semi-synthetic materials
And before you start thinking, ok what if everyone just stopped buying fashion? Well, that is naive. It will not happen so we need to find new materials that do much less harm than current ones. Scary news from the US is that the Marketplace Shein, is the fastest gowing ecommerse player in the US. It's a Fast-fahsion approach and very few valuechains are where they should be. So fashion has always played a part, our need to express ourselfs through our clothes is and moste likely will always be an important attribute. The trick going forward is to ensure that the Sustainable Fashion world becomes the normal choice. Everything else should be considered as the strange choice. Clearly we are not there yet. But! Great initiatives such as new materials and courages brands that use them - are enetering the scene of fashion.
Tencel is "cellulose fibers of botanical origin". It is a USDA-certified, bio-based, durable and at the same time biodegradable / compostable material commonly used for clothing, denim, sportswear, underwear, shoes, home furnishings and luxury products. It is a fantastic material for people with sensitive skin due to its moisture-absorbing properties. Tencel is also a durable material that lasts over time.
Tencel has won the European Award for Environment and also has the EU Ecolabel. It has a closed circle production process and it is defined as completely circular. The tencel fibers come from the renewable raw material wood that is created through photosynthesis. It is considered a low-impact material because 99% of the chemicals and emissions emitted are recaptured and recycled over and over again. It is thus an environmentally friendly production.
More about production: "The certified bio-based fibers are manufactured in an environmentally friendly production process". These fibers are certified compostable and biodegradable and can thus completely return to nature ”.
When it comes to wood fiber pulp: "Wood fiber pulp is converted into cellulose fibers with high resource efficiency and low climate impact".
The imge comes from Tencels official website.
The 1 People brand, ,a Danish Quality brand focusing on new materials such as Tencel and Pinatex, is an excellent example of how tencel can be used to make fantastically fine garments.
Woodio's wood products - patented Sustaintech for the more sustainable bathrooms!
New technology enables the first waterproof solid durable wood from the heart in Finland.
"In Finland, the old wood industry meets research and innovation."
Finnish Woodio's signature material is the world's first 100% waterproof solid wood composite for bathrooms with a minimal carbon footprint. The technology behind their wood material (patent pending) is an innovative combination of wood and resin-based binders. The GWP factor (global warming potential factor) for their sinks is 80% lower than for ceramic sinks of similar size. The products are light due to the lightness of Woodio's innovative wood, which also makes logistics easier and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
The Woodio material is durable, impact-resistant and lasts over time, while requiring little maintenance. It does not need strong toxic chemical cleaners to be cleaned.
Woodio is all about being environmentally friendly and having a circular model. Their development work focuses on biomass and recycling raw materials. When the product is thrown away, it can act as storage for carbon dioxide and they can be burned for energy as the products approach the end of their lives. No waste at the landfill - is not it innovative?
Piñatex - a non-woven vegan leather that breathes from pineapple leaves that do not harm animals during production. It is biodegradable and non-toxic.
The material was created by Carmen Hijosa, founder of the startup company Ananas Anam, based in London. She was inspired by the amount of natural resources available in the Philippines, but also felt disgusted by the enormous environmental impact of mass production of leather and its tanning.
Aware that PVC is the widely used alternative to leather, but not the best solution, she began researching innovative materials that would be groundbreaking. Fortunately, she discovered how to make Piñatex from the pineapple by-product in the Philippines (which is otherwise wasted by burning it or leaving it to rot).
"Over 480 sheets are enough to make a square meter of fabric, which weighs four times less than leather and at £ 18 (about 214 SEK) per meter it costs about 30 percent less."
"It is estimated that 40,000 tonnes of this pineapple waste are generated globally each year."
Piñatex takes care of the wastage and makes pineapple leaves into the new leather.
It is also an ethical process because pineapple trees are harvested by Labo Multi Purpose Farming Collaborative, which is an agricultural association.
The manufacturing process for this durable fiber includes a peeling machine that cuts the leaves and separates them into fibers and biomass (the remaining biomass can be used as fertilizer). The chlorophyll and the juice are separated. The fibers are then felted together, creating the nonwoven structure.
A more Sustainable Fashion world is a must.
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138 w
Thank you very much Adam! 🙏 Couldn’t agree more ✌🏽
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Thanks for these great highlights. The poor practices of e.g. @Shein has been highlighted on this platform before, so we need to make the alternatives well known and appreciated! Great to see that some marketplaces take the step to make sure that the products are produced in a decent manner.
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Great!
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Great information! Let's start chaning the world with just being very careful with what we buy!