Patronize Peace Silk

Looking for a cheap fix on a luxury fabric? Polyester silk impersonators like nylon and polyester are made from petrochemicals derived from oil and aren’t biodegradable, which means once you and the thrift store are done with that retro-chic pantsuit, it will live in the landfill forever.

Plus, nylon manufacturing creates nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas three hundred times more potent than carbon dioxide. And making polyester uses large amounts of water for cooling, along with lubricants, which can become a source of contamination. Both processes are energy-hungry, making them unsustainable on two counts.

If you’re turned off by the silkworm-killing process involved in making conventional silk, invest in ahimsa—or “peace silk”—which is created when the worm is allowed to live out its lifecycle, rather than killed to extract the silk inside its cocoon.

Groovy.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 24th, 2014 at 8:46 am. It is filed under Sustainability and tagged with ahimsa silk, eco-fashion, fashion, peace silk, silk, style. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.