ECO-FIBRES AND ECO-FRIENDLY TEXTILES

R.B.CHAVANDEPARTMENT OF TEXTILTECHNOLOGY

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

HAUZ-KHAS, NEW DELHI 110016

PRESENT CONCEPTPOLLUTERS MUST PAY

CRADLE TO GRAVE NOT ONLY FINAL PRODUCT BE ECO FRIENDLYRAW MATERIALS, PRODUCTION PROCESSES, PACKAGING, ECO FRENDLY EVEN AFTER DIPOSALMEET EMS 14000 AND SAS 1800 STANDARDSECO FRIENDLY PRODUCTS INDENTIFIED BY ECO LABLESWOMB TO TOMB

•GREEN MINDED CONSUMER PREFER ECO PRODUCTS EVEN AT HIGH COST

THREE ECOLOGIES

•PRODDUCTION ECOLOGY

•USER ECOLOGY

•DISPOSAL ECOLOGY

USER AND DISPOSAL ECOLOGY

• USER ECOLOGY REFERS TO• AESTHETICS

• PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS • EFFECTS OF TEXTILES ON HUMAN BODY.

• DISPOSAL ECOLOGY REFERS TO • DISPOSAL OF TEXTILES AFTER USE

• RECYCLING, • COMPOSTING,

• DUMPING, • INCINERATION

• LEAST POSSIBLE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT .

PRODUCTION ECOLOGY

COMPRISES OF

• CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING OF NATURAL FIBRES

• THE MANUFACTURE OF REGENERATED AND SYNTHETIC FIBRES

• SPINNING, WEAVING, KNITTING

• TEXTILE CHEMICAL PROCESSING

• GARMENT MANUFACTURE

• PACKING

ECO FIBRES

–CONVENTIONAL COTTON–CONVENTIONAL COTTON IS NOT ECO

FRIENDLY– USE OF FERTILIZERS, PESTICIDES AND

VARIOUS CROPS RELATED CHEMICALS DURING COTTON CULTIVATION.

–INHALATION DURING HANDLING AND SPRAY APPLICATION-HEALTH HAZARDS

–PRESENCE OF THESE CHEMICALS AS RESIDUE ON COTTON BOLLS

–WASHED AWAY DURING PREPARATORY PROCESSES

–WATER POLLUTION

KING COTTON

COTTON BUD

COTTON

FLOWER

Major Cotton Pesticides and Herbicides

Chemical Name

Agri. Use Human Toxicity

Environ. Toxicity

Chlorpynfos Insects Brain and fetal damage, impotence, sterility.

Bees, birds, and

other plant creature

Cyanazine Weeds Birth defects,

cancer. Bees, birds, & fish.

Dicofol Mites, insecticide.

Cancer, reproductive damage, tumors

Aquatic insects, birds, & fish

Ethephon Plant growth regulator

Mutations. Birds, bees, & fish.

PESTICIDES – HEALTH HAZARDSSOME FACTS(US Study)

• Number of pesticides in the market 400

• Major source of ground water contamination• Number of different pesticides documented by the

E.P.A. to be present in groundwater 74

• Pesticide-related illnesses among farm workers in U.S.A. each year: approximately 300,000

• Harmful impact on birds, aquatic life and soil fertility

Pesticides in developing countries

• Developing countries are the fastest growing pesticide markets, where health and environmental regulations are extremely limited, and a great deal of the poisonings take place.

A young Mexican girl

drinking water from an

empty pesticide

container.

This picture strongly

demonstrates the lack

of education about the

dangers of pesticides in

rural areas of the

developing world.

It takes one pound of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to

conventionally grow the three pounds of cotton needed to

make a T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

COTTON SUICIDES-INDIA•Excerpted from "Cotton, Pesticides and Suicides," by Jitedra Verma,

posted in the Earth Island On-line Journal. Verma is a reporter for Down to Earth magazine (Centre for science and environment

•"Since the beginning of the new year, not a single day has passed

without one cotton farmer committing suicide," says a farmer in

Warangal, where almost the entire standing cotton crop has been

devastated, placing communities on the brink of starvation. Faced with a

raging attack on the cotton crop by Spodoptera litura (tobacco cutworm)

and Heliothis armigera (American bollworm), frantic Andhra Pradesh

farmers were sitting ducks for pesticide suppliers offering to sell

pesticides on credit. But the indiscriminate application of pesticides only

led to increased resistance in pests. While pests continued to ravage

crops, expenses mounted and the noose tightened.

COTTON CULTIVATED WITHOUT USING

FERTILIZERS PESTICIDES AND OTHER CHEMICALS

(ORGANIC FARMING) RESIDUE OF THESE CHEMICALS REMOVED DURING

FIRST TWO SEASONS OF CULTIVATION COTTON FROM THIRD SEASON ONWARDS IS ECO

FRIENDLY INDENTIFIED BY LOGOS ORGANIC COTTON GREEN COTTON NATURAL COTTON

ECO FRIENDLY COTTON

Organic cotton certification

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR ORGANIC AGRICULTURE MOVEMENT [IFOAM]

has formulated standards and guidelines for

organic cotton cultivation and are

followed by many labelling agencies to certify

organic cotton and other farm produce.

INDIAN COTTONIndia is the third largest producer of cotton

Percentage of agriculture land under cotton production in India:

5 per cent (8.9 million hectares)

Percentage of total pesticide used for cotton cultivation:

54 per cent

cotton makes for 70 per cent of the textile sector's raw material

Organic cotton in India

Organic cotton production in india is only miniscule percentage of the total cotton production.

Organic cotton in IndiaFive to seven decades ago, most of the cotton cultivated in the country was ‘eco-friendly’ with little or no use of toxic

chemicals in its production. Even today, there are many pockets in India, where it is

produced without the use of agrochemicals, e.g.,

areas growing Wagad cotton in Gujarat, Y-1 desi cotton of Khandesh region of Maharashtra,

Maljari in Madhya Pradesh,

part of areas growing Jayadhar and Suyodhar in Karnataka

Nandicum in Andhra Pradesh and

parts of cotton areas in north eastern hill region.

Vidarbha organic farmers Association(VOFA

1993 Visit of Envirnmental Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA) Hamburg Germany to Central Cotton Research Institute, (CICR) Nagpur

To confirm organic cotton farming in Vidarbha EPEA confirmed organic cotton in Vidarbha

EPEA confirmed organic cotton in Vidarbha

•1994 Organization of 135 farmers from five districts Nagpur, Wardha,

Yavatmal, Amravati and Akola

•1995 commitment of 12,00 hectares land for organic cotton cultivation

1995 Formation of Vidarbha Organic Farmers Association

1996 Bumper crop of organic cotton

Present status of VOFA

350 Members

90 Practicing organic farmers

3500 Acres area under organic cotton farming

Purchaser: Fare Trade Company Japan

Volauntary organizations in organic cotton

production

VOFA (VIDARBHA ORGANIC FARMERS ASSOCIATION), MOFA (MAHARASHTRA ORGANIC FARMERS

ASSOCIATION), SHRIDA-BIORE etc. have been formed either by farmers groups interested in

organic cotton cultivation or to assist such groups by offering technical assistance.

yield level of 500-750 kg/ha. The technological properties of various cultivators grown

under the organic cultivation such as micronaire (3.8-5.0),

span length (25.5-29.9 mm) and fibre maturity parameters

similar to fibres produced by conventional methods

Maikaal bioRe Ltd.

Madhya PradeshMaikaal bioRe Ltd, which claims to be the largest organic

cotton venture in the world,

in Bheelaon, Madhya Pradesh

has over 1,000 farmers involved in organic cotton production

The production of organic cotton started in 1991 as a private

initiative of Mrigendra Jalan, Managing Director of the spinning mill,

Maikaal Fibres Ltd, and

•Patrick Hohmann, Managing Director of the Swiss cotton yarn trading company, Remei AG

Organic cotton production in India

14-15 lakh bales of uncertified organc cotton (Cotton

corporation of India)

Estimated certified organic cotton 1000

Total world production 8150

15% of total world production

37% Asian countries production

ORGANIC COTTON REDUCTION IN AGROCHEMICALS

Organic T shirtorganic sweat

shirtorgnic terry robe

Organic fashion wear

Organic night gown

Organic slippers

NATURALLY COLOURED COTTON

COTTON THAT GROWS WITH NATURAL COLOURS DURING CULTIVATION

BOTH WHITE AND COLOURED COTTONS KNOWN SINCE TIME IMEMORIAL

IN INDIA

NON POPULARITY OF COLOURED COTTON

LOW YIELD

SEED AVAILABILITY

LOW FINENESS, LOW STAPLE LENGTH

LOW STRENGTH

POOR SPINNABILITY

LOW YARN AND FABRIC QUALITY

LIMITED COLOUR RANGE

CONTAMINATION OF WHITE COTTON

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION WAVE

IMPETUS TO THE CULTIVATION OF NATURALLY COLOURED COTTON

SHADES

PISTA GREEN AND ALMOND BROWN MOST COMMON

OTHER SHADES

CREAM

PINK

MAUVE

COUNTRIES

INDIA

USA

ISRAEL

CHINAPERU

COTTON CORPORATION OF INDIA AND CENTRAL COTTON RESEARCH INSTITUTE NAGPUR

1996-97 INVESTMENT Rs. 80 LAKHS

CULTIVATION OF COLOURED COTTON AT

KHANDWA, MADHYA PRADESH

DHARWAD, KARNATAKA

PROJECT DID NOT SUCEED DUE TO POOR MARKET RESPONSE

DEMAND OF HIGH PRICE BY FARMERS

MAJOR PROBLEM

CONTAMINATION OF WHITE COTTO FIELDS

NECESSARY TO HAVE SEPARATE AREA FOR COLOUR COTTON CULTIVATION

MEANS TO OVERCOME TECHNICAL PROBLEMS

LOW STRENGTH AND POOR SPINNABILITY

BLENDING 30-50% OF WHITE COTTON WITH COLOURED COTTON

CHANGE OF SHADE ON LAUNDERING

ON LAUNDERING SHADE BECOMES DEEPER

ALKALINE SCOURING STABILIZES THE SHADE CHANGE

POOR BLEACHING FASTNESS

DO NOT BLEACH

NATIVE COLOUR COTTON PROJECT

PERU

•COMMENCED IN 1984 TO DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY TO SUPPORT

INDIGENOUS FARMERS AND TRADITIONAL ARTISANS

•15000 FARDMERS CULTIVATE COLOURED COTTON

•50000 WOMEN INVOLVED IN TRADITIONAL HAND SPINNING AND

HAND WEAVING•COLOURED COTTON IS PRODUCED WITHOUT THE USE OF SYNTHETIC

FERTILIZERS AND PESTICIDES•COTTON PLANT GROWS UP TO 5

METERS HIGHYIELD 10 KG PER PLANT

•REMARKABLY RESISTANT TO PEST AND DISEASES

•THRIVES IN MARGINAL SOILS WITH LITTLE OR NO RAIN FALL

SIX PRINCIPLE COLOUR

VARIETIES

CREAM

Pista green

MEDIUM BROWN

REDDISH BROWN

CHOCOLATE BROWN

MAUVE

Brown verities possess anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties

COFFEE FILTERS MADE FROM CERTIFIED ORGANIC COLOURED COTTON FREE FROM

PESTIFCIDES, BLEACHES ANDSYNTHETIC COLOURS

Natural coloured yarns and fabrics are certified by SKAL, Dutch certifying agency

Coloured cotton fabrics

Sally Fox in 1982 took on the challenge of improving an ancient agricultural art.

Fox successfully bred and marketed varieties of naturally coloured cotton she calls FoxFiber ®.

Today, Sally Fox designs fabrics with her cotton and continues research.

Fox has received a patent and three Plant Variety Protection Certificates for her naturally colored cottons which, in addition to browns, she now grows in reds and greens.

Her invention has been so popular it has sprouted two successful companies -- Vreseis, Ltd. and Natural Cotton Colours, both operating in Arizona.

Natural qualities found in Fox Fibre:

brown, red brown, dark brown, and green color spectrums

Provide a fire retardant tendency

Eliminate the need for bleaches, dyes, & other costly processes during textile and product

manufacturing