In the future, we will live in a
world where all clothing is biodegradable and becomes food for another
source. We cannot allow our waste to
pile up in landfills because that is not how the earth was made to work. “Waste for one is food for another,” quoted
from the video.
In Waste Equals Food article we learn that
we have two types of consumption, biological consumption and technical
consumption. Biological consumption is
where things return safely to the air, water, and soil, where it is transformed
back into natural consumption. With technical consumption, it has to be
recaptured in its own closed cycles because they will not return safely and
they can leak chemicals into the earth but we are dependent on these technical
materials.
“If
humans are truly going to prosper, we will have to learn to imitate nature’s
highly effective cradle-to-cradle system of nutrient flow and metabolism, in
which the very concept of waste does not exist,” Waste Equals Food article.
We will learn how to make products, such as shampoo bottles, toothpaste
tubes, and cartons that are strong enough for its use and then be able to
biodegrade and give back to the earth. We have too many containers out there that are
only used for a week to a month to just throw away and pile up in our
landfills. With what we have created, we
will continue to recycle the products into other uses instead of just bury them
and with the objects already buried, we will start a program to sort through
the landfills and start recycling what we can through there also.
Susan Lyons, in the video of Rhoener Textiles, has worked with the
company to make non-harmful materials to the earth and ourselves and to not
jeopardize the strength and quality of those that are harmful to the earth. Once the material have reached the end of its
lifecycle, it can then become mulch for the ground and in six months it is
compost and gone. We will use materials
such as organic cotton and hemp along with research to find others that will not
be harmful, biodegrade, and become food for the soil.
With
our technology we will set up local drop off stations to be picked up and
either disposed of properly, reuse them or make something new out of them. Cars will have to be transformed to use less
gas and emit less pollution into the earth and even to not use any gas at
all. A car recall for all older models
that do not meet regulations and that put more pollutants out than the standard
car will be implemented and enforced.
If we
don’t start living today, what will our future generations look forward to!?
Maegen,
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is very important to consider what happens to clothing once its life cycle has ended. I also like the idea of making more clothing biodegradable so that they can return to the earth as nutrients. However, according to the Rhoener textiles video and the reading, it is just as important to incorporate technical metabolism into the textile industry. One example from the reading is that they were going to use a natural/synthetic blend to develop a new fabric. However, one the fibers are blended, it is impossible to separate the natural biodegradable fibers from the synthetic reusable fibers. If we were to just focus on keeping biological and technical nutrients separate, then both can continue their life cycles in true cradle 2 cradle fashion. Even within one product, like a jacket, natural textiles can be used to make a soft inner lining, and a PET synthetic material could be used for a water resistant outer material. After the jacket is through with its useful life, the inner lining can be returned to the earth and the PET outer layer can be upcycled into an entirely new product.
Beth, thank you for that helpful input and great idea added to the life cycle, I guess I get caught up in the organic aspects and forget that there is more to some clothing to make functional!
DeleteMaegen, I like your idea, and I think that Beth makes a good point. Though the article and video talk about keeping the metabolism's separate I still think that they can be used in the same product as long as they are able to be disposed of the proper way. I think that biodegradable textiles are smart and worth the research, but upcycleable textiles are necessary too. I also liked the idea of local drop offs to make everything more accessible for consumers--anything to make life easier for the consumers I think is worth looking into.
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