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Modern Fabrics: Cutting Floor Remnants for Affordable Green Decor

Anna@Green Talk — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 03:47:38 +0000

Modern Fabrics' Remnants.

Modern Fabrics offers green decor fabric options which are Earth and purse friendly. So, ladies and gents, isn’t it time to spruce up the nest? Liven up the office decor? You bet with savings about 50 to 75% off of retail.

Anna, come again. How can Modern Fabrics offer such deals?

I am not going to kid you. Green Decor can be expensive. Some fabrics can cost over $100 per yard which may be a hefty fee to pay for the Earth. Co-founders James and Ewa Powell took dumpster diving to a refined level. They source their fabrics from the “floors” of luxury furniture companies. Left overs, remnants, or castaways that would see the inside of a dumpster if it the Powells didn’t seize this green opportunity.

Anna, what kind of fabrics are we talking about. Basic and boring?

Um, no. They carry some of my fabric green lines such as Knoll, Designtex, Mararam, Luna, Kravet and Sina Pearson. If you are a long time Green Talk reader you will recall that a couple of years ago, I provided a laundry list of green fabrics for my green decor affecionados which included the above fabrics (and some.)

In addition, the company also carries fabric from Pollack, Momentum, Brentano, HBF Textiles, Jhane Barnes, Arc|Com, and many more.

Sina Pearson's Bounce Fabric

To give you an example of the bargains waiting for you at Modern Fabrics, Sina Pearson’s Bounce striped fabric, a Cradle to Cradle certified fabric, costs $34.00 a yard. Are you sitting down? Ordinarily, this fabric costs $105 per yard to the trade. A complete steal.

But here is the bad part.

The difference between a regular retail fabric store and Modern Fabrics is you can order the length you want. Each remnant is a particular size. So, if you are looking to make curtains, a four yard remnant may not be enough. In the above example, if your heart was set on the Sina Pearson fabric, there is only 5 1/4 yards available.

Okay, why so many remnants?

Many people specify certain custom fabrics for their fabrics. In the design biz, this is called “COM” fabric. (Kind of like bring your own bottle.) The Company explains,

“Customers Own Material (COM) fabric is the worst culprit. Upon filling an order, there is no incentive to store or reuse fabrics which have been paid for by a customer. It is not cost effective for manufacturers to return or ship the fabric to the customer. Furthermore, most customers simply have no interest in having excess COM returned. As you can see in our online store, quantities of excess COM can range from 1/2 to 40 yards or more!”

So, beauty does have its cost.

Search by Size, Color, and Patterns

I can’t imagine their store with so many different fabrics to choose from. The Company has made it easy to shop by textile brand, yardage, eco-friendly fabric, leather, mid-century pattern, and prints to name a few. I did fine quite a few with substantial yardage.

Want to touch, ogle, and swoon? You absolutely can at their store in Charlotte, North Carolina. In fact, the Company states only 30 to 40% of their fabrics are online. For the rest of us, we can buy online.

LEED Credits for Reclaimed Fabrics

Thinking about obtaining LEED accrediation for your next project? Modern Fabrics’ remnants can help you get there. Since all of their fabrics are post-industrial, specifying the fabrics could help you to achieve LEED Materials & Resources Credit 4.1 & 4.2.

Join the Conversation

How do you feel about purchasing remnants?
If you are an architect or designer would you buy fabric from Modern Fabrics?
Which of the patterns are your favorites?
If you are a designer how much fabrics do you need for re-upholstering a couch or chair? How about drapes?

Photos courtesy of Modern Fabrics

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Source4Style, A Much Needed Eco-Fabric B2B Database Website

Anna@Green Talk — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 05:19:26 +0000

Source4Style is a new sustainable fabric business to business database that brings together interior and clothing designers with sustainable suppliers. The website is currently in beta and will be open to the public sometime in the next couple of months. The impetus behind the creation of this online database, as explained by co-founder Summer Rayne Oakes, is to offer a scalable solution for the industry and relieve the pains of sourcing.

Oakes is a sustainable strategist, eco-activist-model and author of Style Naturally: The Savvy Shopping Guide to Sustainable Fashion and Beauty. Through her consultancy work, she found sourcing eco-friendly materials to be very time consuming.

Think Virtual Eco-Friendly Fabric Trade Show

Source4Style is more like a virtual 365 day trade show than just a database website. And its creation could not come at a timelier juncture with the world grasping at the heels of sustainability. When I heard about the site, I jumped at the chance to take a look. Readers, you know how much I love green decor and have a special place in my heart for sustainable fabrics. Believe me. I have spent many an hour looking for sustainable fabrics for my own home. I don’t envy designers. For that matter, I don’t envy my own designer who constantly sees me shake my head when I tell her, not sustainable enough. I want it all. Sustainability and Glam. But did I mention in traditional patterns too?

Before, you go running to the website, hold your horses. It is a beta invitation only site at the moment. I was devastated when I went to click on the site. However, every cloud has a silver lining. Oakes graciously took the time to walk me through the mechanics of the website. See the below video interview as well as the podcast for those wishing to listen to just both Oakes and my beautiful voices. I encourage you to listen to one or the other since Oakes is quite passionate and a wonderful speaker.

A Sustainable Designer’s Dream Website

Was I impressed? You bet.

Will it make a designer’s life easier? Absolutely. You can source the type of material from silk to rayon with each fabric displaying a story about its certifications and origins. In the alternative, you can source the material based upon your end goal as a designer. For example, someone might want to source fabrics that are hand woven to help disenfranchised woman versus someone looking for an organic fabric. As the website evolves to a public beta, Oakes indicates that there will be icons for each fabric indicating whether the fabric is, for example, fair trade, organic, and/or contains recycled content.

What I loved best about the website is that you are able to actually see the material up close and personal due to the website’s zoom capability. I was dazzled by the quality of the photography. You can actually see the weave.

Like what you see, and you want to order samples, no problem. There is an option for this as well.

Who Gets to Flaunt their Green Wares?

One concern I had before interviewing Oakes, is how will the Company determine who gets to play in the sandbox? Which means, how will they determine who is green. Everyone these days seems to claim their product is green in some way.

Oakes explains that all fabrics must contain a verifiable certification. However, fabric suppliers with a social mission who cannot afford certification will be given some leeway. The Company has a four page questionnaire to assist in creating the transparency of the fabric and its orgins. Plus, as Oakes states either co-founding partner, Benita Singh or her have “boots on the ground” to visit the suppliers.

But Oakes and Singh realize that being green is important; however, there are other factors that designers use in order to source the right materials. The site will list among others, lead times, and minimum and maximum orders, flammability, pilling, rubs, weight, and weave.

Why do you want your green fabric on the site?

Oakes views Source4Style as a marketing arm to bring designer and supplier together. There will be a cost to the supplier to display their fabric, but in the end it will be minuscule compared to the exposure a supplier will receive.

What about the designers who can’t reach the usual miniums?

The good news is that many of the suppliers seem amenable to lowering their minimums to help smaller independent designers. In addition, Oakes stated that a designer buddy system similar to a cooperative or designer to designer excess fabric sales are ideas that are being discussed.

Why do I think this Site will succeed?

Oakes and Singh are no stranger to the rigors of sourcing sustainable fabrics. Oakes as a sustainable strategist has worked with many companies in creating sustainable brands such as the likes of Payless ShoeSource’s Zoe&Zac line and Portico Home and Spa’s organic bedding line. In addition, she is the editor at large of Above, a UK avante garde fashion and environmental magazine.

Singh, equally impressive, co-founded Mercado Global, a non-profit which employs more than 300 women artisans to help break the cycle of poverty through the payment of fair trade wages and partners with such retailers as Levi Strauss & Co., Whole Foods Market and ABC Carpet & Home. After three years as Mercado Global’s president, Singh branched out into working on product development, scaling local enterprises to increase production capacity and connecting groups to companies to sell their wares such as Barnes and Noble and GAIAM.

Not only have these powerhouse women combined their talents, they have sought input from the industry during informal focus groups and feedback with one currently held in New York in August. See Source4Style’s blog for current updates on the website.

Can anyone buy from the site?

Yeah, that is me in the back corner with her hand up saying “pick me. Pick me.” This is a business to business site so only the trade can buy. However, I can look and bug my eco-designer with all the fabrics that I think will look good in my home. And then she will shake her head at me and tell me to stick to my day job and let her source the fabric. Her job has now become so much easier because Oakes and Singh had a dream and the vision to make it reality.

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Salmon Leather. An Eco-Designer’s Dream

Anna@Green Talk — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 05:17:36 +0000

Okay. Before you jump all over me about the use of salmon to make fabric, hear me out. This product created by ES Salmon Leather is made from discarded salmon skins. When I saw it for the first time, I was salmon struck. It was (and still is) absolutely beautiful.

The idea was spawned (sorry about the pun) from a government grant to find uses for the discarded parts of salmons. The Company invented salmon leather to re-purpose the salmon skins into usable exotic leather similar to snake skin without the ethical animal treatment issues.

What’s it Feel Like?

This is not your grandmother’s pleather. Wait! Was pleather around back then? Okay, well you got my drift here. I touched it, and I can honestly say talk about butter. It simmers, has amazing depth, beautiful feel, and is a must have for those who want the skin-look without the eco-guilt. (Yes, people call your designers. Don’t stop at go and collect your $200, just call. If you don’t have an eco-designer in New Jersey, then call mine.)

I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Stiven Kerestegian, CEO of the Company, at the Architectural Digest Home Show in the Spring. You can listen to the ES Salmon podcast here or click on the podcast at the beginning of the article.

The podcast is short and sweet but full of juicy details about this product. (Remember, I love green design just as much as I love eco-friendly sub-floors. Both make me swoon at the knees. If you remembered my piece on the Twin Maples Showhouse and its fab designers you know how much I admire good design. Go have a look see after you read this article. Gorgeous designs.)

Are they Killing the Fish for the Skins, Anna?

No. This is not your fur industry meets fish industry. Nor is the Little Mermaid poising nude on behalf of the fish. According to the Company,

“ES Salmon Leather is a noble and versatile material, made by re-purposing salmon skin which was previously discarded by the commercial salmon industry. The leather has some truly unique aesthetic and physical qualities, not only is it tough, it is very flexible.”

The Company has two lines. One that is tanned with regular tannins which includes chrome and another eco-line which is tanned with plant extracts. However, the eco-line leather line is more earthy in color since the use of chrome creates brighter colors. Again, a shades of green dilemma.

In both cases, the line is made from re-purposed fish skins, but one uses eco-friendly tanning methods and the other line does not. Stiven indicated during our conversation that he hopes one day that the Company’s entire line will be created using eco-friendly chemicals.

I bet you are wondering what can I do with this exotic leather? The Company show the salmon skins in their picture gallery as place mats, shoes (clogs, yet), fabric for chairs, and pillows. Check it out. The possibilities are endless.

How Tough is this Product?

As Stiven explained, salmons are tough animals. Look what they have to go through? They are naturally resilient. If you had to spend that much time in the water, your skin would be tough too. In fact, Stiven stated salmon skin is tougher than other commercial leathers available.

So, what is this going to cost me (says my husband…?)

How many of you have the same discussion? You absolutely love something and need it (so you think.) And then comes the question, “how much is this going to cost me?”

Salmon by its nature does not have full width skins. They must be pieced together. See here for technical information about how the skins are made into fabric. When all is said and done, each linear yard is about $100 depending upon which treatments you request. (For example, if you ask for lacquer to be applied, the price may be higher.)

Upcoming for ES Salmon?

Who needs un-eco leather skirts when discarded salmon skins can be used instead? The Company would like to venture into the clothing biz. Before you know it, Gisele Bundchen may be dressed up in salmon walking down the runway. Discarded skins…

In fact, Stiven forgot to mention in my interview that ES Salmon fabric was used in Isaac Mizrahi’s Design for a Living World exhibit at the Cooper-Hewlitt this past year! Hmm. I think this is a pretty big deal, don’t you?

See Mizrahi talking about his design exhibit in the below video.

So, move over pleather, here comes salmon leather!

Join the Conversation:

Would you drape your chair in salmon leather?
Adorn your bed with one of their salmon/wool pillows?
How about wear a salmon skirt?

Photos courtesy of ES Salmon.

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Sewing Must Have: The Energy Efficient See and Sew LED Light

Anna@Green Talk — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:09:11 +0000

How many of you sew? It is a lost art but really rewarding. I learned to sew in junior high and did not pick sewing back up until two years ago. While sewing window seat cushions, I found that I could no longer see when I was sewing. The little light on the machine and the overhead lights in the room were not enough light. I just chocked it up to getting older and grabbed my fluorescent office lamp and parked it right on top of the machine. Am I the only one who finds that little light on a sewing machine is made for superman’s eyes.

Well, designer Patty Doyle of Robo Whittler LLC decided to shed some light where needed. She designed the See and Sew LED sewing light. Well, my old strained eyes just perked right up. An LED sewing light? Love LEDs. They give a beautiful directional light which would make sewing more of a pleasure instead of a squinting nightmare.

When Patty and I spoke via email, I could not envision her LED light. Was it similar to my flourscent desk lamp? Lo and behold she sent me a picture of it as well as a PDF, which I incorporated into the above short video. I was amazed how much thought went into her invention. Not only was it a light, it was a whole organization system for all your sewing needs. I constantly lose my scissor, glasses, pins, and would lose my head if it was not attached.

I am fascinated by people who make their dreams a reality. She explained that she and her husband owned a company that used to make complicated cuts for cabinet shops. At the same time, she was sewing on a four foot craft table. She started nagging her husband that they could design and build semi-custom and custom centers and rooms. (See the picture above.) The rest was history.

But where did the light come from?

“As we were building and delivering I was adding more and more lights around my sewing machine so we turned our focus to lighting. We started experimenting, designing and building more and more versions until we decided on the version you saw. We have a whole series of lighting and storage that we plan on introducing this year. We also have thread storage and a space saver quilting center that we plan on introducing late in the year.”

In the end, she designed an energy efficient light which would not give off any heat, and would not get in the way of her fabric while sewing. It took fifteen months to design and build. But according to Patty, well worth the time investment. I was intrigued and asked Patty why the organization compartments. She explained

“Because I love to be organized we added 7 removable storage bins (I keep scissors, needles, bobbins and all the little things in the bins), a built in thread guide (it holds the economy size spools which I like to use especially in machine embroidery), and a pattern holder (I was always looking for my pattern.)”

Can you not relate?

What was the color of the LED? Warm or cool? She replied,

” The manufacturer calls the lights a white light (neither cool or warm) which makes matching fabric, thread and anything else very easy. There are 60 LEDs in each light for a total of 160 lumens per light and each light has two LED lights in them. So, your needle is surrounded by 120 LEDs. I think that’s terrific!”

Gosh, so do I! In fact there are two LED bulbs in the unit. One is positioned to the left of the needle and one is positioned at the back so the entire area is lit up. Just think how much easier it will be to thread a machine with all that light?

Gotta have one? I thought you would. Patty stated you can buy the See and Sew Light at Quilt Shop or directly from Patty. In March, the product will be available on Amazon and All Brands . Suggested Retail Manufacturer price at $199.95 plus shipping and handling.

However, if you buy it through Patty, you will pay the factory direct price of $169.95 plus shipping and handling. At this time Patty can only accept checks.

In a few weeks the product will be on Youtube and in June, the Company will have their own website (www.organizedsewing.com) You can also follow them on their twitter account until their website is up and running.

I have been thinking about sewing my own roman shades. Now, I no longer have an excuse….except time. Patty, can you help me there?

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Second Chance Fabrics for Our Inner Green Craftiness

Anna@Green Talk — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 03:42:29 +0000

Photo by Merete Veian

I am constantly searching the internet for vintage, used fabric. My favorite haunts are Ebay and Ruby Lane, an online vintage store. One night, I found Second Chance Fabrics, which sells pre-owned fabrics, patterns, and notions.

I was curious who was behind Second Chance Fabrics, since I loved the idea of a second hand shop for fabric. Dashing off a quick email, I literally expected a short cursory response. To my delight, I receive a bubbly, comprehensive email as to the 5 Ws of Second Chance Fabrics. You know, the who, what, when, why, and where that you learned in school?

Shamara Kato and her mother are behind Second Hand Fabrics. Kato fashions herself as a “fabric collector” where her mother is the avid quilter. How did Second Chance Fabrics come to be?

“Second Chance Fabrics resells preowned fabric – fabrics that most likely have been sitting on a shelf in the back of a closet for a period of time.You know which fabric we’re talking about.The fabric that you drift across at least once a year and say, “Oh, I just love this fabric, but I don’t have any project to use it for.”Our fabric comes from various sources:retiring quilters who have no need for their fabric any longer, current quilters who are thinning their stash to make room for new acquisitions, and even quilters who have passed on and whose family has decided to give their fabric a second chance.”

Kato further explained that only 1/10th of their inventory is on the website. So, where can you see more? The Company attends quilting shows in California. They list on their home page which ones they will be attending.

In addition, to the fabrics, Kato’s mother creates new quilter patterns under the name of Short Toot’s Designs, which are sold on the online site.

What I love about this Company is that it is akin to a second hand bookstore. You can get a good “book” for a fraction of the price. However, in the case of this Company, the fabric is all new, just unused and costs about 1/2 the price of retail.

Have some fabric just sitting around? Consider trading it in. See the Company’s trade in policies. So got fabric or want to create that one of kind craft or quilt? Visit Second Hand Fabrics. Everyone deserves a second chance, including fabric.

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Are Recycled Plastic Bottles Products Really Eco Friendly?

Anna@Green Talk — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:31:58 +0000

Photo courtesy of Shea Hazarian.

I have always been a fan of companies such as Terracycle, which take our trash and create usable products. But when I reflect on what wonderful work they are doing, I have to wonder is this a band-aid until we realize the products we are upcycling are not necessarily good for the environment?

I have honestly been in denial about the environmental costs of upcycling of PET plastic water bottles, which is made into carpet, polyester fabric, bags, and fleece. You know the Aquafinas of the world? I will be the first to admit, I have applauded the efforts of companies who have made useful products out all of those discarded water/soda bottles rather than the bottles ending up in a landfill. Sometimes I was indignant at times when I was challenged as to why I supported the plastic bottle upcycling I always argued people are going to use the bottles regardless of what we say or do, so at least there is an alternative so they do not end up in a landfill.

Some of you probably agree with me. Plastic bottles makes our lives convenient. It is light weight, reduces freight costs, and not breakable like glass. And as I mentioned earlier, you can recycle it. The downside of plastic is , for starters, in order to create plastic, petroleum, a natural resource, is being depleted. And what about all the plastic bottles that are not recycled which end up in our waterways hurting aquatic life or in a landfill for centuries? To make matter worse, toxic chemicals leach from the bottles.

In 2006, Shotyk et al. reported elevated antimony levels in drinking water bottled in PET containers. According to the article, “Antimony (Sb₂O₃) is used as a catalyst in 90% of PET manufacturing world- wide.” Despite their findings,the levels of antimony leaching were considered below EPA maximum contamination levels in water. However, in an 2007 Arizona State University study revealed that the amount of antimony that leached exceeded the EPA levels while being stored or used at higher temperatures like in a garage in the summer or in the microwave.

Then this year, a study by Martin Wagner and Jörg Oehlmann from the Department of Aquatic Ecotoxicology at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany found estrogenic compounds leaching out of the plastic water bottles.

However, given my view of the benefits of upcycling, I continued to ignore the problem. Plastic PET botttles. I even re-upholstered by falling apart couches with recycled polyester looking for durability from my rug rats who view my couches as war zones. When I questioned the manufacturer about whether there was antimony used in the process, she replied that she had never heard of that words before. So, I thought I was safe. Just doing my part for the environment.

My whole ideals on recycled plastic water bottles came crashing down the day when when my husband bought home a Eco-pure pillow which foam is made out of recycled polyester. I wanted him to take them back since they may have been processed with antimony.

That night, I went looking for more information about the pillows and stumbled upon O Ecotextiles’ blog questioning the environmentally friendliness of recycled polyester. I have always been a fan of the founders of O Ecotextiles, who create eco-friendly fabrics. I have written about them before lauding their due diligence in creating truly exceptional environmentally friendly products. Their blog has been a source of information and opened my eyes to how bamboo fabrics were made.

As I read the article, my eyes opened wider and wider. How stupid was I? The article and ensuing discussion explained:

Plastic can not be recycled indefinitely. After it become unstable to be used in any product, it will end up in a landfill. I just thought you could keep recycling plastic to make it into new products.
Antimony is released as a gas when PET plastic bottles are incinerated.
Both Polyester and recycled polyester contain antimony. Recycled Poly is made out of recycled plastic bottles which themselves contain Antimony. (For that matter, all products that are made from recycled soda bottles have Antimony in it.) So, did my couches contain Antimony? Only Eco-intelligent polyester is Antimony free but made from virgin polyester. How many barrels does it take to make virgin polyester? How eco is that?
The energy consumption to make recycled polyester is more than conventional cotton, organic cotton and hemp. (But less than virgin polyester.) I opted for recycled polyester for durability since I did not think organic cotton or hemp would last with four active children.
Creating recycled polyester can causes toxic chemicals to leach into our waterways unless the facility treats its wastewater.
The demand for post consumer bottles has increased so much that companies are sourcing new unused bottles from the bottle manufacturers.

What I love about the O Ecotextiles ladies is everything they write is not merely opinion. They research what they write and provide their resources. The bottom line, it seemed anything to do with new or recycled uses for PET plastic bottles is just plain bad for the environment.

To make matter worse, now I questioned was Antimony spun into the fibers a bad thing? Was the chemical inert at that point?

The Department of Health and Human Services, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not classified Antimony as a human carcinogenicity. On their Antimony FAQ site, it states,

“Lung cancer has been observed in some studies of rats that breathed high levels of antimony. No human studies are available. We don’t know whether antimony will cause cancer in people.”

However, in the work place section, the Agency states,

“Breathing high levels for a long time can irritate your eyes and lungs and can cause heart and lung problems, stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach ulcers.

In short-term studies, animals that breathed very high levels of antimony died. Animals that breathed high levels had lung, heart, liver, and kidney damage. In long-term studies, animals that breathed very low levels of antimony had eye irritation, hair loss, lung damage, and heart problems. Problems with fertility were also noted. In animal studies, problems with fertility have been seen when rats breathed very high levels of antimony for a few months.”

So, do I have anything to worry about? Call me hysterical but do I want to find out 10 years down the road that Antimony in carpets, fabrics, and clothing will be present in my body like flame retardants? I did not even go into the argument that bottle water is no better than tap water. That is a whole article in itself.

The bottom line? Stop making plastic bottles. Period. No need to upcycle. No need to expose workers to antimony. No need to expose us, the consumer to toxic chemicals. At the very least, readers, stop using plastic water bottles. If you stop, there will not be nothing to recycle.

So, readers here are my questions:

Would you continue supporting companies that upcycle these plastic bottles into other products? How do you feel about this?

Do you buy products made out of recycled plastic?

Could the use of new bottles (pre-consumer) to make “recycled products” be the new greenwashing ?

Is Antimony in bottles harmless when created into something different?

Any suggestions to stop the madness of plastic bottles?

Thoughts?

Update 9/25/2010 This post is part of the Green Moms Carnival about clothing being hosted at the Big Green Purse. How eco-friendly are your clothing purchases? You know my feeling about recycled polyester.

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Sina Pearson’s Earthly Green Fabric Collection: Sustainable, Durable, and Colorful

Anna@Green Talk — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:34:21 +0000

With Spring arriving , Sina Pearson unveiled her newest sustainable collection, Earthly Green, comprised of Big Dots and Eco-Pile. Pearson is known as a creative designer ahead of the curve and committed to the environment. I have previously written about the Company’s sustainable Bounce collection (along with other eco-fabrics) since I love the bold colors and the stripes. These two new fabrics seem to fit right in with the Company’s sustainable mission to create lively, but long lasting and durable fabrics.

Big Dots, a Crypton Green® fabric, has a fun, contemporary feel to it with its all-over polka dot motif. Imagine an updated retro-sixties look with two and a half inch spheres floating above a multi-colored background. The dots are woven with a subtle metallic yarn to add a gleam to the fabric. When I look at the fabric is reminds me of Saturn and Jupiter with its bands around the dots. The fabric is comprised of 63% post-consumer recycled polyester and has received MBDC Cradle to Cradle silver certification. Not only will this fabric spice up a dull room, it is durable. The Crypton Green® finish provides “excellent resistance to abrasion, odor, liquid, and stains – so that the product is more sustainable. A longer life makes for a better lifecycle,” according to the makers of Crypton Green®.

In addition, using Big Dots contributes to points for LEED-CI (commercial interiors) certification for the following credits: for MR Credit 4.2 Recycled Content, IQ Credit 4.5, Low-Emitting Materials, Systems Furniture and Seating, and ID Credit 1.1., Innovative Design for its Siver Cradle to Cradle certification. Available in six colors: olive with brown, orange with red, purple with brown, blue with charcoal, teal with olive and taupe with brown.

What are my thought about this fabric? Although I loved the fun pattern, I felt the material was very heavy-handed (not soft). It is one of the biggest complaints that I have about recycled polyester. I feel that this fabric is best suited for commercial interiors or areas where durability is an issue such as for seating. This is my two cents. (But then again, I am only an admirer of fabric not an interior designer.) Sina explained that this heavy-handed feel is due to the Crypton Green® finish.

In addition, antimony, a heavy metal, is used in the process and this concerns me. Sina explains:

“When considering differences between polyester fibers to use in the production of environmentally sensitive yarn, we had a choice between antimony-free virgin polyester, and recycled polyester.

Each option raises a number of issues, which you balance. Of course in an ideal world you’d have a toxin-free solution offering innumerable options for color, yarn type, and performance, at an accessible price, but in the real world you are compelled to make difficult choices.

In developing and designing fabrics for commercial buildings, you have to weigh aesthetics, performance, price and sustainability. Our audience, professional interior designers and specifiers, will tell you that for the vast majority, aesthetics continues to come first, with the other factors then considered in balance.

We chose the recycled polyester because it gave us more options for design, more choices in the yarn bank for color, yarn type, texture and so on. We could never have achieved such a sophisticated look (the addition of the gold and silvery twisted yarn, for example) with the virgin polyester.

As designers/manufacturers, we make the best choices with the options available. As we move into the future, we are committed to searching for the best possible environmentally correct ingredients as we develop new products.”

Retail price is $112 per yard.

Sister fabric, Eco-pile, was woven at a different mill. It is a chunky chenille with ridges, which is soft and luxurious to the touch. Offered in seven colors, this fabric line is made by blending lensing, which is biodegradable viscose, and post-c0nsumer recycled cotton fibers. The balance of the fibers are post industrial recycled acrylic, polyarcylic, and recycled other. With 100,000 double rubs, this fabric can handle anything, but still be the fabric that beacons you to take that afternoon nap on your couch. I am a big fan of this fabric, and love the olive and red colors in this line.

Unlike, Big Dots, this fabric line does not have any environmental certifications.

“The mill (producer of the Eco-Pile pattern) has to go through a very complicated and expensive certification process to be considered for a Cradle to Cradle rating. The mill’s entire production program, the raw materials, the yarn suppliers not controlled by the mill, are all involved. It takes years and the investment of thousands of dollars to develop and complete the certification. As of this date, the mill has not applied,” Sina stated.

Additionally, Sina explains when posed with the question whether the fabric is process using antimony, “[a]ntimony-free yards were not available to weave this kind of construction.” However, the Company states that no toxins entered the ground or water table during manufacturing.

When I asked her why the use of Eco-Pile would not contribute to LEED CI points in the area of Low Emitting Materials, Systems Furniture and Seating, she replied,

“Eco Pile probably would be low voc but it is manufactured in Germany, and they do not do the same kind of testing that the US does, so it has not been certified for this particular code. They do have very stringent standards throughout Europe and have led the environmental efforts in textiles. Generally, the mills themselves pay the high costs for the certifications (and there are many different ones).

It does however, contribute to MR Credit 4.2, Recycled Content 20%.

Retail cost is $124.

As noted above, Sina is committed to the environment. Often times, it is her muse. She is an advocate of the Nature Conservancy, donates discontinued fabric and samples to the Materials of the Arts, a Manhattan organization that donates them to school and theater program to reduce waste, and makes every effort to source sustainable products for her collections. In addition, she donates ten percent of sales from the Company’s Good Wishes Collection, inspired by children’s drawings, to Quilts for Kids, which turns discontinued fabrics into quilts for children with life-threatening diseases.

Sina Pearson’s commitment to the creation of well designed, durable, sustainable fabrics helps to push the textile industry forward so that one day, an interior designer will be able to pick fabric by design and be assured it is sustainable.

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Think Twice Before You Buy Another Cotton T-shirt

Anna@Green Talk — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:24:22 +0000

Watch this video about how the cotton in your t-shirt is grown in India. Trust me, you will never buy another non-organic cotton t-shirt again especially when you see the amount of pesticides used and the harm it is causing the people using them.

Let me know if you think I should summarize the video for those who do not have time to watch the video.

Additionally, let me know your thoughts about this video and how it makes you feel. It made me feel angry, mortified, and now empowered to spread the word.

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