Nature Tip 008: Plant Based Materials & Non Toxic Processing
Nothing in this post is a recommendation.
A few years ago I decided it was time to stop wearing plastic. Mainly because I had started to follow @plasticfreemermaid on Instagram and I really respected the book she wrote I Quit Plastics. I found quitting plastics in the US to be very challenging. They were everywhere. In my closet, bathroom, kitchen, car, house. I wanted to stop my exposure to so much plastics but little did I know that it was hidden too! In my salt, in my teabags, in my makeup, in my receipts (BPA filled - did you know people who have jobs that handle receipts have a reduced fertility?! WTF).
I had separately read that it was important especially for fertility for both sexes to not wear non-natural fiber clothing. Wearing plastic all day around your genitals (polyester, nylons, viscose, etc.), wearing anything processed in a toxic way, is dangerous for reproductive health and overall health. So I separated my closet into 3 piles. One of things I wanted to save because I loved their patterns, it was designer stuff I could never find again, or was something passed down to me or something I collected that I would like to pass onto my kids yet shockingly was made of poly blends and I wouldn’t wear them anymore. The few Alexander McQueen pieces from his last collection before he died broke my heart to put away! WTF, I thought. So much designer stuff in toxic textiles! Those all went into storage. I then separated everything else into a natural fiber: Cotton (ideally organic), linen, silk. The rest went to donation centers or to be sold online. If it was over 30% poly or some other non natural blend -it went into this last pile. This eliminated half of my wardrobe which was a blessing because I really needed to reduce the items in my closet. I started rebuilding the missing pieces in my closet slowly with silks and cashmere options. My online shopping dropped because it was hard to find natural items in a style that I really liked. I used sites like The Real Real to get lightly used or even just resold but never been worn items that were lux but not priced as such. I wanted to start making better choices with fashion.
After my closet felt “safe”, I faced the reality that this was going to be a life long process. The toxic materials are still surrounding me. I set an intention. No new items that are not natural fibers…but this was harder than I expected. Often the products I wanted or needed didn't exist in a normal price range. So I splurged on some things and broke my own new rule in others. It just was unavoidable. Plastics remain in my bathroom, as building materials, in my car. I had to take a deep breath. One section of my life at a time! I also noticed that we have opportunity when we look at life through a “more natural textiles” lens. We have niches we can fill when we are looking but cannot find what we want!
I bought non toxic bags to put groceries in next. Then I started looking for beauty products sold in glass with minimal plastics. I had already stopped buying products with phenoxyethanol and frangrace/perfum in it which drastically reduced my lifelong battle with eczema, but still I was surrounded by plastics. I chose better items each time I shopped. I stopped using amazon as much and went towards companies I paid for shipping from but had zero or harm reducing or actually environmental benefit actions in place.
I always thought a cool profession was to design textiles and fuse that with engineering. This profession exists and needs more women! I tried for a while to get my mom to buy organic (to avoid chemicals that are proven to cause a plethora of degeneration and disease) and to reduce her plastic and toxin exposure. This was always met with “Wow it’s a miracle I got this old.” And I always say the same thing under my breath and as I learned more with a conviction “Yes, but we live in a much more toxic environment than when you were growing up.” The truth is, we need to reduce this plastic monster - even though plastic producers are ramping up production. As consumers we have to demand better and we do that with our spending dollars. If we stop buying it, they will stop making it. Or at least we can hope.
Today I want to review processes and types of processes for textiles that come from plants. Please read the article below if plant textiles interest you and let’s start the conversation around how we can make things safer and with health and our future at the helm of this creation and consumption ship we find ourselves on in this modern culture.
Enjoy.
I am sharing a post today to give readers a great resource for all things plant materials. I found this article to be thorough and filled with knowledge. I included some of my favorite excerpts which you can see below this section. I want to get you to start thinking of plants as major sectors and how you can learn more and get involved. I would like each of us to think about plants as a resource and solution to many of our daily habits and dreams we look to build. As a Permaculturist I am draw to the sustainability and circular economy of using natural materials to build businesses, homes, and lifestyle. Now remember that many plants ARE toxic and that even if the things we build and create are made out of plants, the processing of those plants can be just as toxic as anything else. So it’s all about creating an economy once we understand the basics.
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This article can be viewed in it’s entirety onConservation Wiki.
“Plant materials are ubiquitous to the human experience; as such, they are found in a variety of forms--raw to heavily processed, utilitarian to decorative--within public and private collections around the world. In the fabrication of artifacts, plant materials have been used as architectural elements, furniture, basketry, cordage or lashings, textiles, substrate for written language, a variety of personal accessories, vehicles (i.e. boats, carts, airplanes, etc.), housing materials, musical instruments, religious icons, tools, and nearly every other aspect of human life (fig 1).
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Kingdom Plantae is one of the eukaryotic kingdoms and is comprised of some 300,000 species (Judd, et al. 2008). Within Plantae, there are three main botanical divisions, Bryophytes, Pteridophytes, and Spermatophytes. Materials used to construct artifacts come from plants in all three divisions, though the majority are derived from spermatophytes.
Bryophytes, or non-vascular plants (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts) have leaves and stems, but no true roots and limited vascular tissue.
Pteridophytes (ferns and horsetails) have leaves, stems, root-like rhizomes, and well-developed vascular tissue, but no true flowers or seeds. Spermatophytes, (seed-bearing plants) have stems, leaves, and roots. They can be divided into two distinct groups: gymnosperms (non-flowering) and angiosperms (flowering). Gymnosperms include most coniferous trees and shrubs; angiosperms can be further divided into mangoliids, monocots, and dicots. Further information about plant taxonomy and anatomy can be found in most introductory biology textbooks and is abundantly available online. However, phylogenetic research has greatly changed the understanding of taxonomy both across and within domains and kingdoms in recent years; updated sources should be referenced.
The morphology (physical form and external, macroscopic structure) of plants often dictates the way that they are used to create objects (Florian 1990). For example, stems have great longitudinal strength but readily split in the radial or tangential directions; this makes them well-suited as weavers for basketry items. Both reproductive structures (e.g. seeds, flowers) and somatic structures (roots, stems, leaves) are represented in artifact production; commonly encountered examples are listed below.
• Seed/Husk: cotton, kapok, coir, milkweed, corn husk, seed pods (legume), gourds
• Stems: flax, hemp, jute, ramie, sunn, kenaf, urena, nettle, rosella, bamboo, cornstalk, sugar cane, bagasse, esparto, cereal straws (wheat, barley, etc.), willow, oak, hazelnut
• Bark: cedar bark, paper mulberry tree inner bark, breadfruit tree inner bark, birch bark
• Leaf Fibers: sisal, manila hemp, agave, henequen, cantala, maguey, Mauritius hemp, caboga, pineapple, pita, bromeliad, banana, palm, New Zealand flax, yucca
• Roots: spruce root, willow root, cedar root
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The techniques for manufacture and construction of plant-based objects are as variable as the objects themselves. The general manufacture of basketry and textiles creates a woven structure with varying degrees of structural strength and flexibility. Weave patterns of the two reflect utility as fabrics, netting, storage containers, and aesthetic objects; knotting, linking, looping, wrapping, coiling, twining, and plaiting are allmanufacturing techniques related to the construction of either textiles or basketry. Basic descriptions are included below:
• Knotting: 2 active elements (nets)
• Looping: single active element creates a loop over itself or another passive element (bind edges, button holes)
• Wrapping: active element(s) wrap around passive ones, elements are often of differing size
• Coiling: fine active element secures a foundation element (wrapped coiling, looped coiling, linked coiling)
• Twining: a pair of active elements interlock between foundation elements (countered, regular, open)
• Weaving: many variations including plain weave, twill, etc.
• Plaiting: weaving at a 45 degree angle to the selvedge or rim.
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Collections care professionals should use caution when handling plant-based materials; many materials pose a significant health risk through inherent or acquired sources of toxic compounds. For example, it was common practice throughout the 19th and into the 20th century for natural history and anthropology collections to be treated with organic and heavy metal pesticides, antifungal agents, and tissue fixatives ([[#ref13|Pool 2005). The role of such compounds used by farmers, native peoples, and craftsmen prior to the object’s museum life should also not be overlooked (fig. 6) (Hawks 2001). These chemicals are often highly persistent and some are toxic to humans. To protect both the artifact and the handler, proper personal protective equipment should be utilized when handling plant materials that may have been treated with pesticides or stored in closed cabinets with materials that may have been treated (Hawks et al. 2004). Chemical spot testing and x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy are two methods that have been used to confirm the presence of heavy metals (Odegaard,et al 2000; Shugar 2012).
Non-powdered, nitrile gloves should be worn when handling plant materials. White cotton gloves are not as effective as barriers to potential toxic substances and also carry the potential to snag on components of the artifact. Handling trays and supports should be utilized whenever possible.
As with all objects, care should be taken to lift and/or manipulate the object by its most stable point.
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