Posted by John Goetz
From the Creative Ways to Tackle Global Warming files:
It appears that the Australian Cotton Research and Development Corporation feels the need to develop an argument that cotton is a green alternative to polyester. According to Daily News & Analysis India, the CRDC has commissioned a “life cycle assessment” that compares the environmental impact of cotton and polyester T-shirts on their production, use and disposal stages, the “cradle to grave” approach. This assessment is being done by researcher Francisco Javier Navarro of the Queensland University of Technology’s Institute of Sustainable Resources.
According to the following excerpt: washing dirty linen yourself rather than relying on a machine could help cut down greenhouse gas emission levels… Now there’s an idea sure to gain a lot of traction in the modern world. Surely most of us want to return to that nostalgic era captured in the image above, back to the pre-industrial age when life was simpler and temperatures cooler.
The article continues: For example, washing and tumble drying a dirty T-shirt consumes three-quarters of the energy used in manufacturing and using it…This means our decisions on washing our clothes have a big impact on the carbon footprint of our clothing. It makes a huge difference in energy consumption to hang clothes out on a washing line to dry instead of using a tumble dryer.
OK, that seems to be pretty standard common-sense stuff. But wouldn’t polyester have the edge here, as it takes less time to dry a polyester leisure suit than it does a 100% cotton T-shirt? Well, the study actually seeks to break new ground.
The article concludes with the following:
One of the objectives of Navarro’s research is to analyse the effect of increasing the number of times T-shirts are worn before washing.
Navarro said the use of “smell-friendly” fibres would also assist in increasing the number of times a shirt is worn between washes. “Research shows that polyester is related to more intense sweat odour than cotton,” he said.
So, the suggestion is that we wear the cotton T-shirt more times between washes than the polyester shirt, thus negating the polyester advantage and therefore saving the planet. Now that’s clever, but Dr. Navarro might first want to check and make sure there is not a middle school boy out there somewhere holding a patent on that concept. Perhaps the study will extend this to underwear and socks and just about everything else we wear. No, wait, that has probably been patented by the same boy…
Regardless of who came up with the idea first, I believe this will go over well with those who use public transportation, as they are at the forefront in reducing their carbon footprint.
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Once again, the French are at the forefront in the First World in regards to carbon mitigation.
The Greeks have taken the fine art of “recycling” their everyday work clothes to a level not seen since the inception of the washing stone. Do NOT, under any circumstances, take any form of public transportation in Athens during the Summer months without first getting A) so drunk that your senses fail you or B) ammonia capsules to jam into your nostrils.
(Personal disclaimer: In the 5+ years I spent there back in the late 80’s-early 90’s, I chose the former. 😉 )
Jeez,
I’m going to guess that our good researcher is not French – the name has more of a Spanish influence I suspect.
The basic concept of hand vs. mechanical wash may be, er, awash (sorry) with misconceptions.
A few years ago a Danish academic (as I recall) ran some analysis on dishwasher use and concluded that a typical water usage efficient modern dishwasher used something like 11 ltrs per wash cycle whereas people hand washing typically used somewhere between 9ltrs and 15ltrs – or more if they leave a tap running for rinsing purposes.
It occurs to me that a ‘greener’ suggestion would be to abandon crockery washing altogether and simply lick the plate clean then dry it on ones rarely washed organic cotton T shirt. Alternatively avoid crockery based (all materials) food serving and simply throw what would have eaten straight into the mandatory composting toilet.
Maybe we could be provided with a figure for how many days one might wear a cotton T shirt without washing it compared to production costs vs. wash cost savings and come up with a balanced view of a cost effective lifecycle for the T shirt that avoided ever washing it.
I sometimes wonder whether Australia is more susceptible to being infected with silly ideas from around the world or whether the ideas start there and spread outwards.
My wife, Andra, didn’t like the idea of getting rid of the washer and dryer. She also wants me to wear clean clothes… What a concept!! I think I’ve read somewhere that most of these schemes hit women the hardest.
Wasn’t someone saying that the mainstream environmentalists want to continue with our technology?
How can anyone, no matter their political persuasion, take any of this garbage seriously?
I used to be able to use the same pair of socks for a week. I’d knead them a bit in the morning to loosen up the fibers.
I did wash my gym clothes more frequently than once a semester.
Ric! Dude!
You’re an eco-warrior!
It seems to me that we could all live a life of luxury and comfort if we just didn’t live as long. We could cram all our carbon footprint into, let’s say, 30 years. As we turned 30 an implant in our hand would light up and we would be sent off to a place, let’s call it Sancutary, where we are told we all renew but in reality we are just killed. At least we would have had a great 30 years.
I guess this thread will do (green cotton thread?)
How many readers are in New Hampshire (besides Bruce)? Even if you aren’t, I think several other states have the same sort of program, and some are linked together through consulting firms.
NH (New Hampshire, not Northern Hemisphere) has the New Hampshire Climate Change Policy Task Force looking into the matter and producing various recommendations and what not. From what I’ve seen, it should be call the “Conservation Planning Task Force” because the document are long on measuring CO2 release around the state and how to reduce it. There’s very little climatology except for a tacit acceptance that it’s all CO2.
Just released at http://www.des.state.nh.us/ard/climatechange/ActionPlan/index.html is:
I expect to write a new web page or two with my input though talking about the science when they’re “Especially looking for input on promising actions relative to education, energy efficiency, renewable energy and transportation.” I have nothing against conservation, especially when gasoline is selling for $3.60/gal, but I’m happy to leave the conservation activism to others.
“How can anyone, no matter their political persuasion, take any of this garbage seriously?”
Unfortunately these people do take this stuff seriously. When was the last time you visited a college campus and stood within ten feet of these folks?
And whats next that causes global warming ?Riding a snow sled .I can see how the medal sled rutters,don’t laugh i’m 47 now ,can heat up the atmosphire by at least 1 trillionith of a degree.Guess we will have to resort to green snow sleds. Now,as Larry the cable guy says, that’s funny i don’t care who you are.
I can just see Babs and her Hollywood friends, stooped and huddled over their washboards (in the Olympic-sized swimming pool overlooking the pristine Malibu shoreline), diligently hand washing their $30,000+ dresses and hanging them up on the line to dry…
And in other news, the Sun rose in the West today and Al Gore went on the air and said “Just kidding! You can use all the oil, coal and gas you want! Oh, and here’s all your carbon scam, er, off-set money back!”
The problem is not the washing machine it is the Tumble dryer, which uses many times the Kilo watts of a washing machine. In the entirety of my life I have never used a dryer and there are many other people who always hang their wash out in the breeze to dry it.
I live in an HOA, no outdoor clotheslines are allowed.
This just in – the 1960s policy “Shower with your Steady” has been extended to mesh with the 21st century. Now it’s “Shower with your kid brother.” Al Gore was asked for his comment, and even he said “Eww.”
Yes and while were at it, let’s euthanize all our pet’s as they are a needless drain .
Do these people actually get paid for this crap???? If so, by whom and for what purpose?
Wonder if this guy put anythought into the very real environmental effects of large scale cotton production? Anyone ever been to Lubbock, Texas in the winter or spring?
Ah, rain, sleet, sub-zero temps and, of course, the wonderful scent of diesel infused smog in your wash…
Oh, that’s why you have to wear your t-shirts more than once. Laundry day depends on your local forecast and season.
Those morons seems to have forgotten that marijuana, hemp, was criminalised because of the immense pressure that cotton manufacturer put on the lawmakers, because hemp fiber was enormously superior to cotton in most aspects. Hemp can grow just about everywhere, in very harsh condition, yields a fiber that outlast cotton by 10 to 20 times, use very little water (another ressource to save) compared to cotton which requires large amount of irrigation. Furthermore, hemp is so fast growing that very few plants can rival with it in terms of carbon absorption. From the top of my head, I think hemp can also produce in one season the same amount of paper-producing fibers than the product of 5, or is it 10 years of tree growth. Furthermore, the hemp fiber requires much less processing to get rid of the lignine which binds the cellulose fiber in wood. So, all in all, hemp is the solution. For rope fabrication, it can almost rival synthetic, have a very long life, with zero or negative carbon footprint.
Note also that I am not a drug user, that I was never stoned (nor drunk) in my life and that I don’t particularly enjoy potheads, just as I don’t enjoy drunkards.
But the fact is, hemp is an amazing fiber. The de-criminalisation of hemp probably have many-fold advantage over the alledgedly significant measure that can apply to the use of cotton.
If I were naive, I’d say that there is another thing that the moron who wrote the article does not understand, but being rather cynical, I am deeply convinced that they do in fact understand that perfectly: they discount the value of time. Hanging clothes on the line, outside, takes time. Time is money, or quality of life. Who wants to waste their precious time doing stupid things like hanging clothes? If the benefits of sun-dried clothes are a value to you, well, then, you’re free to hang them to dry. But if not, then, why waste your time?
But the ideological watermelons (green on the outside, red on the inside) do understand that perfectly. They don’t really give a hoot about the earth, what they want is to control your life, your time. And walking around in a smelly t-shirt, and the idea of convincing people to spend enormous amount of time doing makework time-wasting chores makes their neurons orgasm.
I remember seeing a reality show that was set in England, as they lived a hundred years ago. A *huge* percentage of the wife’s and kids time was consumed by the laundering activity. Boiling clothes, agitating them, ironing them.
You have to do manual laundry to appreciate the huge service the modern laundry equipment brings to mankind…
Mike Bryant,
Women! I tell you what. You try and save the planet a little, but no, they are more concerned about you wearing clean underwear. You know, according to the Good Book, a woman got us into this mess. Looks like they are at it again!
Yes, I’m just so sure that women would love to do all they can to save the planet. So let’s see how enthusiastic they are when the future reality sets in and the planet saving starts with ending any possible career. Stay at home, Mom; your whole day will be spent in tasks aimed at saving the planet.
• Hand wash clothing since washers are a waste of electricity (the generation of which causes pollution).
• Line dry the laundry since dryers are a waste of electricity (the generation of which causes pollution). If it’s raining or snowing, hang the drying wash in various rooms of the house/apartment.
• Disposable diapers are a blight on the environment; hand wash and line dry these as well.
• Hand wash dishes since dishwashers are also a waste of electricity (the generation of which causes pollution).
• If she’s lucky and you live only a couple miles from the grocery store she can get herself some healthy exercise by walking to the store and return with fresh food for a couple days (unused portions can be kept in the icebox – refrigerators are a waste of electricity (the generation of which causes pollution)). Then she can spend several hours preparing a meal from the fresh foods. Can’t be having any frozen meals as these are an exhorbitant luxury; besides, they wouldn’t last long in the icebox.
• And so it goes, back to a “simpler” era.
Imagine a lifetime of such drudgery, all to save the planet. Of course the elite Lords and Ladies (Gore or Di Caprio, for example) would never experience such misery – that’s why they have serfs saving them from the cruel real world. Of course in the real world, where families can’t afford servants {or carbon offsets}, a lifetime won’t be quite that long anymore. Just watch the life expectancy in a green world keep shrinking back to levels last seen in the early 20th century – under 50 years.
The sad thing is that most people that believe the stories that are told about AGW are innocent victims, including the naive rank and file environmentalists.
Just a note that the machines in the upper end of the washing machine scale have a truly respectable ‘Dry Cycle’. Ours is basically a self-balancing centrifuge.
On a load of small laundry (say, dishtowels and socks only), it seems to be able to reach a pretty perfect balance. The resulting laundry can’t quite completely skip drying/hanging, but it is quite close. A spin-dried hand towel isn’t wet enough to use as ‘damp’.
“I live in an HOA”
I hope its not too painful James!
Looks like your fellow homeowners are in need of some green education.
Or we could forego clothing altogether. For the sake of the Planet, go nude.
Cotton environmentally friendly??? Look it up: Aral Sea, or better former Aral Sea, to see how “friendly” cotton growing is for the environment.
My wife asks me where the author lives because she would like to pay him a visit and whack him with her washboard. …
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