NATURAL VS MAN-MADE

What's better?

Research from the Netherlands shows that the average piece of clothing stays in a Dutch person’s wardrobe for 3 years 5 months, is on the body for 44 days during this time and is worn between 2.4 and 3.1 days between washing. These statistics got me thinking of why people dispose of their clothing after 3.5months on average. Is it due to the fast-fashion world we live in where style is constantly changing? Or is it because of the poor quality materials used to produce the garments of today?

Today, the diversity in materials and textiles is hard to find due to the increasing demand of fast fashion. Instead the industry is dominated by a large volume of similar ready-made textiles consisting of limited fibre types. The table below shows how cotton and polyester dominate the fibre industry:

Table 1.1 World fibre production in 2010 (million tons) (Fletcher, 2014, p. 10)

	WORLD FIBRE PRODUCTION
NATURAL FIBRES
Cotton	25.10
Wool	1.12
Silk	0.01
Total:	26.36
MANUFACTURED FIBRES
Cellulosics	3.24
Synthetics
Polyester	36.46
Nylon	3.86
Acrylic	1.98
Others	0.71
Total synthetics:	43.01
Total:	46.25
TOTAL:	72.61

But what really is better, man-made or natural fibres? I researched what it takes to create these types of fabrics and found there are pro’s and con’s for each, blurring the line between what’s the most sustainable. Here is what I found:

• Large quantities of water and pesticides required for growing cotton. (Natural).
• Emissions to air and water arising from producing synthetic and cellulosic fibres. (Man-made).
• Adverse impacts on water linked to natural fibre production. (Natural).
• Significant use of energy and non-renewable resources for synthetics. (Man-made).

These mixed results have left me confused, the next step for me is to research more in to how fabric is made.