Fibre Focus: Pineapple

fiber-focus-pineapple

Choosing a fibre from a design perspective can be challenging enough, but the fibre that a fabric is made from also has numerous environmental and social impacts. It can be difficult to work out the best option when selecting a fibre.

Introducing Fibre Focus, our fabric blog that breaks down the various impacts of a fibre from an environmental, social justice and design standpoint. It is important to also consider any potential impacts a fibre might have if it were to become more popular.

Design advantages :

  • Strong, long and durable fibres
  • Derived from a wasted byproduct of the fruit industry
  • Because it is a byproduct, the cost of producing pineapple fibre is negligible
  • Pineapple fibre is vegan
  • The fabric is easy to cut, stitch and dye
  • Can be produced in a non-woven mesh

Design disadvantages :

  • Pineapple trees take a long time to grow
  • The fabric is expensive at the moment

Environmental impacts :

  • Created from a byproduct of the fruit industry – so no additional raw materials or resources are required to produce fabric
  • Natural, derived from pineapple leaves, not petrol
  • Biodegradable, pineapple fabric will degrade back to nature instead of lurking in landfill releasing harmful greenhouse gasses
  • Animal-free
  • Pineapples grow well organically
  • Pineapple leaves must be imported to countries where pineapples do not grow naturally, this uses air miles and fuel
  • Closed-loop production is possible for this fabric

Social impacts :

  • Provides a second stream of income for pineapple farmers
  • Vegans can enjoy leather-like pineapple fabric
  • Adding value to byproducts can provide income to farming communities

Positive potential impacts :

  • Fewer chemical pesticides in the environment
  • A decreased water footprint
  • Decreased farmer dependence on large chemical companies
  • Preservation of air, water and soil quality
  • Extra income generated for pineapple farmers
  • Decreased presence of animal leather in the textile marketplace

Negative potential impacts :

  • Job loss for farmers in other fibre industries, and therefore a loss of income
  • Job loss in chemical industry
  •  

So there you have it, a simple breakdown of pineapple farbic’s impacts that you can keep in mind when buying, sourcing or designing.

Fibre Focus: Pineapple

fiber-focus-pineapple

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