Grow your own clothes ? - Compost them later LOL

[Nature's Babe]

New bio degradeable material for fashion.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17551859

[alan refail]

Hmm! Biodegradable! What will they think of next? Wool? Cotton? Flax?

[kylie_k]

Hmm! Biodegradable! What will they think of next? Wool? Cotton? Flax?

+1

[Nature's Babe]

yes I guess the difference being that this material is leather - lke, and can be moulded rather than woven. Oh and you forgot silk, my favourite, warm / cool, light and breathable.
Natural is obviously better than man made, recently they discovered that fleece shed many fibres in the wash - polluting our oceans.

http://grist.org/living/2011-12-07-how- ... the-ocean/

[alan refail]

Moulded leather clothes - ooh kinky

[Nature's Babe]

As a woman, I could see some advantages there, moulded fabric could take the place of a bra and would quite likely be more comfortable to wear as long as the fabric breathes.

[Johnboy]

Hi NB,
I was listening to the BBC World News a while back now and there are some people in USA who are perfecting a biodegradable packaging material from mycelium. They seem to be having some sucess and it is to go into production shortly.
JB.

ps Found out more on Google by typing in:-

" Packaging made from Mycelium."

Then go to Albany Packaging and read the Oprah Blog.

But was unable to get the web site to become live on here.

[Geoff]

I often think the person who invented non-woven fabrics must have had a pond. When you pull algae out and let it dry it is like a fabric.

[Nature's Babe]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusi ... 53441606/1
was this the link you found Johnboy? That figures, sounds useful, mycelium cover miles in a small area lol though I can't help thinking that the best place for mycelium is in symbiosis with plants doing what they have always done for millions of years !
Geoff, good point, perhaps they could work on the algae blooms that thrive around river mouths.

[Stephen]

Of course, I hope they mean compostable rather than merely biodegradable. So many journalists fail to distinguish between the two.
A p[lastic bag can be made to degrade but it is never compostable.

[sally wright]

Dear All,
don't forget linen(flax) or nettle and hessian (underwear for the wholemeal sandal brigade I think!). There are an awful lot of plants that are capable of giving us clothing without resorting to the chemistry lab.
Regards Sally Wright.

[Johnboy]

Hi Stephen,
I have sone biodegradable plastic bags for my kitchen waste and I throw them into the compost full and there is never a sign of them in the compost when finished. I suspect they are made of corn starch which is plant matter and simply degrades like the kitchen waste.
I have had to throw the remains of a roll of bags away because they have degraded on their own and were no longer capable of holding anything.
JB.