1 post tagged “green”
You recycle! You conserve! You craft! It’s time to face facts that the yarn in your stash might not reflect that you are trying to do your part to help the environment. I’m not here to bad-mouth synthetics. There’s no way I will throw away my grandmother’s crocheted afghans lovingly made with acrylic yarn from K-Mart, nor will I toss the funky polyester cap I knitted in my quest for greener crafts. No, after all, acrylic was created out of innovation and need.
By 1953, sales of top loading washing machines surpassed those of the wringer models that had been around in both electric and non electric forms since the 1700’s. A washer that needed no human assistance - a blessing to the “modern” housewife. Acrylic made laundry day so much easier. It dries quickly, it’s colorfast, warm, wrinkle resistant and it holds its shape. Women were just getting into the workplace they were up for anything that saved time in the home. I should be more thankful – it sometimes takes me days to fold my towels!
But the automatic posed serious problems to wool and cotton garments and when it’s paired with electric dryer in the next decade – the results are disastrous. But by this point, less and less clothing were made from natural fibers. In 1944, DuPont began developing acrylic and it was sold commercially by 1950. I won’t get into the science of acrylic, but it’s a long chain synthetic polymer produced from a petrochemical called acrylontrile. Really, all you need to know is acrylic is produced from a petrochemical, so the process and chemicals used to make it are hard on the environment!
What I’m suggesting isn’t that we abandon synthetic yarn and non-organic altogether, but think about slowly introducing organic or sustainable yarn into your stash. Maybe use it for special gifts – that way you’re giving a beautiful hand-crafted item plus you’ve given back to the earth! Or maybe buy a skein or two of hand dyed or hand spun yarn to use for smaller projects or accents! These are also less taxing on the environment because there’s less machining involved and much more artistic to boot!
