I
use all different types of fabric on my journals. Most of the fabric
I use is either left over scrap material and used clothing pieces
from myself, or fabric I found at a New Orleans reuse center. It is
a project of the Green Project called Recycle for the Arts.
Since the journals covers are fabric from what was once a garment
I can explain the origins of the fabric from the clothing manufacturing
angle. Much of the clothing we buy in the U.S. is manufactured elsewhere,
made by the hands of over-worked, underpaid, poorly cared for, sweatshop
workers. It is an often overlooked fact that the common procedure
for many U.S. clothing companies is to grow the raw materials needed
for production here in the U.S. and then ship the raw materials overseas
where the companies can save more money by manufacturing the garments
elsewhere than they do if the garments were made at home by our own
U.S. citizens.
It takes a considerable amount of energy and water to make clothing.
A significant amount of environmental degradation is caused by various
stages of garment production. An example of one of these stages is
the harvesting of cotton. Heavily over used pesticides, herbicides,
and fertilizers are used to grow cotton. Toxins from these chemicals
leak into the soil and ground water causing contamination.
Common dyes and finishes used on fabric are made with harmful chemicals.
“The most common chemical dye, used in textiles and leather,
is the so called azo-dye, which is now believed to be carcinogenic
and has been banned in Germany.” (Schor, Sustainable Planet,
2002)