Clothes made from trees with the PEFC! Ethical fashion edit

The PEFC is a very underrated organisation, essentially similar to the FSC but more respected among forest owners and the lumber trade. They have been working on a joint project with the UNECE and the FAO on a 'forests for fashion' initiative; the aim of this is to increase the market value of forests and unlock new markets for sustainable timber.

This will also go some way to assisting the slow fashion movement in influencing  the fashion industry to become more sustainable. Materials like cotton and synthetics play a huge role in a multitude of environmental, economic and social problems; reducing our dependence on these is therefore extremely important. 

(Fun fact it takes between 7-10,000 ltrs of water to make one pair of jeans! That's ten years of drinking water)

This new project will focus on using wood fibers to produce recyclable and biodegradable textiles from cypress, beech and eucalyptus trees. These fibers are then used to create textiles the most common currently are viscose modal and Lyocell.

(see my previous post to read up on different fibers :)

This process of turning the wood pulp into textiles requires 1/3 of the energy and 1/60th of the water compared to cotton production. These fibers are, therefore, a very good option.

But where does PEFC come in? Well, it is important to make sure that the trees are grown and harvested with the environment in mind and making sure that the fabric is from PEFC certified is the best way to do that. PEFC is much stricter and avoids a lot of the problems that FSC currently have. This then helps to build trust in forest products, creating additional demand and increasing the value of forests.

"Increasing the value of forests and the image of the forestry sector will also ultimately help the entire timber sector; further incentive's sustainable forest management and helping ensure long-term, sustainable raw material supply.

"While forests can make an important contribution towards solving the challenges facing a sustainable fashion industry, PEFC can help ensure that sustainable sourcing is part of the solution,"  PEFC Website.

I personally think this is a brilliant project as I have long been a fan of the work the PEFC do.. this may also be a chance for them to get a bit more publicity for themselves as well! I am very excited for the future of this project please share and comment if you agree :)