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Science | Design & Technology | Art & Design

Mushrooms and 3D printing: green fashion is here

Should we all be wearing mushrooms and pineapple leaves? Our fast-fashion culture is wrecking the planet, so innovative companies are creating sustainable fabrics from unlikely sources. On Tuesday evening, a funeral procession marched through central London. "RIP LONDON FASHION WEEK," read the black coffins. The protest was organised by Extinction RebellionA global environmental organisation that has organised several high-profile stunts to draw attention to climate issues., which says the fashion industry is "complicit in [Earth's] destruction". Across social media, thousands have pledged to give up buying new clothes for #SecondHandSeptember. They believe that we should reduce the millions of tons of unwanted clothes that are thrown away each year. Almost a third are incinerated or go to landfill. Wasted water, carbon emissions, chemical pollution and sweatshopA factory or workshop, normally making clothes, where people work for long hours with little pay. labourBritain's main left-of-centre political party.... After years of naivety or wilful blindness, society is waking up to the immense cost of fast fashion. But what comes next? The hunt is on for sustainableAble to continue over a long time. fabrics that don't waste huge amounts of water (like cotton), and don't pollute the environment (like syntheticAn artificial substance or material. It is made by humans using chemical processes, rather than occurring naturally.  materials). For an answer, many companies are turning to the vegetable world. Mycelium, grown from the root structure of mushrooms, has been hailed as a "wonder material" because it can be grown into a fixed shape within a few days. Bolt Threads, a US "materials innovation company" founded in 2009, uses mycelium to create its Mylo "leather", which has graced the catwalk in designs by Stella McCartney. The firm's MicroSilk product is woven from the same proteins as a spider's web. Spanish brand Pinatex has developed a leather-like substance made from discarded pineapple leaves, which has been used by Hugo Boss and Hu0026amp;M. Banana-based fabrics also are in the works. But, in the meantime, climate experts agree that we all need to be buying less clothing. "I don't think you should consider buying any item of clothing unless you commit to 30 wears. Unless you can do that, you're not even starting to be sustainable," said Dr Richard Blackburn, a sustainable materials specialist. "You are creating a waste problem." In the UK, consumers buy twice as many new clothes as they did a decade ago. The fashion industry accounts for around 10% of the world's total emissions, or more than all international flights combined. It is also responsible for 20% of the world's waste water. A huge 15,000 litres of water is needed to make one pair of jeans. Should we all start wearing mushroom and pineapple? Green is the new black It is the only option. By 2030, the industry's water consumption will grow by 50% to over 31 trillion gallons. Its carbon footprint will rise to 2,791 million tons per year. Efforts from brands to reduce water, energy and chemical use in traditional textiles is helping slowly, but we need a radical solution to avoid disaster. Biodegradable fashion is the future. But there's nothing inherently wrong with most of the fabrics we use now. The problem is when clothes are so low-priced and of such low-quality that they are thrown out the next week. You might find mushroom shoes and pineapple jackets in a lab, but not at your local shop. The important thing right now is to practise slow, thoughtful fashion. Buy fewer clothes ?- be they cotton, leather or denim ?- but value them more, and for longer. KeywordsExtinction Rebellion - A global environmental organisation that has organised several high-profile stunts to draw attention to climate issues.

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