enigma wrote:
Frank frankdotlogullo@comcastperiodnet wrote in news:ka-
:
I spent 20 years in textile fibers R&D. How bout yourself?
seriously? and you still claim that manmade fibers are more
enviromentally sound?
tell me, how long does it take nylon to biodegrade? can it
easily be recycled into paper?
hemp & linen are both very strong fibers. cloth made from them
lasts many decades, but, should styles change or whatever,
they will easily be recyleable into pulp, or break down in
compost.
fiber hemp doesn't contain the THC that the "drug" marijuana
does. it can grow in marginal soil with no pesticide
intervention (unlike cotton). it's also useful for biodeisel
applications.
i have no particular interest in marijuana. i'm violently
allergic to the smoke. however, hemp would be a wonderful crop
to utilize sections of my farm that isn't suitable for other
cash crops. keeping it illeagal is doing a disservice to
farmers & the "but it looks like pot" line is just stupid.
lee
Yes,seriously.
Basically you have to look at the entire life cycle of the material from
cradle to grave and include environmental needs. I have not seen a
study on hemp but recall such a comparison of cotton versus polyester.
This was an old study which would need updating but overall superiority
of polyester was largely due to durability of clothing and much lower
energy consumption in drying apparel. Personally I used to prefer cotton
next to my skin but advances in finishing technology have changed that
preference to polyester. If it were not for government support, there
would be far less cotton on the market.
Most people think that natural fibers are more environmentally friendly
but if you farm, you know that a lot of energy goes into plowing,
planting, growing and harvesting. The natural materials are harder to
process as they contain debris like seeds and dirt that must be
separated. I was also familiar with acetate and rayon fibers from
cellulose, often cotton waste, but these were phased out by industry
largely due to difficult, messy processes requiring a lot of costly
pollution control.
Hemp probably has a niche in the market but I doubt it would ever be a
growing one.
Frank