Eco-Friendly Materials
Visit Home Page
Eco-Friendly Materials
What IS organic cotton, hessian cloth, or recycled aluminum? As an extension of defining “What IS Green?“, we have compiled this list of materials and resources.
List aggregated by Karin Bigelow
(LINKS GO TO RELATED GIFT IDEAS)
Bacbac: Refers to the outer most leaf of the abaca plant, a fiber crop. It is often woven in a diamond pattern to produce a product and the mesh size and color can vary slightly from batch to batch.
Bamboo: A group of woody perennial evergreen plants in the true grass family Poaceae. Some of its members are giant bamboo, forming by far the largest members of the grass family. Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant in the world. Their accelerated growth rate (up 1.5-2.0 inches/hr) is due to a unique rhizome system and is dependent on local soil and climate conditions. They are of economic and high cultural significance in East Asia and South East Asia where they are used extensively in gardens, as a building material, and as a food source. There are 91 genera and about 1,000 species of bamboo. They are found in diverse climates, from cold mountains to hot tropical regions. Major areas with no native bamboos include Europe, north Africa, western Asia, Canada, most of Australia, and Antarctica.
Big Leaf Maple Burl: A fast growing abnormal growth found along the west coast of North America. It bears consistent curly figure and numerous bark inclusions which can create interesting small tunings. Burl wood is highly prized by artists because of its unique shapes and ring patterns.
Bio-Fuel: Broadly defined as solid, liquid, or gas fuel derived from recently dead biological material. This distinguishes it from fossil fuels, which are derived from long dead biological material. Specific fuels used in vehicles include biogas, bioethanol, biobutanol, biodiesel, straight vegetable oil and wood gas.
Birdseye Maple Wood: A phenomenon that occurs within several kinds of maple for unknown reasons. Highly prized by woodworkers, it has a unique pattern that resembles tiny, swirling eyes within the smooth lines of grain. Birdseye Maple is not a variety or species of maple and is not to be confused with Big Leaf Maple Burl.
Burlap: See Jute
Cork: Refers to bark from the cork oak tree. Popular use of cork now is flooring because it provides natural thermal insulation. The material is used for seals in various filling mechanisms like piston and plunger fillers.
Corn: Used as fiber made from a corn-based polymer, Cargill Dow Polymers LLC,claims the fiber is “made from natural, renewable sources [corn], and has the hand and wickability of natural fibers, but with the performance of synthetics.” As a crop used for bio-fuel, BioFuel management expects each bushel of corn will yield approximately 2.7 gallons of fuel grade ethanol.
Cotton (100%): A soft, staple fiber that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant (Gossypium sp.), a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa. The fiber most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile, which is the most widely used natural-fiber cloth in clothing today.
“Green” Brands: Those brands consumers associate with environmental conservation and sustainable business practices.
Hessian Cloth: See Jute
Jute: A long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is one of the cheapest natural fibers and is second only to cotton in amount produced and variety of uses. It is thus a fiber that is partially a textile fiber and partially wood. It falls into the bast fiber category (fiber collected from bast or skin of the plant) along with kenaf, industrial hemp, flax (linen), ramie, etc.
Jute is a rain-fed crop with little need for fertilizer or pesticides. Jute is one of the strongest natural fibers. The long staple fiber has high tensile strength and low extensibility. Its luster determines quality; the more it shines, the better the quality. It also has some heat and fire resistance. The biodegradable features of jute are becoming increasingly important. Jute fabrics are also called hessian cloth and jute sacks are called gunny bags in some European countries. The fabric made from jute is popularly known as burlap in North America.
Kenaf: One of the allied fibers of jute and shows similar characteristics. Other names include Bimli, Ambary, Ambari Hemp, Deccan Hemp, and Bimlipatum Jute. It is an annual or biennial herbaceous plant with a woody base. It matures in 100 to 1000 days. Grown for over 4000 years in Africa where its leaves are consumed in human and animal diets, the bast fiber is used for cordage, and the woody core of the stalks burned for fuel. The main uses of kenaf fiber have been rope, twine, coarse cloth and paper. Emerging uses of kenaf fiber include engineered wood, insulation, and clothing-grade cloth. Also oil absorbent (based on patent issued to H. and C. Willett), soil-less potting mixes, animal bedding, packing material, and organic filler. Kenaf seeds yield a vegetable oil that is edible and high in omega antioxidants. The kenaf oil is also used for cosmetics, industrial lubricants and as bio-fuel.
Mango Wood: A slow-growing wood, not harvested often. Mango wood has been used for making calabashes and furniture. The grain can be straight or have a lot of ‘figure’(interesting grain patterns) and dries and cuts interestingly. A popular local exotic in Hawaii, mango wood is yellow, sometimes with orange or green streaks. When stored, it can develop “spalting,” interesting dark threads caused by a fungus.
Recycled Metal: The result of the process by which scrap metal can be reused in products after its initial production. The process involves simply re-melting the metal, which is far less expensive and energy intensive than creating new aluminum.
Recycling scrap aluminum requires only 5% of the energy used to make new aluminum. For this reason, approximately 31% of all aluminum produced in the United States comes from recycled scrap. As recycling does not damage the metal’s structure, aluminum can be recycled indefinitely and still be used to produce any product for which new aluminum could have been used.
Recycled Paper (paper recycling): The process of recovering waste paper and remaking it into new paper products.
Silk: A natural and sustainable protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles.
Solar Energy: The utilization of the radiant energy from the Sun.
Solar Power: The conversion of sunlight into electricity by photovoltaics and concentrating solar thermal devices, or by one of several experimental technologies such as thermoelectric converters, solar chimneys and solar ponds.
Wood: A hard, fibrous, lignified structural tissue produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. In an eco-friendly sense, it can be sustainable, farm-grown, or reclaimed.
Source: Wikipedia.com, unless otherwise noted.
