"Green" - or garbage?

I have been designing and manufacturing table linens for in the event industry for 25 years. I am trying to create a line of eco-friendly napkins and having a lot of difficulty finding shows and dependable fabric companies. can you give me any advice on ways to resource green fabric companies and green methods of dyeing? francene kaplan

Wonderful web site! hope to visit again.

You are going to need products from other parts of the world as you cannot possibly grow or make everything in your own backyard. Nor is everyone willing to make this kind of commitment and sacrifice. This is unlikely to change in the near future. The green house effect has been known for the longest time, but only recently have we begun to take steps toward the right direction. If you want to wait for the perfect solution, you'll never get there. A company or product claiming to be green needs to be able to prove that everything from the raw materials, the manufacturing process, and to the end products, has less impact on our planet. Third party certifications are a good way to substantiate your claim about being green. At the end of the day, a lot of the green initiatives also make economic sense for companies. It's a win-win situation. Why not?

Cecile is correct on this topic. While there seems to be no 100% "real" solution to green, earth friendly product, I think that there are products and concepts which have less negative impact on the environment. Product made from easily renewable or recycled content is certainly a step in the right direction. And yes there is a carbon footprint, but hopefully the manufacturing process has less negative impact. Many in the home textile world need an education before they jump on the bandwagon of green, organic and recycled earth friendly product. - How many of the bamboo claiming to be green is from sustainable farms? Does anyone in our industry know about FSC certification for Bamboo harvesting? - Are the companies selling bamboo product also monitoring that the dying and printing is occurring in factories which are up to code as far as clean water waste disposal? There have been some issues in China recently, I think that there is a predominant turn you head attitude. We could all learn something from European companies who are far ahead of the US in this are. - New building construction is working hard to receive LEED certification. In fact 2 new buildings in NYC will receive LEED Platinum Certification this year. I would guess that most people in Home Textiles are not looking at this level and not aware of LEED. Does our industry realize that using local materials is part of earth friendly? While there are certainly loose rules on the matter, everyone claiming to have ‘green” product needs to read Cradle to Cradle By William McDonough & Michael Braungart as a beginning to truly understanding what can be done to preserve the environment. Bottom line, I agree with Cecile, but I would also like to add to her comments. Using bamboo or recycled content is earth friendly, but if a company wants to sell earth friendly product they should look at more than the finished product. Other industries are leaps and bounds ahead us on these issues. In addition to the concerns at factory levels for importers, how many companies are consciously changing to fluorescent lighting for office and showroom? And yes there are now PAR equivalent for the reflective spotlights that most showrooms utilize. The new NYTimes building will utilize lighting with thermal sensors so that task lighting turns on and off based on occupancy. The lighting will also change based on sunlight sensors so that lights are not on when there is ample natural lighting. It’s great to have the “green” label printed on recycled paper, but if you are burning unnecessary watts in the office and showroom, what’s the point?