A call for sustainable ideas that revolutionize the development of  fabrics.

Back in 2010 NASA, Nike, the US Agency for International Development and the US Department of State joined forces in an effort to bring together sustainable ideas for developing solutions to global challenges. Called LAUNCH, this worldwide initiative has been creating an open forum for the presentation of various sustainability solutions for issues such as energy, health and water.

For 2013 the LAUNCH Systems Challenge 2013 the team is looking for solutions in the development, manufacturing and recyclability of textiles, with successful submissions to be presented at the end of September. This year’s challenge looks to “transform the system of fabrics to one that advances equitable global economic growth, drives human prosperity and replenishes the planet’s resources.”

The challenge is calling for innovations with the potential to scale up in two years, alongside early stage technologies with a focus on positive environmental and social impact. Anything from business models and financial instruments to technologies, research accelerators and education schemes will be accepted, as well as education. Submissions should align with at least one of the following points of interest:

In textiles:

• Multi-purpose synthetic and biosynthetic materials.
• Smart and/or self-­healing materials.
• Technical fabrics with novel or surprising attributes.
• Fabrics that efficiently and effectively enable recycling.
• Applications that eliminate toxins in fabrics.
• Models that accelerate the development of low or positive environmental impact fabrics.
• Data generation and capture technologies and mechanisms that enable traceability across a product or fabric’s lifecycle.
• Decision support and educational tools that guide positive impact design and inform better choices of chemistries and materials.
• Open technology platforms to enable sharing, collaboration, contribution and unlimited accessibility to data that improves the analysis of sustainability impacts and stimulates an open data ecosystem.

In textile manufacturing:

• Solutions that increase energy, water, and raw material efficiency in the manufacturing process.
• Manufacturing processes and technologies that enable maximum conversion of materials and minimum consumption of natural resources.
• Solutions that put workers at the heart of the innovation process.
• Zero waste or closed loop systems that eliminate waste and create equitable, empowered workforces.
• Scalable, innovative business models that are sustainable and equitable.
• Manufacturing processes that reuse waste.
• Programs that support local business inclusion across the system of fabrics.
• Information and data exchanges that build entrepreneurial capacity & worker inclusion.
• Data generation and capture technologies and mechanisms to increase transparency across the value chain.

The challenge is now open for submissions and early-bird submissions are due by June 15^th, and  the challenge closes on July 15^th. Proposals from companies (small to large), consultants, entrepreneurs, inventors, non-­profits, research institutions, social enterprises and venture capitalists are welcome. The 10 winners of the challenge will be announced at the forum held from September 26^th to 28^th, 2013, where their innovations will also be presented. Although no cash prize is awarded, the winners will receive support, networking and mentoring from influential business and government leaders.

If you don’t quite meet the criteria of the LAUNCH challenge, check out the nano-challenge for university students. This complementing challenge will be accepting submissions that adhere to the same criteria and timeline as the official challenge, and will be acknowledged at the September forum. Make sure to spread to word or begin working on your own submission!

Images: launch.org

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A kaleidoscope of fabrics from across the globe.

In many parts of the world, textiles are a vital element of culture. Sometimes they have ancient stories woven into their patterns. Sometimes they incorporate rare natural fibers. Sometimes they’re produced using millennia-old methods passed down along generations. And other times, they’re just really pretty.

But as cheap mass-produced fabrics flood local markets around the world, there is a growing devaluation of textile arts. And because it’s becoming more and more difficult to make a living from textile work, artists are passing away without passing down their knowledge while younger generations pursue more lucrative industries.

This collection of photos showcases a sampling of the most beautiful traditional textiles from around the globe. This is an art in desperate need of preservation.

(above) Saris, New Delhi, India

Woven Blankets, Urubamba, Peru

Kente Weaving, Ghana

Indonesian Handwoven Textiles, Bali, Indonesia

Woven Cloth, Mexico

Tartan Plaid Wool Fabric, Nova Scotia, Canada

Inca Patterns, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Vintage Angelo Testa fabric, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California

Meghwal Veil, Bhirandiara, India

Textiles, Otavalo, Ecuador

Knit Jacket, Oakland, California

Hand Embroidery, Germany

Traditional Textiles, West Timor, Indonesia

Kimono Fabric, Kyoto, Japan

Handmade Textiles, Lakiya, South Israel

Woven Textiles at De Ploeg, Netherlands

Kazakh Rug, Mongolia

Wool Throw, Liverpool, England

Wet-Felted Merino Wool, Norway

Handwoven Silk Ikat, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Silk Scarves, Bursa, Turkey

Handmade Textiles by Narda Capuyan, Philippines

Cath Kidston Retro Fabrics, London, England

Hand-Stamped Silk Batik, Java, Indonesia

Handwoven Wool Termeh, Yazd Province, Iran

Silk Kimono, Japan

Traditional Fabric Patterns, Ghana

Handwoven Scarf, New Jersey

Tie Dyed Fabrics, Baishah, China

Woven Sock, Wales

Tela tipica, Guatemala

SEE ALSO:

40 Gorgeous Photos of Europe

40 Gorgeous Photos of North America

40 Gorgeous Photos of Latin America

40 Gorgeous Photos of Asia

40 Gorgeous Photos of Africa

25 Photos of Islands Threatened by Climate Change

25 Images of Female Adrenaline Seekers

40 Photos from Flea Markets Around the World

30 Gorgeous Photos of Winter Snowscapes

30 Gorgeous Photos of Farming and Agriculture

15 Hilarious Photos of Interspecies Mingling

30 Photos of the World’s Most Uniquely Designed Buildings

20 Photos of Female Activists Throughout History

30 Gorgeous Photos of Spring

The post 30 Gorgeous Photos of Traditional Textiles appeared first on EcoSalon.

1. Reface Rather Than Replace Cabinets

Innovative companies can work with your existing wood and reface those cabinet doors with sustainable woods rather than trashing and starting anew. Read this post for more tips for the kitchen cabinet facelift.

2. Swap Decor with Family and Friends

You don’t need a piano and I don’t need that daybed in the TV nook, so let’s trade and recycle our stuff and get what we really need. It’s a match made in eco heaven when it doesn’t cost you a dime to swap decor, especially with people who have a good eye like you do, and are low on storage space. It’s how they did it in the olden days before widespread consumer waste and climate change. Here’s more.

3. Baby Steps Can Equal Full Grown Changes in a Room

Rearrange the furniture, buy a few new pillow covers, paint a wall. These easy fixes will refresh your pad without sinking lots of cash. As you’ll discover in this handy how-to post, it can all be done for under $30.

4. Repurpose Excess Upholstery Materials

Those fabric rolls are not doing anyone any good just sitting in the closet. Cut them up and redirect them to your interiors for pillow covers, framed art, bedding, even wall coverage like the picture shown above, if you have enough for adequate padding. See these great ideas for repurposing your excess.

5. Clean Before You Replace

Perhaps that rug can come clean with eco spot remover techniques. Why rip it out if it’s still useful? Another option is to cover a damaged section of the carpet by layering with a small, affordable area rug, one made of eco fibers that won’t cost the same as new carpeting or a large are rug. Go shagging for answers here.

6. Seasonal Accents Make Great Distractions

A collection of seasonal organic blooms and greens from your garden, lanterns, greeting cards, photos and tablecloths – they all can act as happy distractions in a room that is begging for a redux. Don’t have a garden? Head to the farmers’ market, the flea shop, the vintage shop in your hood, and spend little to stage your spaces with renewed charm. Head over here for inspiration.

7. Paint can Perk it Up

Even a dingy clawfoot tub can look ultra modern and cool by finding the right low VOC paints and giving the bath a new coat. You will find sprucing up furniture with paint can be a great cheap fix that refreshes your spaces.

8. Be a Thrift Shopper

It’s no wonder second hand shops in cities nationwide do well during hard times. These are outlets that actually offer discounts while more upscale sights like 1st Dibs are peddling vintage treasures that cater to those with lots of spare cash. Do some research and check out the shops in various neighborhoods to find out where nifty castaways are being parked.

9. A Room of Her Own

Sometimes just carving out one room of your own in your dwelling can suffice until you have a bigger budget to fix up the place. Are you craving that Project Runway sewing room? How about a closeted dressing room out of a spare bedroom? Having a blast doing just one space for yourself can be very rewarding, even if it is a multi-use corner for working, painting and reading. Own it with visuals on the walls and a fun rug that speaks to you. Experts say you will accomplish the most in a space you gravitate towards.

10. Spa Makeover

So you can’t afford to tear out the old tile and tired tub to make way for stone and steam. Use zen decor touches and nurturing elements to turn your blah bath into spa bath: Ideas include indulgent, organic towels; sensuous beeswax candles in an array of holders; yummy creams and oils displayed in a vintage tray; and my favorite Nob Hill Day Spa element – a large pitcher of spring water filled with sliced cucumbers or lemons and a pretty glass.

Each week here at EcoSalon, the editors choose a post from the archives that we think you’ll love. The original post can be found here.

Image: Elle Decor

The post 10 Easy & Inexpensive Decorating Tips appeared first on EcoSalon.

Here at EcoSalon we love glass – and we’ve spent years celebrating its use in milk bottles and gorgeously translucent tableware, its almost magical ability to be renewed and reshaped by the elements into something truly sublime. We want glass to shove past plastic and regain the well-deserved status it’s enjoyed for the last thousand years. Frankly, we can’t wait.

But nothing has prepared us for this.

A German company called Nanopool has secured the patent for a new type of glass – in spray form. It’s being called liquid glass, and it’s laid down in an unbelievably shallow coating (less than 30 molecules thick) that acts like no other surface we’ve ever heard of. Yes, it’s glass, and therefore water-resistant and easy to wipe down – but it’s also thin enough to be flexible and breathable. (Yes – air-permeable glass). If that weren’t enough, it blocks UV, resists heat and forms a surface bond that’s difficult to break, making it potentially as hard-wearing as its large-scale counterpart.

Where could it be used? Answer: absolutely everywhere. It will revolutionize decor. It could be used on any surface (being glass, it is chemically inert) including clothing, and the manufacturers are claiming that it will virtually eliminate the need for scrubbing because most stains will be prevented from forming in the first place. It will make household surfaces much more resistant to bacteria and grime, and keep medical equipment squeaky-clean. It can even be used to protect wood against termites and vines against fungal diseases.

So far, so world-changing. (Seriously so). But there’s one big question mark. Let’s not forget this is airborne silicon dioxide, and there’s a very ugly medical complaint associated with it – Silicosis, also known by the grotesque name of Potter’s Rot. When crystalline silica dust is in regular contact with our lungs (say, if we worked in a mine), it lodges inside them. Hard-wearing, water-resistant and so on? These marvels now become curses – and silicosis is currently untreatable and therefore irreversible.

Liquid glass is an incredible breakthrough – but let’s hope it’s applied to our products before they reach our hands. If not, the consequences could be quite literally breathtaking.

Image: amagill

The post Hold Your Breath: Liquid Glass Changes Everything appeared first on EcoSalon.

Metropolitan Home is being put to bed for good.

I suffered reflux trying to digest the death of Gourmet, one of four Condé Nast publications closed recently. I didn’t sample the food bible much but felt nostalgic about it as an American institution. I only picked up Modern Bride a few times when plotting my wedding. (I had the main prop but needed flowers and a dress.)

Now, achy-breaky heartburn ensues from Hachette’s news about dumping Metropolitan Home.

Set to fold after its December issue, the loss of the treasured shelter guide is another casualty of the ad recession – in fact, the biggest casualty to date.

It has taken about 30 years, but the ultimate collapse is what my harshly prophetic broadcast journalism teachers at Northwestern predicted in the early 80s, proclaiming, “Print is dead!”

The grim forecast prompted many of us grad students to seek careers in television, only to make our way back to print eventually. Dying or not, it offered dignity. Print was where the rubber met the road in terms of writing acumen. The words didn’t always have to match the pictures. Imagine that.

I had a personal connection to Met Home, the uber source of swank urban nesting. I began as a fan, dovetailing pages challenging us to uplift our rooms with color, modern accessories, innovative gadgets and accessible art. It had a soft spot for small spaces urban dwellers could afford. Make puny pads bold, we were told.

Later, I became a contributor. When I first hooked up with Met I was a burned-out CNN writer and reporter, frustrated by the network’s ranting, mediocre producers, sensational live coverage and zero commitment to covering visual art.

I got up the nerve to phone Met one day from the Omni to pitch a few story ideas. I was merely a fan. A fan with a good resume: I worked at CNN. I had grown up in the housing design business. I desperately wanted in.

An erudite senior editor, John Sweeney, was happy to bite when I suggested a piece on world-famous pop artist, Kenny Scharf. The magazine was going through that we need hot celebs on the cover phase and my timing was excellent. God, I miss the 80s!

Nevermind that I hadn’t spoken to my college friend in years; that didn’t keep me from exploiting the connection. After all, Kenny and I had slow-danced together like Fred and Ginger in our dorm elevators, singing Cheek to Cheek. He owed me.

I called Kenny and boom, kismet! He graciously invited me to his upstate Hudson Valley Charles Addams-style manse which he had transmogrified into a graffiti palace with his signature cartoon aliens, atomic whirls and swirls. He was even producing ancient-future furniture that was an extension of his art. Right up Met Home’s alley. Lucky, lucky me.

I never turned back after that, and Met Home invited me to continue on as a Southeast editor, contributing cutting-edge articles on inner city housing projects and urban architecture.

I found Met was always on the cusp of all that is modern and functional, all that enhances our visual world, and that happened to include good green living.

The magazine should be proud of its April 2009 eco issue, which, like many of its best editions, entertained and informed while sharing valuable decor resources. This, in addition to consistent annual coverage of “the best little green houses,” and other examples of how the world of design is making strides in sustainable living.

But pride won’t keep you afloat when the dollars go down the drain. The biggest and most prestigious victim of the ad recession has fallen. Thirteen editorial staffers will join the growing list of unemployed journalists, including Donna Warner, the editor-in-chief for the past 17 years.

Warner, who replaced wonderful Dorothy Kalins, worked at Met Home for 26 years, joining shortly after it was founded at Meredith Corp, where it was introduced in 1974 as Apartment Life.

“I created this baby and loved it a lot,” said Warner. “It’s very sad. That’s what happens when you lose one of your children.”

My journalism instructors would boast “We told you so!” And now, I must admit, I  finally believe them. Print is dead.

While I know we will save paper, it just won’t be the same not being able to tear out pages of great sofas and chairs when I’m in the dentist waiting room or at the beauty salon. Saving them on the old Crackberry just isn’t the same kind of tactile experience.

This is the latest installment in Luanne’s column, Life in the Green Lane.

The post Met Home Is Where the Heart Was appeared first on EcoSalon.

It’s hard to ignore those cautionary labels (even the misspelled ones). Do we dare wash a delicate garment at home and risk ruining the texture or shrinking it beyond recognition?

Warnings are warnings, but there are exceptions to every wash ‘n wear rule.

With the help of our blog readers, writers and the experts, we have put together a list of myths we are happy to debunk to save you some precious bucks.

1. Washing sweaters will ruin the texture!

“Hogwash,” says EcoSalon’s Caitlin Fitzsimmons, whose mama passed on the tried and true method. “You need to wash in lukewarm water with a gentle detergent,” she explains. “Then lay it flat on a towel with the arms folded in. Fold in the corners of the towel and then roll it up – this lets you squeeze out water, without destroying the shape of the sweater. Repeat with a second towel. Then lay it out flat to dry.”

Image: Moline

2. Dry clean wool because it will always shrink up in the machine.

This one’s for the dogs according to EB, who has been washing his own wool blazers and slacks with a front-loading washer wool cycle for years. “Wool is fairly hard to shrink and doing so requires changes in temperature and agitation  from rubbing, scrubbing and wringing.” No washer for wool? He says use the same temp water for wash and the rinse, a friendly, wool-wash cleaner and minimal agitation. Squeeze dry, roll in a towel and lay out forming the correct shape on a flat surface. I heart this advice!

Image: Romeo’s Mom

3. Cotton really stiffens up when I clean it at home because of the hard water.

We all know hang drying is the most sound energy-saving way to go, but that can produce tough results, as well. Naomi tells us she cheats a bit by tossing her cotton into the dryer with a sheet for a few minutes before hanging dry and it does the trick. And don’t forget, there are some gentle water softeners on the market that won’t give you that Downy chemical rash!

Image: Luigi FDV

9. Dry Cleaning is convenient.

Unless you are as organized as my friend Jodi (keeping schedules is her side career), it could take several months to pick up your stuff at the cleaners. Parking can be hard unless you walk or take public transportation in the city (Carrie Bradshaw did it by cab). And very few cleaners pick up and deliver anymore. It’s just simpler to do most jobs at home.

Image: Flickr

10. Dry cleaning always extends the life of your clothes.

If your clothing can only be sustained by monthly trips to the cleaners, then you are buying the wrong kind of clothing. Our fashion editor, Amy DuFault, is a guru of stylish alternatives and you can follow her resources in the fashion section. Meantime, no one has proven that Perc or other solvents with enzymes are protecting the life of your garment. The truth is, if you are following the guidelines of frugal wash n’ wear experts, your clothes should last as long as they would when doused with toxins and sealed in plastic – perhaps, even longer.

Image: Coolslaw

Main Image : Wm Jas

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