A thing I see happen a lot when we get into discussions of natural fibers vs synthetics on this hellsite and elsewhere is a conflation of when the topic is about Fiber Properties and when the topic is about Environmental Impact.
Like more than once I’ve seen posts be like, “you should buy one $200 Real Wool Sweater instead of 4 $50 acrylic ones, trust me it’s worth it.”
And what the post means is, the wool sweater will feel nicer to wear, keep you warmer, and last longer than the 4 $50 ones combined.
(vimes boots theory obligatory mention)
And then someone comes on and replies, “yes this is probably a good idea but we must remember that industrially produced wool yarn has complex chemical treatment in the process, so the wool sweater is still not perfect environmentally speaking.“
And it’s like. That’s not factually wrong. But it has no bearing on what OP was saying because even without it being outright spelled out it’s pretty obvious OP was recommending real wool for properties, not impact. This is also where I’ve seen several different posts about rayon go off the rails, for obvious reasons.
Anyway it’s a good thing to keep in mind when fiber posts go past. Most of the best reasons to wear linen/wool/silk instead of synthetic fibers have more to do with post-production interaction with the world and with your body than with environmental impact during production.
also there are places in the world where introducing merino sheep husbandry would be more destructive to the existing wilderness or the current sustainable agricultural practices than introducing linen or hemp or something into the crop-rotation. That doesn't mean people who live in those places should only ever wear plant fibres when they NEED wool for its properties. There are ALSO places where sheep husbandry is already practiced and introducing a slightly different breed/hybrid, or even just continuing to keep the Same animals but changing Something about the wool-processing practices,i s decidedly less destructive than introducing ANY fiber-plant. That what Trade is FOR.
@headspace-hotel
Most clothing materials have a pretty negative environmental impact. According to some classes I took recently, hemp is by far the most environmentally sustainable fiber by a long shot. however, in the USA we have to import it from Eastern Europe because hemp, being the same plant as the Devil's Lettuce (ooooo scarey!) is regulated to the point where you can't really grow it here.
I don't think there's any intense industrial chemicals involved with wool production except if OP is thinking about Superwash wool, which is its own thing and involves dissolving off the outer texture of the wool fibers so they don't felt.
In terms of natural fibers could diversify quite a bit. There is also alpaca, llama, rabbit, goat, and camel in terms of natural animal fibers, and in the plant realm there's nettle, kudzu, dogbane, and a lot of others...
