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> It may sound strange to promote the use of synthetic clothing on a blog like Low-tech Magazine. However, both natural and synthetic materials have their advan
by bobbiechen 6y ago
> It may sound strange to promote the use of synthetic clothing on a blog like Low-tech Magazine. However, both natural and synthetic materials have their advantages and drawbacks, and both can be a sustainable choice - even though synthetic clothes are made from fossil fuels. This is especially true when the clothing is used as a substitute for a heating system; the energy saved by lowering the thermostat is much larger than the energy required to manufacture the garments. Indeed, these high-insulating garments demonstrate how valuable fossil fuels are as a material, and how foolish we are to simply burn them.
I love it when a writer anticipates my questions and immediately addresses it in the text.
- i_am_new_here 6y agoIt is so obvious what he states. It is kind of (obviously) right (and also kind of wrong). Reminds me of Timnit Gebru on (the ethics of) AI. She tackles an obviously important (academic) topic, that you can't dispute how important it is, but though ... it is so shallow that with every sentence passing you say "yes (and no)".
- KozmoNau7 6y agoStill, I would choose merino wool long johns over synthetic ones in just about every situation. The amount of heat that can be conserved with such a thin layer of wool is impressive.
- Aachen 6y agoWhat's the problem with "fossil fuel clothing" though? They don't burn the fuel to make the clothing, rather the opposite: this can now no longer be burned and turned into CO2 because it's on your body. Is it somehow pollutive to make oil products even if you don't burn them? And I mean more so than the alternative of course, because I get that so much as pumping up the oil costs energy. If it's just about the irony of wearing the biggest problem we're facing as a garment and not a real question then I see the point.