OUR
MATERIALS
At DELLA TERRA we are aware of the catastrophic and dangerous effects that the fashion industry has on the environment and we are proud to use raw materials that come exclusively from sustainable sources or that have been recycled and transformed through processes that use the least amount of possible resources.
ORGANIC COTTON
By using Cotton that is grown organically we are helping to significantly reduce the use of harmful chemicals used to cultivate regular cotton. Additionally organic cotton uses natural solutions that in return help regenerate our soils and support biodiversity, healthy eco systems and use significantly less water.
The way regular cotton is grown is extremely harmful for our environment and threatening its biodiversity. Why?
- Conventional production practices for cotton involve the application of substantial fertilizers and pesticides. Pesticides threaten the quality of soil and water.
- Runoff of pesticides, fertilizers, and minerals from cotton fields contaminates rivers, lakes, wetlands, and underground aquifers. These pollutants affect biodiversity directly by immediate toxicity or indirectly through long-term accumulation.
- Diversion of water and its pollution by cotton growing has had severe impacts on major ecosystems such as the Aral Sea in Central Asia, the Indus Delta in Pakistan and the Murray Darling River in Australia.
- 10% of all agricultural chemicals in the USA are used in the production of cotton despite it only representing 1% of the entire agricultural land in the country).
- Diversion of water and it’s pollution by cotton growing has had severe impacts on major ecosystems such as the Aral Sea in Central Asia, the Indus Delta in Pakistan and the Murray Darling River in Australia.
Source: The WWF Org
At Della Terra we are committed with responsible, progressive and sustainable agricultural practices. We ensure our fibers are certified. Why is this so important?
- Despite organic cotton being great for our soils and the people who grow them, unfortunately only 1% of cotton grown world wide is certified organic.
- The amount of water needed for 1 kg of organic cotton is 1/4 of the amount of water needed for 1 kg of non-organic cotton.
- Organic Cotton is the most skin-friendly, soothing and harmless natural fibre.
- Cotton is the most pesticide dependent crop in the world.Every T-shirt uses a quarter-pounders worth of toxic chemicals. Organic cotton uses non.
- By avoiding toxic pesticides workers avoid health problems and deaths common in non-organic cotton production.This also reduces production costs and farmer debts.
- Show your support for sustainable cotton by contacting your favorite clothing companies and asking them if they use certified organic cotton or if they’re part of the Better Cotton Initiative.
- If they are—great. If not, ask them when they’re going to start doing their part to make the industry more sustainable.
- Buy organic or BCI only.
- Donate to organizations transforming cotton’s agricultural practices like the WWF
100% OF OUR COTTON COMES FROM SUSTAINABLE SOURCES
BCI COTTON
Organic cotton is wonderful but getting certified can be a costly and timely project, making it impossible for most farmers to get certified in the near future. For this reason an alternative sustainable solution was created. The WWF began a pilot project to promote better ways of growing cotton. Due to its immediate success, the project evolved into a multi-stakeholder organization called the Better Cotton Initiative. At DELLA TERRA we support BCI by demanding it from our suppliers and see it as a wonderful transition into fully organic and regenerative agriculture world wide.
It is an inclusive non for profit organization that certifies the responsible production of cotton and works with farms of all sizes. It works to promote sustainable production of cotton, reduce damage to freshwater systems, and encourage the use of advanced irrigation technology and more ecologically sound growing methods.
OK but HOW?
Farmers that adopt the Better Cotton standards commit to:
- Minimize the harmful impact of crop protection practices;
- Use water efficiently and care for the availability of water
- Care for the health of the soil;
- Conserve natural habitats;
- Care for and preserve the quality of the fiber;
- Cnd promote decent work.
- Show your support for sustainable cotton by contacting your favorite clothing companies and asking them if they use certified organic cotton or if they’re part of the Better Cotton Initiative.
- If they are—great. If not, ask them when they’re going to start doing their part to make the industry more sustainable.
- Buy organic or BCI only.
- Donate to organizations transforming cotton’s agricultural practices like the WWF
BCI COTTON
RECYCLED COTTON
By using recycled cotton we are extending the life of existing cotton fiber and hence reducing its environmental impact significantly (70% less CO2 emissions) while keeping all the properties that make cotton great!
Textile recycling is generated from two primary sources:
- Pre-consumer: includes scraps created by yarn and fabric by-products
- Post-consumer: includes garments, upholstery, towels, household items.
to be repurposed
How is it recycled and turned into fabric?
- First, fabrics and materials are sorted by color.
- After sorting, the fabrics are run through a machine that shreds the fabric into yarn and further into raw fiber.
- The raw fiber is then spun back into yarns for reuse in other products.
Cotton is a very water-intensive crop; to produce a pound of conventional cotton it takes about 178 gallons of water. Additional to this are all the CO2 emissions that occur for it cultivation and the chemicals used to grow it. Using recycled cotton helps:
- To reduce the textile and apparel waste that is taken to landfills around the world every day.
- The amount of energy, water, and dye use is significantly reduced from using a product that has already been processed.
- little to no water is used since recycled cotton yarns are most commonly sourced from pre-consumer textile scraps that are sorted by color, so the yarns are already dyed.
- Demand from companies that they reduce their use of virgin cotton.
- Promote and educate others of its sustainable, natural benefits.
- Buy recycled.
- Once you think the lifetime of your garment is over don’t just throw it out. Donate it if it’s in good conditions or take them to your local recycler. If all fails send it back to us! we will ensure it has a sustainable end of life.
NATURALLY SUSTAINABLE FIBERS IN OUR COLLECTION
HEMP
At DELLA TERRA we love Hemp. Why? is a naturally sustainable crop that helps regenerate the soil it grows in and sequester CO2, meaning it’s a carbon-negative crop. It’s high resistance makes it less dependable on chemicals and it requieres very little water to survive (1/4 of the amount used to cultivate cotton). Additionally it requieres relatively a small amounts of land to cultivate: according to the “Guide to Sustainable Textiles” hemp fiber can produce up to double the fibre yield per hectare than cotton.
- Hemp literally chokes out any competing plants. This means harsh chemical herbicides aren’t necessary. Hemp also naturally reduces pests, so no pesticides are usually needed.Amazingly it also returns 60-70% of the nutrients it takes from the soil.
- it also requires very little water, especially when compared to cotton, which, according to Slate uses “about 50 percent more water per season than hemp and When you add processing into the equation, cotton uses more than four times as much water as hemp.”
- Hemp was an important crop for the early American economy. It was so popular in the colonies, in fact, that early drafts of the Declaration of Independence were drafted on hemp paper.
- Canvas comes from the old French word Chanevaz, which literally means “made from hemp”. Canvas made from hemp was an important material for worship and sailing vessels in colonial America, but it was also used as canvas for oil paintings in 1700 Europe.
- Ford built his car to run on hemp oil rather than gasoline. Hemp oil, as a matter of fact, is a sustainable fuel source option that is cost-effective and helps the environment.
- Hemp fibers are strong – Superman strong. It bends and mends 6 times better than steel, meaning it can bend better and has greater potential to be put back together again.
CERTIFIED EUROPEAN FLAX
At DELLA TERRA we love LINEN. It is naturally one of the most sustainable fibers due to its low dependency on chemicals and water. Additionally it is a highly versatile and efficient crop whose residues have other uses (its seeds can be used to create oils and edible products like flax)
EUROPEAN FLAX® Certified Linen means the fiber & fabric production:
Respects the environment:
- no irrigation, no GMO, no waste
- fibre extraction (scutching) is 100% mechanical.
- A 100% vegetal and vegan fibre
Social responsibility and ethics:
- Compliance with International Labour Organization
- Ensures its traceability through third party audits.
CERTIFIED EUROPEAN FLAX
TENCEL
TENCEL
Lyocell: is a wonderful sustainable option. It is made from wood pulp obtained from eucalyptus trees that grows quickly in low quality lands and cultivated without herbicides or pesticides. Additionally eucalyptus needs no irrigation, water is only used during transformation of pulp into lyocell or Tencel but in significantly lower quantities than other fibers (80% less than cotton).
TENCEL™ branded lyocell and modal fibers are produced by environmentally responsible processes from the sustainably sourced natural raw material wood.
The fibers originate from the renewable raw material wood, created by photosynthesis. The certified biobased fibers are manufactured using an environmentally responsible production process. The fibers are certified as compostable and biodegradable, and thus can fully revert back to nature.
SYNTHETIC FIBERS IN OUR COLLECTION
LESS THAN 1% OF THOSE SYNTHETICS ARE VIRGIN
BAMBOO
BAMBOO
Bamboo grows rapidly, needs very little water, fertilizer, or pesticides, and sequesters a large amount of carbon dioxide, absorbing five times more carbon dioxide and 35% more oxygen than similar plants. It’s also naturally regenerating, so harvesting bamboo still allows the plant to survive.
Bamboo is great but unfortunately most bamboo fabrics on the market are a form of rayon where the manufacturing process is intensive and involves harmful chemicals, recent years have seen an improvement in how these chemicals are managed, which is a step in the right direction. While lyocell bamboo is likely a more sustainable alternative, it’s harder to find. (this is the kind we use)
Bamboo fabrics are certainly a step up from polyester and conventional cotton, so as long as the brand is transparent about its origins, it can be a safe bet as a more sustainable option.
RECYCLED POLYESTER
At DELLA TERRA we highly prefer using natural, biodegradable fibers to anything synthetic like polyester. This is why more than 95% of our materials come from sustainable natural sources like Hemp. If we have to use something synthetic then it has to be recycled, re-used or re-purposed (like dead-stock buttons). We currently have less than 1% virgin synthetics in our collection and are working very hard to bring that to ZERO!
Using recycled polyester is far better than its virgin version as it lessens our dependance on petroleum (whose extraction causes tremendous damage to our environment). Additionally recycled polyester gives a second life to already existing PET items (most of which are single use plastics) and reduces greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing.
We see recycled polyester as a better alternative than its virgin version, however, we still avoid it because:
- it doesn’t biodegrade.
- When we wash garments made with polyester (even the recycled kind) they release micro-plastics which en up in the oceans, get eaten by fish and hence enter our food chain.
- Most recycled PET fibers come from plastic bottles and bottle to bottle recycling has already been perfected.
Recycling is always good as it means less waste in landfills and less exploitation of natural resources. However, polyester, even when recycled, has some negative impacts on our environment. So at Della Terra we use it sparingly and only when necessary.