Last Updated on March 14, 2024
Have you ever come in contact with a burlap bag? Congratulations: You’ve probably met jute!
While burlap can be made from hemp, flax, or synthetic materials, the most common material used to make burlap is jute.
That’s because jute is a sturdy material and jute burlap bags are often used on farms and in agricultural settings to provide insulation, protect from erosion, or transport fruits, vegetables and grains.
However, jute has been slowly but surely making its way into the mainstream too: Jute jackets, sweaters, tote bags, furniture and rugs have been popping up on the market more than ever before. I’ve even seen jute bags used as bridesmaid gifts.
But what is jute? And is it sustainable? Here’s everything you need to know regarding jute and if you should look for this material or avoid it in your next purchase.
what is jute made out of?
Jute is made out of the jute plant. There are several different botanical varieties, one of the most common being the white jute plant (Corchorus capsularis). There’s another species called tossa jute (C. Olitorius) that is harder to cultivate but considered to be superior.
The plant grows in similar conditions to rice, and this plant is best suited for warm areas that have annual monsoon seasons. Humidity levels need to be approximately 80% for successful production. It cannot grow in hard water.
These plants can grow to be over 10 feet high. The fibers derived from these plants are harvested in a single long string.
In terms of most-produced plant-based fiber, jute is a close second to cotton. While it isn’t super popular in the Western world, it is one of the primary textile fibers of India and neighboring countries.
how is jute fabric made?
- Mature stalks are harvested by hand.
- Next, they’re defoliated (meaning their leaves are removed).
- Retting is used to remove the non-fiberous from the stem and skin of the stalk.
- After the stalk has been retted, it’s now possible to separate the long, silky fibers and comb them into strings.
- These combed fibers can then be spun into yarn.
- The fibers might be subjected to various chemical processes to dye it, make it fire resistant, or give it water resistant.
- The finished reels of fiber are shipped to textile production facilities where they are then woven into textiles for various purposes.
is jute a good fabric?
Jute is a good fabric in terms of it being durable: It is ideal for industrial and agricultural purposes. However, it is a relatively rough fiber, which doesn’t make it ideal for apparel.
However, this material can be turned into clothing if it goes through an extensive production process. As advanced techniques for processing increase, this plant-based fiber is being used to make garments such as jackets, cardigans, and even sweaters. In Indian culture, it is being made into printed kurtis, tunics, and sarees.
In terms of the environment, jute is a good fabric because it is easy to produce and the process has a smaller impact on the environment than many synthetic alternatives. Generally speaking, natural fibers like jute, flax (linen), and hemp have lower carbon footprints than glass and mineral fibers.
This plant requires minimal fertilizer and pesticide use, particularly in comparison to cotton. It’s also renewable and the leftover roots and leaves that fall off the plant enrich the soil and increase its fertility.
These plants also help clean the air: Every hectare of this crop absorbs approximately 15 tons of carbon dioxide and releases 11 tons of oxygen.
Not to mention it is 100% biodegradable. Any products made solely from jute fibers can be composted, which makes it a circular fabric.
what is special about jute?
Jute is special due to its affordability and second only to cotton in the amount produced. This material has been used in many ways both agriculturally, industrially, and around the home.
It’s commonly used in its natural shade, which is a light tan or golden hue. While it can be dyed, its natural shade is most popular and creates a bohemian aesthetic. When mixed with other fibers, it can make twine, string, and rope.
Here are some uses for it:
- Burlap bags are used for the transport of fruits, vegetables, grains, and other goods
- Sapling roots are wrapped in it as protection when they are transplanted
- In agriculture, it has been used to control erosion and weeds, as well as to protect seeds
- Used to make furniture, chair covers, rugs, curtains, and other household furnishings
- Used in crafts and DIY projects
is jute better than cotton?
In terms of clothing, jute is not better than cotton because cotton is still much softer than jute is. However, this material has a smaller carbon footprint and is better for the environment in terms of production.
Conventional cotton is a water-intensive crop. Chemicals sprayed on the plant will mix with water runoff. This leads to groundwater contamination. To give you an idea of how water-hungry cotton is, it takes 2,500 liters of water to produce one t-shirt.
Cotton is also one of the top four genetically modified crops in the world. It’s considered the world’s “dirtiest crop” because it requires heavy amounts of toxic pesticides. These pesticides have poisoned thousands of cotton farmers, as well as pollute the environment.
If you’re thinking about getting a new item, choose to support brands that utilize jute over conventional cotton. However, choosing organic cotton over conventional cotton is also a much better choice, as it’s grown without pesticides and with less water.
can jute get wet?
Jute should not get wet. It reacts poorly to moisture, whether that is due to rainfall, humidity, or spillage. The fibers tend to be susceptible to mold and mildew.
It’s best if you keep this material in a dry, cool location. It’s not recommended to keep these pieces outdoors, unless you plan to let them biodegrade with the soil (for example, burlap bags wrapped around sapling roots).
how do you clean jute?
You can clean jute by using a dry rug shampoo or baking soda. Just sprinkle the dry shampoo/baking soda on the area you wish to clean. Let it sit for a couple of hours, then vacuum it up. If it’s a rug, flip it over and repeat on the other side.
Avoid using wet liquids, as this can cause discoloration and encourage mold/mildew. You’ll want to stick with spot cleaning.
So, what are your opinions on this plant-based fabric? Let me know in the comments!
The post What is Jute? And Is It Sustainable? appeared first on Going Zero Waste.
Green Living
Classic Sustainability In Your Ear: The Ocean River Institute’s Natural Lawn Challenge for Climate Action
Turn back the clock with this classic interview that will get you ready for Spring yard care planning. A lawn may be beautiful but it can take a heavy toll on the environment, accounting for between 30% and 60% of residential water use in the United States. Rob Moir, Ph.D., is president and executive director of the Ocean River Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ORI works with residential lawn owners to heal damaged ecosystems by restoring coastal areas to lessen the destructive impacts of climate change. The benefits of a natural lawn reach far beyond reduced local water pollution, eliminating chemicals that can contribute to cancers, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and other cellular diseases. Natural lawns are also better for local pollinators and store much more carbon than heavily fertilized lawns. If you considered removing your lawn to play a part in the battle against climate change, this interview may change your mind — a healthy lawn is a powerful carbon sink.
The Ocean River Institute is recruiting Massachusetts communities, town by town, to take a pledge to follow natural lawn practices in the Healthy Soils for Climate Restoration Challenge. You don’t need to live in Massachusetts to participate and learn about the alternatives to the traditional, chemical-intensive lawn practices that use Roundup, a source of glyphosates that kills soil-dwelling fungi and local pollinators, and fast-acting nitrogen fertilizers. You can learn more about the Ocean River Institute at www.oceanriver.org.
Rob has contributed many articles about climate change and the history of environmental change since this interview, including:
- Finding a Northwest Passage to the Sea
- Turning the Tide—How Land and Water Shape Our Climate Future
- Learning from Captain Scoresby’s Ten-gallon Fir-Cask
- Earth Savvy?
- Let the Ground Keep Falling Rainwater
- The Sultans of Swag Versus Looking at Clouds from Both Sides Now
- Subscribe to Sustainability in Your Ear on iTunes and Apple Podcasts.
- Follow Sustainability in Your Ear on Spreaker, iHeartRadio, or YouTube
Editor’s Note: This episode originally aired on May 30, 2022.
The post Classic Sustainability In Your Ear: The Ocean River Institute’s Natural Lawn Challenge for Climate Action appeared first on Earth911.
https://earth911.com/podcast/earth911-podcast-the-ocean-river-institutes-natural-lawn-challenge-for-climate-action/
Choosing your perfect gown can be one of the most exciting decisions for your special day, but for the eco fashionista, it can be a challenge to find a dress that fits your values and style — but these brands have exceptional sustainable wedding dresses you’ll swoon over!
Using earth-minded materials like hemp, cruelty-free peace silk, deadstock recycled fabrics and vintage lace, and producing consciously, either in small batches or handcrafting each individual piece made-to-order, the brands below meet high standards for transparency, ecological sustainability, and fair labor.
[For more sustainable wedding dresses, check out this guide to secondhand wedding dress sites!]
Note that the guide contains affiliate links. As always, we only feature brands that meet strict criteria for sustainability we love, that we think you’ll love too!
1. Christy Dawn
Dreamy dress brand Christy Dawn does not disappoint with their romantic bridal collection! Each piece is more swoon-worthy than the next.
Their three sustainable bridal gowns are made from regenerative silk charmeuse —sourced through BOMBYX, an innovative silk producer using best practices — and colored in a beautiful pearl silk with non-toxic dyes. Each dress is ethically cut and sewn by makers in Los Angeles earning living wages, as with the rest of Christy Dawn’s collections.
The Britta Dress and Fitzgerald Dress are 1920s inspired while the Athena Dress is a more modern (but equally romantic) option. All of these dresses are made-to-order with an estimated timeline of 4 weeks.
Conscious Qualities: Regenerative silk and organic non-toxic dyes, ethically made-to-order in Los Angeles
Price Range: $2,500 – $3,000
Size Range: XS – XL
2. Pure Magnolia
Blending the traditional with the modern, Pure Magnolia designs classic-inspired sustainable wedding dresses with contemporary touches. And each dress is made in their Canadian studio by seamstresses earning fair wages from eco-fabrics, such as organic cotton and hemp silk.
The brand sources recycled fabrics whenever possible as well, and recycles their scrap fabric through FABCYCLE.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, locally and fairly made, recycles scrap fabrics
Price Range: $845 – $3,300 CAD
Size Range: 0 – 28
3. Lost in Paris
Lost in Paris crafts each of their creatively designed bohemian-inspired gowns ethically in their Sydney, Australia studio. Unconventional yet undeniably striking, Lost in Paris’ dresses are made from vintage lace and cotton.
Investing in a dress from Lost in Paris is seamless — the brand offers at-home sample try-ons, offers train and sleeve adjustments on several styles, ships their dresses worldwide for free, and even accepts returns. Oh, and, if one of their ready-made sizes doesn’t work for you, you can get a dress designed to your measurements.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, uses vintage lace, locally made
Price Range: $950 – $3900 AUD
Size Range: XXS – XXL + custom sizing options
For More Slow Fashion Content:
4. Wear Your Love
Wear Your Love creates feminine, effortless dresses in their Northern California studio that are — in contrast to the majority of wedding dresses on the market — actually comfortable! The brand’s free-spirited designs are made with soft, earth-minded fabrics like organic cotton and each dress is made to order for each bride to their exact measurements.
There are also customizations available for each eco-friendly wedding dress such as train or no train, skirt or sleeve linings, back coverage, skirt style, and more.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, made-to-order model, locally and transparently made
Price Range: $680 – $1,700
Size Range: N/A; dresses are made to your measurements
5. Larimeloom
Based in Reggio Emilia, Italy, Larimeloom crafts exceptional custom-made dresses by hand in their atelier. The brand creates comfortable minimalist dresses from durable natural fabrics and colors them with natural or non-toxic dyes.
Larimeloom has also implemented zero waste design techniques, cutting their patterns strategically in order to minimize fabric waste.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, zero-waste designs, natural fabrics and dyes
Price Range: 650€ – 2,650€
Size Range: XS – XL
6. Sister Organics
Sourcing quality earth-friendly natural fabrics like organic hemp and cotton, Sister Organics creates classic, eco-friendly wedding dresses for UK-based brides.
Each dress is made to order in England, so you can select a pre-defined size, customize the length of a size, or get an entirely different dress made for your measurements.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, made-to-order model
Price Range: £125 – £390
Size Range: XXS – XXL + custom sizing
7. Indiebride London
Indiebride’s vintage-inspired sustainable wedding dresses are delicate and romantic yet free-spirited, offering a unique collection for the bride that wants to skip the conventional wedding gown and choose a piece that fits their individual style.
The brand’s conscious wedding dresses are handmade in London using majority natural fibers and can be altered or customized to your specifications.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, uses many natural fabrics, locally made
Price Range: £1,200 – £1,700
Size Range: 8 – 16 (UK sizes)
More Resources For Your Eco Wedding:
10 Secondhand Wedding Dress Sites for the Eco Bride
7 Ethical Lab-Grown Diamond Engagement and Wedding Rings
17 Brands with Conscious Dresses (great options for bridesmaid dresses in here!)
The post 7 Best Sustainable Wedding Dresses for Your Special Day appeared first on Conscious Life & Style.
Get organized in style with the beautiful sustainable dressers, wardrobes, and armoires from these furniture companies using responsibly-sourced FSC-Certified wood or upcycled wood.
Note that this guide includes affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you choose to make a purchase through these links.
What Makes A Dresser Sustainable?
As with anything in sustainability, there are various approaches that can make something “sustainable”.
Secondhand
With over 12 million tons (or 24 billion pounds) of furniture getting wasted each year in the United States alone, it’s definitely a great idea to look used when possible!
Secondhand not only helps divert furniture from the landfill, but reduces the need to extract new materials, whether that’s metal, wood, cotton, or increasingly, petroleum for synthetic fabrics and plastic.
Here’s where to look for secondhand dressers:
- Garage sales and estate sales (check EstateSales.net!)
- Facebook Marketplace
- OfferUp
- AptDeco
Responsibly Sourced Wood
Most storage furniture, like dressers, are made from wood (or engineered wood). While wood is a natural material, deforestation is a significant driver of climate change.
So, look for domestic or certified sustainably-sourced wood when purchasing wooden furniture. The largest most common certification is FSC, which stands for Forest Stewardship Council.
Even better is if you can find furniture made from reclaimed wood! This is basically upcycled wood that is being repurposed. This reclaimed wood can come from old barns, ships, factories, warehouses, or even wine barrels.
Non-Toxic Finishes
Unfortunately, many wood finishes contain harmful petroleum- and chemical-based solvents which can emit VOCs, or volatile organic compounds. While the toxicity is most severe during application and does reduce with time, the chemicals can build up in your home, so you may feel most comfortable minimizing risk of VOCs.
Why does this matter? Well, the EPA reports that indoor air can be 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor air — largely due to what we bring into our homes, from furniture to household cleaners.
Look for low-VOC finishes, water-based finishes, or natural oil finishes like linseed oil.
Where to Find Sustainably Made Dressers
I’ve done the grunt work for you and curated furniture brands with sustainable dressers, armoires, and wardrobes below!
1. Urban Natural
Highlights: Sustainably-Sourced Woods,
Price Range: $1,245 – $9,000+
For a one-stop shop for sustainable storage furniture, look no further than Urban Natural. The retailer has a stunning selection of timeless sustainable dressers (including non-toxic dressers for nurseries) made with responsibly sourced wood and several with non-toxic finishes too.
Urban Natural’s workshop partners use materials like solid oak, cherry, maple, and walnut — and many of the brands prioritize local sourcing as well.
2. Avocado
Highlights: Reclaimed or FSC-Certified Wood, GREENGUARD Gold Certified, Zero VOC Finish
Price Range: $1,939 – $3,999
Avocado’s sustainable dressers are made in Los Angeles in their own FSC-certified woodshop. Beautifully designed with a timeless mid-century modern or Scandinavian-inspired aesthetic, Avocado’s dressers are also built to last. Each dresser is made with either responsibly sourced FSC-Certified wood or reclaimed wood. Most of the company’s non-toxic bedroom furniture is also finished with a non-toxic zero-VOC finish to you can sleep easy.
3. Thuma
Highlights: Upcycled Solid Wood, GREENGUARD Gold Certified, Modular
Price Range: $1,165 – $3,495
Designed for maximum functionality and versatility, Thuma’s sustainable dressers give you endless options. Configure a couple drawers for a nightstand and add on more drawers vertically or horizontally for a full dresser that can fit any space.
The modular setup may be especially useful for families with evolving needs — you can add on more drawers if your needs grow or separate a large dresser into two smaller ones.
4. Medley
Highlights: Non-Toxic, USA Made
Price Range: $4,136
Medley’s sustainable dressers are handmade to order in California. The wide dresser pictured here comes in maple or walnut sourced domestically in the US.
The tops and sides are solid hardwood and FSC-certified, low-VOC CARB 2 compliant hardwood plywood is used in the rest of the dresser. The piece is finished with non-toxic natural beeswax.
5. MasayaCo
Highlights: FSC-Certified Reforested Wood, 1.2 Million Trees Planted
Price Range: $2,295 – $2,395
MasayaCo is committed to responsible sourcing for all of their sustainable storage furniture. Each FSC-Certified piece is made to order by skilled artisans in Nicaragua from 100% solid teak wood that comes from their own reforestation projects. Even more impressive, the company leaves 40% of these projects completely untouched to thrive on its own.
Their stunning credenzas could easily be used as dressers, too.
6. West Elm Sustainably Sourced Collection
Highlights: Non-Toxic and Responsibly-Sourced Options
Price Range: $879 – $2499
West Elm is a large retailer with options for more eco-friendly dressers. Among their selection, you can curate by filters such as GREENGUARD Gold Certified, crafted in Fair Trade Certified facilities, made from responsibly-sourced wood, and/or Contract Grade (i.e. high quality + durable).
7. Crate & Barrel FSC-Certified (Honorable Mention)
Price Range: $899 – $2,699
While Crate & Barrel does not have as many sustainability efforts as other large retailers like West Elm, the company has a vast selection of FSC-certified wood storage furniture, including dressers, chests, and full wardrobes or armoires.
You’ll find an array of woods and finishes as well, from weathered rustic natural wood to dark espresso-finished wood.
More Guides Like This:
21 Best Places to Find Sustainable Furniture
8 Gorgeous Sustainable Tables to Gather Around
Best Eco-Friendly and Non-Toxic Sofas to Relax In
The post 7 Sustainable Dressers and Armoires to Store it All Away in Style (2026) appeared first on Conscious Life & Style.
7 Sustainable Dressers and Armoires to Store it All Away in Style (2026)
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