alternatives to cotton clothing??

bilbo · Senior Member

alternatives to cotton clothing??

Bicyclecamper · Guru

Hemp, and it is quite good, allergy free, same as bamboo, but bamboo is quite a lot dearer.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

At least wearing Hemp you would be a happy camper.

I had a pillow case that was made of bamboo but found it very hot so not game to try any clothing made of bamboo.

Surprise! You thought I was going to say you would be cute like a Panda if you wear Bamboo. Nah! I wouldn't say anything like that.

Keep Safe on the roads and out there.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

bilbo wrote:
I "hate" cotton because of its excessive water use in growing....but wear cotton clothing!!!.

Cotton is a crop (along with rice) that should NOT be grown in this country, except in the tropical high rainfall regions..

Cheers,

Peter

bgt · Guru

Australian grown cotton is the most efficient, water wise, cotton grown in the world. It's not that Australia hasn't got the water it's just the mismanagement of it that is the problem.

dabbler · Guru

The Australian cotton crop uses over a quarter of all irrigation water in Australia and almost the entire crop relies in irrigation. Compared to water consumption in other major cotton countries, Australia cotton is water efficient BUT other countries: cotton crops don't rely on irrigation whether from stored or flowing sources and instead rely on natural rainfall. If the water efficiency cotton crops around the world was compared on the basis of captured water, Australia cotton would not be considered water efficient. It needs irrigation to survive to yield not to increase yield because most is grown in the wrong place. Like every other cotton producing coumtry, Australia's cotton crop should be concentrated around areas of reliable rainfall and near storage dams fed by that rainfall pattern and that's not the areas it's currently seen.

Whenarewethere · Guru

It's not an easy choice using alternatives like bamboo or eucalyptus. It is basically the poor countries processing these fibres into a useful product.

The main chemical is carbon disulfide, then all the post cleaning. The heath issues from carbon disulfide is a shocker.

landy · Guru

I haven't tried bamboo shirts but I do wear bamboo socks and find they are great.
Landy

Radar · Guru

I really like merino wool products.

Shirts

T shirts

Socks

And best of all my undies.

All made mostly of Australian merino wool but finished items made overseas.

msg · Guru

Also the cotton gins? right name? when they flush them pollute the water and kill fish. Witnessed this on the Lachlan at Booligal.

bilbo · Senior Member

The cotton industry is just starting out in the Top End (unfortunately). It seems like people from the Murray/Darling system have bought up land here (and some locals) who want to F%#K the Daly river.

A trial was recently completed .....about 1000hectares over 7 diff properties......some irrigated ....some not.

The yields on the irrigated averaged about 8.5 bales/hectare

The yields on non irrigated (or dryland as the industry now call it) was about 4bales/hectare.

So any farmer who has water allocation is going to grow irrigated cotton. Obtaining water licences and clearing land here is (unfortunately) pretty straight forward.

A Gin is now proposed/being built in Katherine

Once that happens you can here "the story" now........"we need to clear and irrigate another ???? thousand hectares to use the capacity of the gin."

So in a few short years we (in the Top End) will be on our way to turning the Daly River into a creek.

Something to look forward to......NOT

cheers Bilbo

oldbloke · Guru

Can't recommend bamboo. Socks I bought were worn out in no time flat.