At Gecco Interiors, we have always carried a range of beautiful, soft and vibrant hemp fabrics that worked equally well for curtains as domestic upholstery – Hardy Organic Hemp. Recently we launched our 2^nd hemp fabric range, this time a textured, hard wearing yet gorgeous upholstery fabric mixed with wool – Hemp Plus. We thought it was time to examine the wonderful properties of this amazing plant for it is slowly becoming known as an environmental hero.

History

The first recorded piece of canvas is made of hemp fibres from 8000BC and it survives to this day! The Chinese created paper using hemp over 2000 years ago. During the great days of discovery almost all ships set sail using hemp ropes and sails. Pioneers crossed the newly found American frontier beneath wagons covered in hemp canvas sheets. Hemp seed was a mainstay in bread making in this country before wheat came along. It seems that hemp has always been a supercrop and yet it has been left behind with the advent of the industrial revolution and the introduction of foreign crops and fossil fuels, but all that may be changing.

Global Warming

As scientists and researchers look into new products to help tackle climate change, hemp, one of our oldest recorded crops, is taking centre stage. Here are a few key facts about this amazing crop

Pesticides & Pollution – Hemp can grow anywhere and needs much less pesticide control than other crops especially when compared with cotton which uses 25% of the world’s pesticides every year! Even more incredible is that hemp actually draws up toxins from the earth, almost cleaning it through a process called phytomerediation (1^st-ecofriendlyplanet.com)

Erosion – due to the long roots of the hemp plant, soil suffers less erosion when a hemp crop is grown

Carbon Emissions – according to a recent report for LBJ, an acre of hemp has been recorded to remove up to 10times the amount of C02 from the atmosphere as an acre of trees.

High Yield – the same acre of hemp can produce fibres to make four times the amount of paper that the acre of trees can produce. One hectare of hemp can produce 1 tonne of fibre which in turn can create 5,400metres of hemp fabric.

Fast Growing – Hemp is one of the fastest growing crops on Earth reaching 3 metres in just 120 days, making it much more sustainable to farm than trees which can take up to 25years to reach the same height.

Low Irrigation – Hemp does not need anywhere near the amount of water demanded by thirstier crops such as cotton

Clean production – both paper and cotton industries are a huge source of pollution not least of all due to the fact that their fibres must be bleached, traditionally with chlorine. Hemp fibres do not need bleaching which makes for a much cleaner manufacturing process.

Biofuel potential – the hemp seed itself is high is oil content that is easily converted into hemp plastics and bio fuel similar to ethanol, thereby reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. It also releases much less carbon dioxide when burned and almost no sulfur dioxide compared with burning fossil fuel.

It seems that there is no end to the environmental advantages of this supercrop and the industries now using hemp in their own manufacturing grows daily, here are just a few:

Fuel

Plastics

Cosmetics

Construction

Paints

Medicines

Health and Well-being

Paper

And of course……Fabric!

Hardy Organic Hemp is suitable for curtains, blinds and domestic upholstery, comes in 13 vibrant shades and costs £79.00/m

Hemp Plus is suitable for all kinds of upholstery and curtains, comes in 31 gorgeous colours and costs £32.00/m

The applications are endless but the choice is yours!

Gecco Interiors Limited is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Gecco Interiors are thrilled to launch the latest in Camira’s sustainable uphosltery fabric range – Craggan. A rugged 97% wool fabric reminiscent of Scottish moorlands with a splash of bright accent colour that relects the brightly coloured flora found in the barren landscape. The addition of 3% viscose brings an inherent fire retardancy that prevents overuse of nasty chemicals. The fabric is 140cm wide and comes in 8 different shades costing just £33.50/m.

Gecco Interiors Limited is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

By Elaine Dutton, Director Pure Design

2009 New Designers in Islington opened its doors to the public this Thursday, and for the fourth year running I was there to see what promising new graduate talents are in store for the UK design industry, and of course my radar was set to sustainable!

What is special about this trade show?
With over 3,500 of the best new design graduates represented for the two weeks the show runs, New Designers is definitely one of the highlights of my design calendar. Not only is the quality of the work on show fantastic, the buzz about the place is great, and the designers are overwhelmingly positive and all eager to talk about their work.  Week one exhibitors include contemporary applied arts, ceramics and glass, jewellery and precious metalwork graduates, and the ‘One Year On’ exhibit tracks award winners from the year before. Week two includes product & furniture design, visual communications and spatial design, and as above ‘One Year On’ of award winners from 2008 in these disciplines.

How to spot the green goods?
The irony when searching for new eco design products and talents for Pure Design online boutique, gallery and gift shop,
is that Pure Design is a design-led sustainable company – so we don’t
go looking for accessories that look green we go looking for design
pieces that have the ‘ah’ factor and then we ask the designer the deal
breaker “are your products eco or ethical?” So it is actually quite
hard to ‘spot’ eco products in a way.  In my view the best eco design
does not scream out “I’m green and good, pick me, pick me” – it is
quietly and confidently stylish and doesn’t need to flaunt its virtues
to be noticed.

Over the past few years of visiting design
fairs and exhibitions and interviewing designers, I have learnt which
disciplines of craft and design tend to score high and low on the eco
scale. There is often little eco joy to be found in acrylic – although
I have met several designers trying to reduce, reuse or replace the use
of plastic, for example opting to use plant based bio-resin
alternatives. Ceramics and glass are usually not particularly eco, and
sadly many of the textile designers I speak to do not use natural or
non-toxic dyes. However, I have been pleasantly surprised when I have
been proven wrong and a designer has pointed out that they have found a
way to turn a material on its head. 

This year, with limited
time and a few hundred stalls to get round I decided to try the top to
bottom approach, so duly started on the top floor and set off into the
world of ceramics….

Now I have to admit I do usually move quite swiftly through this section as to date, with the exception of Sarah Jerath of Sustain Ceramics who
incorporates recycled car window glass and reclaimed china in her work,
I haven’t encountered much in the way of eco ceramics. However, I am
ever hopeful and would be delighted to be proven wrong, so answers on a
postcard please if you have any tips on eco ceramics! 

Tomorrow’s ‘Newspaper’ Jewellery
Having
exhausted the ceramics section quite quickly I moved into the
contemporary applied arts section and immediately spotted some
jewellery that intrigued me. Sidling up to the cabinet for a closer
look and to read the designers statement, I saw the magic words ‘eco
range’ – bingo! I am pleased to say Julie Linn the designer was also
nearby and having spotted my obvious interest she very kindly chatted
through her range, ideas and ambition of creating a fully recyclable
range of recycled paper jewellery. Julie’s range recognises the
transient nature of fashion and offers an affordable and sustainable
product that can reinvent and recycle itself with every new season. In
my opinion a great alternative to the endless new ranges of bright
plastic or cheap metal jewellery the high street retailers seem to be
awash with at the moment. 

Intrigue & Attics
I
had also received an inside tip from an ex-colleague that there were
some intriguing flying light bulbs at the Falmouth college stall which
I couldn’t resist seeking out and am very glad I did. Curious,
intriguing, humorous and a little Tim Burtonesque are just some of the
adjectives I would pick. Luckily before I had a chance to meddle and
break the delicate workings of these automata pieces, Richard Hackney
the designer came over and explained that all of the parts were
salvaged treasures from his grandfather’s loft. As a self-confessed
attic/second hand /antique shop addict, I found these little reclaimed
sculptures instantly likeable and how great that they were the result
of a dusty rummage through family treasures.

I then descended
onto the main floor of the centre – awash with textile swatches,
banners of printed paper draped floor to ceiling, upholstered gilded
armchairs in bespoke textiles and eye-catching screen printed dresses
and fashion designs.

Amongst the sea of textiles, the next
promising designer I met was Jenny Clarke a graduate from Nottingham
Trent University. Jenny carries out intricate hand embroidery on
reclaimed textiles and second hand clothes and unlike one of her chosen
subject matters ‘Marmite’ I didn’t think it was a love or hate affair.
I really liked Jenny’s work – the concept was simple but the
application of her craftsmanship and creativity inspiring, and I am
sure her work would appeal to a wide range of audiences. And amongst
all the super modern technologies, trends and textiles, Jenny’s work
showed that even the very traditional applied crafts such as embroidery
have a place and a market in our style obsessed but eco 21st century
world.

Elaine Dutton is the founder and Director of Pure
Design, contemporary ethical design online, and an award-winning social
entrepreneur.

Pure Design sell beautifully designed and made
environmentally friendly gifts, eco fashion and contemporary jewellery,
and decorative arts and accessories for you and your home. And because
Pure Design only sell products that are ethically and ecologically sourced you can feel good about shopping with them too.

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Fighting over the Leftovers: Resource Depletion and the Potential for Conflict

Saturday 6 October 2007

University of London Union, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HY

Natural resources - from those vital for life, such as water, to those vital formodern society, such as oil - are under increasing pressure. Factors such asover-consumption, climate change, war, and population growth are all importantcontributors to the falling resource base. And as resources become squeezed,the potential for conflict over what's left is growing. This conference willexamine the scale of these threats and what action is needed to tackle them.

Main Speakers

Climate Change and ConflictDan Smith OBE, International Alert

Energy, Peak Oil and ConflictDr Mandy Meikle, Depletion Scotland

Parallel Sessions

Water and Conflict - Past, Present and FutureDr Stuart Parkinson, Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR)

Using Less in our HomesDr Alan Cottey, SGR

Volunteering for SGRDr Philip Webber, SGR

Cost: (incl. lunch/refreshments): £12 (unwaged), £24 (low-waged), £48(full-waged), with a 25% discount for early registration.

JOIN SGR NOW and get a further 25% discount, plus help with travelcosts if required.

For further details and to register, see:http://www.sgr.org.uk/conferences.html

*********************************************************************Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) is an independent UK-basedorganisation of scientists, architects, engineers, and technologistspromoting ethical science, design and technology.

Scientists for Global ResponsibilityIngles ManorCastle Hill AvenueFolkestoneCT20 2RD

Tel: 01303 851965Mobile: 07771 883696E-mail: info@sgr.org.ukWeb: http://www.sgr.org.uk

Help support SGR's work - become a member or an associate member. Fordetails, see http://www.sgr.org.uk/joinsgr.html