There’s a long-standing rivalry between surfers and climbers as to who is the greenest. For my money, surfers have the edge. They’ve influenced environmentalism at large, making their issues – sewage and plastic – ours.
The influence of climbers is restricted to our wardrobes. As mountaineers swapped heavy smocks and knitted leggings for high performance durable water repellent (DWR) apparel, innovation has trickled down. When you reach for a waterproof during a downpour, you are covered in the same per- and poly-fluorinated chemicals as the elites.
Unfortunately these chemicals represent a horror show to the natural world. Once created they are virtually impossible to get rid of. Greenpeace, which has long slammed outdoor apparel brands for using these chemicals, has found them in the air around outdoor clothing shops. They have a long biological half life and have a toxic effect on the liver and the immune system.
Scientists have called for these chemicals to be restricted to essential purposes (such as fire-fighting foam). But most outdoor apparel brands still use them. However new research from the University of Leeds, published in the journal Chemosphere, has found that when it comes to keeping the rain out non-fluorinated chemicals work just as well and concluded that the majority of our wet- weather kit is completely over engineered for our everyday needs.
No need to tell mountaineer David Bacci that. Last year he summited Patagonia’s most famous peaks wearing a Paramo jacket made entirely without fluorinated chemicals. An achievement that also gives climbers the upper hand over surfers, for once.
The big picture: the changing shape of our gardens
How will gardeners square up to climate change? Andreas Christodoulou and Jonathan Davies plan to create a forest floor using an ancient process called hügelkultur (hill culture) where rotting wood and garden waste are mounded and covered with topsoil, mimicking the natural forest floor. See it as part of a new category, Gardens for a Changing World at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, 4-9 July (rhs.org.uk).
Well dressed: graduate fashion turns green
Graduate Fashion Week has taken quite a while to embrace the idea of sustainability in a meaningful way. But by this year – its 26th – sustainability had definitely arrived.
Designer Halina North, a graduating student at Edinburgh College of Art and winner of two major Graduate Fashion Week awards – including the top prize, Christopher Bailey Gold Award – stands out as a designer with eco credentials.
Her graduate collection is awash with sustainable innovation – including washable paper as an alternative to leather. ‘It’s really exciting to explore what these fabrics can achieve,’ says North. ‘This sort of experimentation with sustainable fabrics and creativity is creating a surge of interest and optimism within the fashion industry.’ I think we would all benefit from a bit of that.
Email Lucy at lucy.siegle@observer.co.uk or follow her on Twitter @lucysiegle
