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Field Day Update
Field Day went off without a hitch! Lucky for us, the weather cooperated and everyone had a great day out. An introductory meeting was held after the guests arrived at the Pee Dee Research Center.
With Dr. Roy Dodd as the Master of Ceremonies, our distinguished guests were introduced as they spoke and addressed the crowd. A grower’s guide was provided to all attendees and naturally allowed to ask questions along the way. An introduction to CRAiLAR and flax was provided along with an explanation of the field display. Guests were then shuttled to the field to see flax in various stages of growth and harvest along with the support equipment. Equipment representatives were available to answer any questions about machine settings & functions.
A big thank you goes out to everyone who came by to learn more about CRAiLAR and flax, share experiences from the past season, and prepare for the upcoming fall planting. Our informative afternoon was capped off with a delicious dinner, catered by Roger’s Bar B Que. Thank you for the great food and generous hospitality!
The Pee Dee Center Grounds.
Guests arrive and check out what’s happening at the CRAiLAR booth.
Patagonia Bares All with The Footprint Chronicles
Patagonia started The Footprint Chronicles in 2007 back when “corporate transparency” was not a buzz word. Not entirely sure where The Chronicles would lead them they began with the notion that if the information they were receiving had them squirming in their seats they were probably on the right track. Taking a close and personal look at their suppliers and manufacturers Patagonia has invested time, money and their employees into creating the most sustainable and eco-conscientious products for their consumers. Something the industry now likes to call corporate responsibility.
They have since added to and expanded their transparency. A global supply map displays the location of Patagonia’s material sourcing. They even have a reference library which holds all information on the textiles they use, the treatments they go through and the processes as well. With everything from paper use to compostability, Patagonia dedicates itself to leaving nature as uninterrupted as possible and rather themselves exposes the deepest roots of their corporation. As stated in The Footprint Chronicles mission statement we couldn’t agree more that when one company can reduce or eliminate a harm, other businesses will be eager to follow suit.
New CRAiLAR Facility: update in pictures
Adams Electrical on site to ensure we don’t zap ourselves!
NAT Supports Special Olympics Oregon
The Governors’ Gold Awards are an annually held event benefiting Special Olympics Oregon, a unique organization serving Special Olympics’ athletes statewide since 1972. The G.G.A. recognizes individuals, companies, organizations and communities that have contributed to the “greatness” of Oregon. NAT was honored to sponsor a table and be in the company of Oregon’s visionary corporate community. Dan Wieden, of Wieden+Kennedy, Ken & Joan Austin, co-founders of A-dec, Inc. and Jean M. Auel, international best-selling author of the Earth’s Children series, were three of the honorees recognized that night. CEO Ken Barker and his wife Diane Barker, CMO Jay Nalbach and Director of Corporate Communications Ryan Leverenz were joined by James Mast, interim director of Drive Oregon, Shayne Kniss, president of Iris Capital Management and Rick Anguilla, principal of Guidance Counsel. The real stars however, were the Special Olympic athletes themselves. Their stories of gained self-confidence and their determination to experience joy, while developing physical fitness, were an inspiration to all in attendance.
Reuters on volatile cotton market; search for alternative fibers
Denise Grunewald places socks on forms for pressing at the Wigwam factory in Sheboygan, Wisconsin
A Reuters story from this week, “Shoppers won’t get break from cotton price dip,” refers to NAT’s relationships with Levi’s and Hanes in the context of brands looking to diversify the types of fiber they use to ease costs against the volatile cotton markets. Robert Shearer, CEO of VF Corp, makes the exact point that we feel differentiates CRAiLAR:
“Consumers, when they pick up a pair of Wrangler jeans or Lee jeans, have certain expectations…experimenting with how jeans feel would ‘harm the brand.’”
CRAiLAR Flax, blended at significant rates, is indistinguishable from 100% cotton to the touch. This was a significant factor in why Hanes signed a 10-year purchasing agreement with us in March, and why brands like Levi’s, Cintas, Carhartt and others have been in joint development agreements with us this year evaluating how they might use CRAiLAR Flax in their product portfolio.
For 2012, Organic Cotton Market Is Forecasted to Grow 20%
Textile Exchange, the global organization dedicated to promoting the use of organic cotton, just released its annual Global Sustainable Textile Market Report. According to the Report, organic cotton represented a $6.2 billion industry last year and stands to grow another 20 percent in 2012, ballooning to $7.4 billion.
Along with that forecast, the Report also published its list of the top 10 corporations using organic cotton. Just a quick glance reveals that the list is filled with industry-leading apparel companies who wield strong taste-making influence, from athletic brands like Nike and adidas to big box retailer Target or mall fashion brand Zara.
At the top of the list is Sweden’s H & M, which used more than 15,000 tons of organic cotton in 2010. According to CSR Product Manager Henrik Lampa, by creating demand for organic cotton, H & M is incentivizing cotton farmers to adopt sustainable cultivation practices.
Of course, there are many experts who think that cotton, as a crop, is too difficult to sustainably grow. Given that opinion, we won’t be surprised when next year’s edition of the Report begins to track the rise of organic cotton alternatives, such as flax and hemp.
Wishing You a Happy New Year!
May the new year bring happiness, love and prosperity to you and yours. Wishing you a Happy New Year!
Wishing You a Merry Christmas
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and wonderful holiday season with family and friends!
Announcing the First Sustainable, Commercially Viable Complement to Cotton
Today, we are pleased to announce that we have created a sustainable, commercially viable complement to cotton using flax as a raw material.
After successfully transforming hemp fibers into yarns and fabrics with the desirable qualities of cotton, we are now engaged in a strategic shift to use flax fibers as the foundation for the next phase of our proprietary CRAiLAR Organic Fiber technology.
“This is an industry first,” said Ken Barker, CEO of Naturally Advanced Technologies. “With cotton prices currently at 90 to 93 cents per pound, flax is a cost-effective raw material for fiber production. The productivity of our process using flax is twice as efficient as it is with hemp, yielding nearly twice as much usable fiber after going through the CRAiLAR process. Our recent spinning trials with CRAiLAR-processed flax have been highly successful, which further validates the feasibility of flax as a practical, economically viable complement to cotton.”
Flax is easy to grow with minimal use of herbicides, pesticides and engineered irrigation and is abundant in the U.S. and Canada, which significantly reduces costs from a supply-chain perspective as compared to other natural fibers. The CRAiLAR process can also be used with the stalk portion of the oilseed flax plant – traditionally cultivated for food and industrial applications – which would normally be discarded during processing. Making use of this byproduct, in addition to processing fiber-variety flax, further enhances CRAiLAR’s sustainability factor.
The all-natural, 100%-organic CRAiLAR process is the first to successfully remove the binding agents from flax that contribute to its stiff texture. The process bathes bast fibers in a proprietary enzyme wash that transforms them into soft, yet strong and durable textile fibers, which can be used in both fashion and industrial applications. Fibers made through the CRAiLAR process have the comfort and breathability of cotton, with the strength, moisture-wicking properties and shrink-resistance of sturdy bast fibers. Our recent trials have proven that flax can be spun on existing machinery to produce a yarn that can be used alone or blended with other fibers.
We are now in the advanced stages of developing partner relationships with industry giants that produce goods with fashion and industrial textiles. Spinning trials are currently underway.
“The opportunity is tremendous” added Barker. “Our ability to economically commercialize flax fibers in partnership with brands who have such broad consumer bases means, for the first time, sustainability can be affordable to everyone.”
A 360-degree view of eco-fashion
There’s been a lot of attention this week on issues related to eco-fashion, from the well-reviewed Going Green exhibit at FIT to a new report from Organic Exchange stating that sales of organic cotton apparel and home textiles increased 35% in 2009, despite the struggling economy.
Demand for sustainable and environmentally friendly apparel is most certainly on the rise, and high-end designers and global manufacturers such as Nike, Williams-Sonoma and Walmart are stepping up to the challenge. Consumers are making purchasing decisions that help them feel better about their individual impact on the environment, but it doesn’t end when they click “buy.” The process of transforming even organic cotton into fabric takes a toll – irrigation during the growing season leads to excessive water consumption and the manufacturing system isn’t always energy efficient.
Levi Strauss & Co. is raising awareness about the climate impact of jeans – it turns out that a majority of the damage is done not in manufacturing, but after the purchase is made. They’re sponsoring a Care to Air Design Challenge to address “the energy intensive method we choose for drying” clothing, with a goal of finding an innovative and sustainable way to air-dry clothes that’s more stylish and effective than the good old-fashioned clotheslines.
As consumers are developing a greater conscience about their clothing and textile purchases, we think they should also be thinking about those decisions from more angles – knowing the history and caring about the future of those beloved organic cotton skinny jeans may help you feel even better than you look.
