Is Velvet Eco-Friendly?

If you love the feeling and appearance of beautiful velvet, you might wonder if it’s really eco-friendly. The question is tricky! Here’s what you need to know about velvet and if you should purchase velvet clothing or décor items in future.

How Velvet Is Made

Velvet is not a fabric on its own – it’s traditionally made from silk. This makes the question of velvet’s sustainability complicated because silk has pros and cons. It might provide incomes for marginalized workers who grow the silkworms from which silk is gained, but it involves animal cruelty. Traditionally, the use of silk involves the taking of threads of silk from the cocoon of silkworms during their pupa stage. This reduces the silkworm’s lifespan. Silkworm cocoons are then put into boiling water that kills the pupa so that the silk threads remain intact and undamaged.

How To Make Velvet More Eco-Friendly

To make velvet more sustainable, you should follow some important green tips when buying velvet items.

• Choose a good source. Make sure the velvet items you’re interested in purchasing have been ethically sourced. Silk can be ethically sourced. This silk is known as “peace silk” because it involves a much more humane treatment of silkworms. Fibres are taken after the silkworm has emerged from its cocoon, instead of killing it.
• Skip polyester. Sometimes velvet is made from other sources, such as polyester. This isn’t sustainable. Polyester isn’t biodegradable, so it’s very cruel to the environment. It takes between 20 and 200 years to decompose once it’s put into a landmine! However, things look up if the polyester has been made in a greener way. An example is if the polyester is made from recycled plastic. So, avoid synthetic materials that haven’t made use of recycling or eco-friendly materials.

Velvet is a beautiful, trendy, and luxurious material. But it can be unhealthy for the planet. By buying it more responsibly and ensuring it’s ethically sourced, you can enjoy velvet without the guilt.

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