Retailer announces green fabric for sun protection
02/06/2010
San Diego-based online clothing retailer SunGrubbies.com has announced that it is making “greener sun-protective articles of clothing” available to its customers. The company said it wanted to provide the sun protectino clothing with the smallest carbon footprint.
It said that the key to this was to use fabrics using textile fibres milled with minimal chemicals in the processing and of minimal pollution to the environment.
One example is the Ayana women’s 100% cotton tees made from California and Arizona grown cotton. The tees are sewn in Los Angeles where they are treated with zinc oxide applied while they are dyed with “environmentally responsible” dyes.
It lists Cocona as another state-of-the-art green fabric. The sun protection factor of the Cocona Sun Tee for women and Solar Polo for men comes from finely ground carbonised coconut shells. The shells used in the fabric are particles that are too finely ground to be used in water filters. The recycled coconut shells are spun into polyester yarn during the milling of the fabric. These tiny particles also have the added benefit of wicking perspiration and filtering pollution without adding additional chemicals.
SunGrubbies.com says it has tested all fabrics for their ability to block the sun’s ultraviolet radiation by an independent laboratory. The UPF rating in all of its garments will last for their lifetime which will further reduce the carbon footprint of each one and save money, it said.
“We all play an important role in protecting ourselves and our environment from pollution and chemicals harmful to our bodies,” said the company’s owner, Marta Phillips. “Making decisions to sell environmentally friendly products, which are also sun safe, is one way our small company can help in reversing harmful pollution that is affecting us all.”
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