Garden

Research Gardens :- 


ECO DESIGN ISSUE 


Natural Dyes :- What are natural dyes?

Most natural dyes come from dye plants, the best-known ones including madder, Brazil wood, logwood, weld, and indigo. Some natural dyes, such as cochineal, come from insects, or from mineral sources.

Madder, weld and other dye plants have been used for thousands of years. Until the late 1800s when synthetic dyes came into common use, textile colors came from the use of natural dyes. Natural dyeing can, however, easily become the future. Natural dyes are a renewable resource and not dependent on petroleum as are many synthetic dyes. 

Natural Dyes vs. synthetic dyes

About Natural Dyes: 


Natural dyes produce an extraordinary diversity of rich and complex colours that complement each other.

Natural dyes from plants may also have dozens of compounds and their proportions vary with soil type and the weather. If you look at a yarn dyed with madder under the microscope, you will see a subtle variation of colour. A yarn dyed with the synthetic equivalent of madder (alizarin and purpurin) does not have this wealth of colour variation and looks much more uniform.

Advantages of natural dyes

• High diversity of rich and complex natural dye colours
• Different colours go well together and rarely clash
• Beauty of the results when using natural dyes
• Excitement of unexpected results
• Satisfaction of growing your own dye plants
• Self-sufficiency if growing your own plants for plant dyes

Fibre choice for natural dyeing

Wool is generally the best fiber to color with natural dyes. It will attach to a wider variety of dye chemicals than cellulose fibers such as cotton, and, since it is usually washed in cool water, or only dry-cleaned, the relative impermanence of most natural dyes is less of an issue.
Cotton is less suitable for many natural dyes. As a rule, science fair projects involving natural dyes should be done using wool yarn or fabric, not cotton (though comparing the same dye on the two different types of fiber would make a nice project). There are some natural dyes that will work on cotton, however, especially if mordanted with tannins. Among the better natural dyes for cotton are annato, cutch, logwood, madder, and indigo; all of these except for indigo require mordants, while indigo requires a special type of dye vat.

http://www.wildcolours.co.uk/html/natural_dyes_comparison.html

Organic Yarns :-

Organic yarn means that the fiber the yarn is made from was produced without the use of man-made chemicals such as herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizer.

When the fibre comes from an animal, the animal must be fed organic feed and raised under organic standards.

Organic yarns are often left in their natural state rather than being dyed, but there are also companies that dye their organic yarn. Non-toxic, organic dyes are much more expensive than conventional dyes, so organically dyed yarns can cost a premium.

Why use organic yarn? Producing cotton in particular is very pesticide intensive, and choosing methods that are kinder to the earth is a great way to be a more responsible crafter. There is also something called as Organic cotton yarn which is known to be very popular in knitting these days, As people are looking for more natural products to use on there bodies, Organic Cotton yarns fill a big niche in the knitting world. 

Organic yarns can be dyed, what is really good about them is that they are left natural, brown, Gray and green are most commonly available. 

These natural dyes are produced from sheep which are kept in organic land and are not treated with artificial fertilisers.

·       Biodegradable Plastics

Biodegradable plastics are plastics that will decompose in natural aerobic (composting) and anaerobic (landfill) environments. Biodegradation of plastics can be achieved by enabling microorganisms in the environment to metabolise the molecular structure of plastic films to produce an inert humus-like material that is less harmful to the environment. They may be composed of either bio plastics, which are plastics whose components are derived from renewable raw materials

Biodegradable plastics typically are produced in two forms: injection molded (solid, 3D shapes), typically in the form of disposable food service items, and films, typically organic fruit packaging and collection bags for leaves and grass trimmings, and agricultural mulch.

Biodegradable and affordable

If cost is a major barrier to the uptake of biodegradable plastics, then the solution lies in investigating low-cost options to produce them. In Australia, the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for International Food Manufacture and Packaging Science is looking at ways of using basic starch, which is cheap to produce, in a variety of blends with other more expensive biodegradable polymers to produce a variety of flexible and rigid plastics. These are being made into ‘film’ and ‘injection moulded’ products such as plastic wrapping, shopping bags, bread bags, mulch films and plant pots.

http://www.science.org.au/nova/061/061key.htm

utensils made from Biodegradable plastic