Chalk talk:

What do you know about Textiles? What do you want

to know more about?

P.2
What do you know about microplastics?
The history of textiles in Canada
- Canada currently produces 3 million pounds of wool a
year

- Used to be thousands of textile mills spread around the

nation (lots small - mini mills) - where waterways met you
could often find a mill
- Mills primarily processed wool and flax
- Flax grows beautifully in Canada, there used to be a
hundred flax mills in Ontario - now it does not appear
there is any commercial mills, certainly small scale
hobbyist but; that's it
FNESC Slide
https://www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/PUBLICATION-SCIENCE-FI
RST-PEOPLES-Secondary-TRG-2019.pdf
What happened?
- After american revolution (late 18th century) - they
started bombaring with cheap cottons

- Cheaper to get cotton than it was to use flax to create

linens → pushed mills out
- For a while flax farmers were sending their flax to
europe to process it & ship back as linens - but it was
very costly
- This was kind of the demise of the flax mills - invention
of the cotton gin - process cotton very quickly, very
inexpensively
What about the 1000’s of mills across the Nation?
- Synthetics were largely attributed to their
downfall

- Textiles became too cheap, too easy, they

were color fast
- Mills fell out of service, everything was
coming in from europe or China - we’ll talk more
about these implications soon

- Wool now makes up 2% of the of textile and

fashion garments in the world
- Canadian Co-op Wool Growers - ship wool
to countries - $0.15/pound - China no longer
buying - big problem!
What are these Microplastics?
- Tiny particles of plastic less than 5mm in size

- Still emerging field of study; impacts not widely known.

However, it's not looking great!
- 5 kg wash load of polyester fabrics can release 6 million
microplastics fibres

Primary Microplastics:

● Commercial uses such as cosmetics, microfiber shed from

clothing and other textiles (i.e fishing nets)

Secondary Microplastics:

● Result from the breakdown of larger plastic items such as

water bottles
● Caused by environmental factors such as radiation from
sunlight
 Why should we care about microplastics?
Because they live in us!

- Found in human blood, breast milk and placentas

- Move from the environment → living organisms and
mammals
- Even found in pristine, deepest parts of our ocean
such as the mariana trench
- Plastic waste = 80% marine pollution
- 8-10 million tons of plastic added to ocean yearly
(19 tons a minutes)
- Takes 500-1000 years to degrade (to microplastics)
- By 2050, M_plastic > M_all fish in the sea
- We’ll soon talk more about much greater impacts of
synthetics
What are some things we can do to reduce microplastics?
My first whale sighting 😱🧐
If we have apple tv…
My volunteer experience in P.E.I
Go to the url below - summarize key 3-4 points in
groups - write on boards or create a slide
https://iwto.org/sustainability/
(1) Life cycle Assessment
(2) Carbon Cycle
(3) Biodegradability
(4) Recycled Wool
(5) Microplastics
(6) Circular Economy
(7) Wool Care
Wave Weir - Wave Fibre Mill
- Have been operating for just over 1.5 years
now
- Most of what she wears is made by her own
two hands
- Zero waste from her facility - waste fabric
mixed with manure to make fertilizer
- All natural dyes - i.e goldenrod from her
garden
- Challenges? Money, knowhow - finding the
equipment!
- Bought entire mill site unseen 👀
Chalk Talk
What did you think about what Wave had to say? Did it make you want to pursue
this industry more or less? Why so?

Something I learned today? / or something that surprised me?

Chalk Talk
What do I know about textile factories / tanneries? What am I curious to know
more about?
Circular Donut economy
Chalk talk
(1) How do you feel about the water consumed
to create a pair of jeans? (7000 liters)
(2) How do you feel about this idea of a donut
economy? (of not using gdp as a measure
of success and ensuring no one is left in the
middle)
(3) Do you see now as a time of opportunity?
Explain your thoughts
(4) Provide some ideas on how we can
introduce a circular donut economy in our
community? In our nation?
Costa Rica Donut Model
Maybe another research task for that last slide
River Blue https://vimeo.com/614153025
Implications from blue river … (chemical)
Go over these
Then group/chalk talk
Then have them fill out question sheets
What can we do to help?
If you do clean water - project after…
Project examples

- bear river

Almond farms - aquifers -

Flax farms - pellets, erosion matts, insulation, using the bast fiber for textiles

Donut economy -

Circular ecnonmoy -

Developing a wool processing canada…

Explain the problem - whatever system of impacts it has on communities/environment - collaborate on a potential
solution/or steps you recommend we take… - get them to work on something that excites them
Questions for wave
How much do they process?

What are some of the biggest concerns or priorities for the wool industry in canada now?

A rundown on the history of fibre mills in ontario and canada? What led the industry you mentioned in north ontario to
dwindle off, Cheap synthetic fibers out east? Was there a big industry across canada (where were they really busy?)
Why do people believe it is so hard to start up a processing plant like yours (what do they think the major barriers are -
whats preventing the industry from booming with all this excess wool)? Too much difficulties in processing wool?
Costly to run, demand wasn't there.. To get them back in order.. Few historic still in order.. But they're very very hard to
come by … first ontario grown blue jeans
Read that canada had a more desirable wool? Is that true?