Plastic free camping

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Europe's native hemp, nettle and linen are much kinder on the environment to grow. They are all long staple fibres though and they lost out in the industrialisation because machinery was easier to make that worked with slave produced short fibre cotton bolls.

We're still paying for that, environmentally, etc.,

Honestly, linen's much superior to cotton, and good hemp is brilliant. Nettle is truly a lovely strong fabric, and all are native, all wick away moisture, while cotton is thirsty and attracts it. Makes a good towel, iimmc?
 
Some 15 years ago an archaeology student in her graduate work studied various fabrics in the National Museum of Finland. She develped a way to tell linen and hemp apart under microscope. About half of the fabrics previously thought to be linen turned out to be hemp.

Hemp fabric is available at least from Romania and nettle from Germany. I have no idea about the quality or practical properties but as far as I know they both could replace cotton in many applications. I understood that John Fenna had some experience on both, it would be interesting to hear his opinion on both.
 
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While plastics (man made polymers) are not harmless neither is something like cotton if we look at destruction of nature it causes. Getting rid of all "man made" materials is possible but it means "back to BC", stone age. I don't really see that as a worth while goal. I can understand if people test things and do experimental archaeology but total reversal to using only what one gather? I really see any point other than curiosity and research.

People often mention microplastics, that is a cause for concern but with very few habits one can drop the amount greatly, changing from fleece to pile fabrics (continuous fiber), not throwing anything to the sea.
It's about trying to be more sustainable, not obliterating everything man-made from life, and going back to the stone age.
People keep mentioning the environmental and human cost of cotton, that's not just what this is about, its about trying to limit as much plastic and other toxins like the ones in goretex as much as possible. What can we use instead ? sort of thing. Nothing is perfect, but we can only do our best, and if we can make viable changes in our choices and thinking in future purchases, then it's all worthwhile.
Do you wear cotton t shirts, socks, underwear? Most of us do, so why knock it unless you are willing to change yourself and make alternative choices.
This past year, I have only been buying linnen shirts and dresses, wool sweaters etc from charity shops, instead of the ubiquitous nylon fabrics. It's curbed my spending and makes me feel I'm at least starting to put my money where my mouth is. I still have cotton t shirts. It will be a journey , and won't happen instantly. We can only experiment and do our best to be more sustainable.
I still find that I often find I've bought something plastic, even if I don't intend too, because I have no choice, today I needed vasaline, but could only buy it in a plastic jar..no choice. It used to be in glass jars nor so long ago. I guess it's a bit of a kick back against this forced plastic consumption for me.
 
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It's about trying to be more sustainable
I caught that and I agree it is a worth while goal. But it does not necessarily mean "kick out plastics".

Do you wear cotton t shirts, socks, underwear? Most of us do, so why knock it unless you are willing to change yourself and make alternative choices.
A good point but what really limits one's choice is the availability of things and price as usual. Yes I do have cotton T-shirts but about 3 times as many synthetic ones, which actually last a lot longer even under heavy use. They are all continuous fiber products shed very little microplastics. Hmm. I don't think I have any cotton underwear, they either regenerated cellulose or synthetic. I have some cotton blend socks that I use in summer but all my winter socks are wool or synthetic or blend.

Considering the amount of materials we have available it is a non-trivial job to really know the sustainability of each. I was a professional materials engineer for some decades and actually have done some studies on it. In some cases it is a coin toss because it depends on immeasurable quantity or choice of value decision.
 
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Most of my clothing except underwear (and then I make sure I get the good stuff; life is too short for ill fitting bras...) is second hand. And I tend to use it until it is ragged.

And then it is torn into squares and taken to the garage for their delectation.

So it is thrown; eventually but it has had a lot, and varied, use first.
 
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Recently I have been attempting to get a plastic free camp kit. Not as easy as you might think !
So far, my cooking, and tools have been easy. Among my collection I have a canvas rucksack.
I use a tin for my fire kit, and a home made leather tinder pouch.
Ive been making some of my clothes from natural wool or cotton.
Carrying food wrapped in home made waxed cotton or grease proof paper and tied with cotton string. Water bottle is stainless steel, and a milbank bag for filtering water....so far so good.
But, then sleeping and shelter has been much more difficult. I have wool blankets, but they are bulky and heavy, a down bag has a synthetic cover, and unless I want to spend a fortune, with bushcraft spain for a lovely plastic free tarp,(and employ a donkey to cart it, )I'm pretty stumped.
Also I need an air bed, unless I hammock(which is not plastic free either)
So, I'm wondering, is anyone else trying to use more natural materials in their bushcraft,? what is stumping your efforts?
What are your solutions?
I'm still working on things, and am trying to go as light as possible but use as much natural material, and avoid as much plastic as I can. By no means perfect, but I'm getting there very slowly, and trying to make conscious sustainable choices .
You can actually use a cotton sheet as a tarp, soak it in a mix of bees wax (or candle wax) turpentine and linseed oil. Basically warm the turpentine, dissolve in the wax and oil, put the sheet in. DO NOT DO THIS OVER NAKED FLAMES! Allow about 20 mins for the cotton fibres to absorb the wax and oil. You now have the same kind of material as waxed cotton. Will be a bit gloopy and very smelly for a while, hang up outside for turpenetine to vent. Cheap Christmas Beeswax candles work well.

There are 2 ways of thinking about this if you are using surplus kit with each owner the foot print goes down. So if you cannot get all eco friendly due to cost, you can at least reduce your impact. S
 
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any plastic based clothing....ployester, ploycotton etc, that goes in a washing machine creates plastic...Lots of people say cotton kills, only have manmade fabrics for outdoor pursuits etc, but y wife wont have most plastic clothing in the house, not bought anyway. even merino wool can have a short shelflife, my cotton longjohns have lasted many years....

Hemp clothing.Visit glastonbury, loads of hemp shops selling hemp clothing...
 
ployester, ploycotton etc, that goes in a washing machine creates plastic
This has been tested and measured. "Plastic" garment that is made from stapled fiber yarn sheds small particles. Continuous fiber fabrics barely measurable. It is the huge amount of fiber ends that are the problem.

Modern (mostly) polyester fleeces are bad in that respect, continuous yarn pile jackets are 2 decades better (this from memory).

There are bacteria that break down polyester and polyamide. They are not forever.

PTFE in the form of Goretex is not a real baddie but related fluorinated chemicals used as DWR -durable water repellent- are, they are smaller molecules that are actually not very durable on the fabric, some of them cause problems. Many manufacturers are replacing them with various waxes that at the present do not work very well with synthetics but reasonable well on natural fibers.
 
The most eco friendly fabrics that you have are in your wardrobe whatever they are made of.
The most eco friendly fabrics that you shall have are in the charity shop or other second hand source.

No matter what they are made of, all the polymers and carbon/energy involved are already committed. They are here, already in the system.

If you care, stop buying new stuff.
 
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No matter what they are made of, all the polymers and carbon/energy involved are already committed.
That is only one part in the function. Before and after really matter, equally for how long. It does get complicated.

There are many sources that have come to the conclusion that hemp is really good in several respects as natural plant fibers go.
 
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However - as of right now and going forward:

The polycotton in your wardrobe or the charity shop is already committed to the environment. We can delay its entry into the wider ecosystem but we cannot stop it. We cannot easily or economically de-polymerise it now that we own it.

No matter how eco-consciously we grow and utilise hemp (or anything else), it will take more carbon/energy to produce and manufacture than anything that is already here and in use.

Example:
My Snugpak sleeping bag is made of plastic. I’ve owned it from way before anyone was concerned about plastics and microplastics. By looking after it and using it I am doing less environmental damage than I would do by going out and replacing it no matter what that replacement was made of.

Were I considering replacing a no longer useable sleeping bag that would be a different matter.

Of course were I to reuse the materials from the plastic Snugpak and incorporate them into my new system that would be even better.
 
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No matter how eco-consciously we grow and utilise hemp (or anything else), it will take more carbon/energy to produce and manufacture than anything that is already here and in use.
It actually ties up carbon, which according to some is a good thing. Hemp does grow in almost all countries of Europe without any extra work or energy input. Yes collecting and processing it takes some but if done in a small scale operation not really much.

On the third hand I agree that existing equipment should be used if not toxic in some way.
 
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