Bananatex
Bananatex is a natural cellulosic biodegradable "technical" canvas fabric made of Abacá banana plant fibres (also known as Manila hemp). The plants are grown in the Philippines as part of a sustainable forestry project in Catanduanes. Bananatex was developed and is distributed by the Swiss canvas goods company QWSTION and is used in the company's own products as well as in other companies' manufactured goods. Bananatex was developed to have better wear characteristics than cotton while being more sustainable. Although not as durable as synthetics like Cordura, it avoids cordura's limitations of being a plastic and being non-biodegradable. Bananatex is sold in a range of colours and is available with or without a natural beeswax waterproof coating. Development Bananatex was developed over three years by Zurich, Switzerland-based fashion company QWSTION, which was founded in 2008 to research renewable materials to replace synthetic textiles. The company was created to address ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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QWSTION
QWSTION is a Swiss bag company that was founded in 2008 by Sebastian Kruit, industrial designers Christian Kaegi and Fabrice Aeberhard, graphic designer Matthias Graf and Johannes Schoenegger. QWSTION creates bags and other products made from natural materials and have developed Bananatex, a technical textile made from the fibres of the Abacá banana plant. History The company was created to design bags that are ‘sustainable, aesthetically pleasing and functional’ – attributes that, according to the founders, were not offered by existing products. The name QWSTION is a portmanteau of the phrase "questioning the norm". The first collections introduced in 2008 were made from linen/cotton canvas. In 2014, the company produced their first in-house material development: a Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified organic cotton canvas. In October 2018 QWSTION launched Bananatex, a technical textile they had developed from the fibres of the Abacá banana plant. The plan ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Abacá
Abacá ( ; fil, Abaka ), binomial name ''Musa textilis'', is a species of banana native to the Philippines, grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. The plant, also known as Manila hemp, has great economic importance, being harvested for its fiber, also called Manila hemp, extracted from the leaf-stems. Abacá is also the traditional source of lustrous fiber hand-loomed into various indigenous textiles in the Philippines like ''t'nalak'', as well as colonial-era sheer luxury fabrics known as '' nipís''. They are also the source of fibers for '' sinamáy'', a loosely woven stiff material used for textiles as well as in traditional Philippine millinery. The plant grows to , and averages about . The fiber was originally used for making twines and ropes; now most is pulped and used in a variety of specialized paper products including tea bags, filter paper and banknotes. It is classified as a hard fiber, along with coir, henequin and sisal. Descri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Catanduanes
Catanduanes (; ), officially the Province of Catanduanes, is an island province located in the Bicol Region of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the 12th-largest island in the Philippines, and lies to the east of Camarines Sur, across Maqueda Channel. Its capital is Virac. It had a population of 271,879 people as of the 2020 census. The province comprises Catanduanes Island (also called ''Virac Island''), Panay Island, Lete Island, the Palumbanes group of islands (Porongpong, Tignob and Calabagio), and a few other small, surrounding islets and rocks. The province is also home to various mollusk fossil sites, notably the second-oldest ammonite site in the Philippines. These sites have certain species of ammonites that are found nowhere else in Southeast Asia. Because of the province's importance and rich geologic history, various scholars have suggested that, if the province would take the initiative to put its name forward in nomination, it would stand a good chance of being dec ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spinning (textiles)
Spinning is a twisting technique to form yarn from fibers. The fiber intended is drawn out, twisted, and wound onto a bobbin. A few popular fibers that are spun into yarn other than cotton, which is the most popular, are viscose (the most common form of rayon), and synthetic polyester. Originally done by hand using a spindle whorl, starting in the 500s AD the spinning wheel became the predominant spinning tool across Asia and Europe. The spinning jenny and spinning mule, invented in the late 1700s, made mechanical spinning far more efficient than spinning by hand, and especially made cotton manufacturing one of the most important industries of the Industrial Revolution. Process The yarn issuing from the drafting rollers passes through a thread-guide, round a Ring spinning#How it works, traveller that is free to rotate around a ring, and then onto a tube or bobbin, which is carried on to a Spindle (textiles), spindle, the axis of which passes through a center of the ring. The spin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Materials
Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geological origin or biological function. Materials science is the study of materials, their properties and their applications. Raw materials can be processed in different ways to influence their properties, by purification, shaping or the introduction of other materials. New materials can be produced from raw materials by synthesis. In industry, materials are inputs to manufacturing processes to produce products or more complex materials. Historical elements Materials chart the history of humanity. The system of the three prehistoric ages (Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age) were succeeded by historical ages: steel age in the 19th century, polymer age in the middle of the following century (plastic age) and silicon age in the second half of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Daybed
Daybeds are used as beds as well as for lounging, reclining, and seating in common rooms. It may be considered a form of multifunctional furniture. Their frames can be made out of wood, metal or a combination of wood and metal. They are a cross between a chaise longue, a couch, and a bed. Daybeds typically feature a back and sides and come in twin size (100 cm × 190 cm; 39 in × 75 in). Often daybeds will also feature a trundle to expand sleeping capacity. Modern daybeds Many of today's daybeds employ a linkspring as the support system for the mattress. The linkspring is a rectangular metal frame (roughly the footprint of the mattress) with cross supports. A wire or polyester/nylon mesh held in place by a network of springs lies across the top of the linkspring. The linkspring design provides support and creates clearance underneath a daybed for storage. There are two categories of modern daybeds, indoor and outdoor. Daybeds can be hangi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sneakers
Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used for everyday casual wear. Since their popularization by companies such as Converse, Nike and Spalding in the mid 20th century, they have become attire, with variety growing in many global markets exponentially. Like other parts of the global clothing industry, manufacture of shoes is heavily concentrated in Asia with nine in ten shoes produced in that region. Contemporary sneakers are largely made from synthetic materials, and the materials and manufacturing process produce, on average, about of CO2 emissions. Some companies are trying to substitute more sustainable materials in their manufacture. About 90% of shoes end up in landfills at end of life. Names and etymology The shoes have gone by a variety of names, depending on geograp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') level. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth; it is usually greater in the tropics as a result of the warm climate and high primary productivity in the region near the equator. Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10% of earth's surface and contain about 90% of the world's species. Marine biodiversity is usually higher along coasts in the Western Pacific, where sea surface temperature is highest, and in the mid-latitudinal band in all oceans. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots, and has been increasing through time, but will be likely to slow in the future as a primary result of deforestation. It encompasses the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distinct from weathering which involves no movement. Removal of rock or soil as clastic sediment is referred to as ''physical'' or ''mechanical'' erosion; this contrasts with ''chemical'' erosion, where soil or rock material is removed from an area by dissolution. Eroded sediment or solutes may be transported just a few millimetres, or for thousands of kilometres. Agents of erosion include rainfall; bedrock wear in rivers; coastal erosion by the sea and waves; glacial plucking, abrasion, and scour; areal flooding; wind abrasion; groundwater processes; and mass movement processes in steep landscapes like landslides and debris flows. The rates at which such processes act control how fast a surface is eroded. Typically, physical erosion procee ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). Lumber has many uses beyond home building. Lumber is sometimes referred to as timber as an archaic term and still in England, while in most parts of the world (especially the United States and Canada) the term timber refers specifically to unprocessed wood fiber, such as cut logs or standing trees that have yet to be cut. Lumber may be supplied either rough- sawn, or surfaced on one or more of its faces. Beside pulpwood, ''rough lumber'' is the raw material for furniture-making, and manufacture of other items requiring cutting and shaping. It is available in many species, including hardwoods and softwoods, such as white pine and red pine, because of their low cost. ''Finished lumber'' is supplied in standard sizes, mostly ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Oil-palm
''Elaeis'' () is a genus of Arecaceae, palms containing two species, called oil palms. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African oil palm ''Elaeis guineensis'' (the species name ''guineensis'' referring to its country of origin) is the principal source of palm oil. It is native to west and southwest Africa, occurring between Angola and Gambia. The American oil palm ''Elaeis oleifera'' () is native to tropical Central America, Central and South America, and is used locally for oil production. Description Mature palms are single-stemmed, and can grow well over tall. The leaf, leaves are pinnate, and reach between long. The flowers are produced in dense clusters; each individual flower is small, with three sepals and three petals. The palm fruit is reddish, about the size of a large plum, and grows in large bunches. Each fruit is made up of an oily, fleshy outer layer (the pericarp), with a single seed (the palm kernel), also rich in oil ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Monoculture
In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time. Monoculture is widely used in intensive farming and in organic farming: both a 1,000-hectare/acre cornfield and a 10-ha/acre field of organic kale are monocultures. Monoculture of crops has allowed farmers to increase efficiency in planting, managing, and harvesting, mainly by facilitating the use of machinery in these operations, but monocultures can also increase the risk of diseases or pest outbreaks. Diversity can be added both in time, as with a crop rotation or sequence, or in space, with a polyculture or intercropping (see table below). Continuous monoculture, or monocropping, where farmers raise the same species year after year, can lead to the quicker buildup and spread of pests and diseases in a susceptible crop. The term "oligoculture" has been used to describe a crop rotation of just a few crops, as practiced in several regions of the world. The concept of monoculture c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |