GREEN FLOORING
DON'T PULL THE WOOL OVER YOUR EYES
Bridgette Kelly, of the British Wool Marketing Board, discusses what their organisation and end product is doing to contribute towards our industry's never-ending quest for higher levels of sustainability.
The generation of environmental resourcefulness is upon us. The messages are constant; we need to be more energy efficient. The more heat we use, the more carbon we produce, which in turn leads to more greenhouse gases. We need to be less throwaway, as our landfill sites are filling up fast. We need to stop draining precious fossil fuels, as resources are dwindling and finite, and by extruding oil to feed our hunger for possessions, we leave less for essentials like transport and heat. These are not five minute concerns – they are earth-changing legacies for the generations ahead.
There are so many challenges ahead. Thankfully, schemes are being implemented to help the situation. In 2010, HRH The Prince of Wales initiated
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his Campaign for Wool to promote the fibre’s natural, renewable and biodegradable story. The Prince urges us to look at what nature has already provided – wool is time-served, and regarded by the global textile industry as being a choice fibre for flooring.
There is always a fresh supply of wool coming through; eco-perfection.
So, what exactly are the main benefits of wool? The industry refers to real wool as ‘active’ and non-wool – manmade or synthetic fibres – as ‘passive’. This means that manmade fibre is non-responsive to the environment, while real wool is a naturally ‘smart’ fibre and will physically respond and perform on many levels from its time on the sheep throughout its journey in textiles. Looking at the fibre, you can tell nothing of its complex functionality. Yet wool adjusts to its space by absorbing humidity in through the outer membrane to its cell structure. This will then be released later. It also captures dust particles to filter the air and improve air quality.
Strong and durable and yet still soft and luxurious, wool also has an immense ability to maintain its natural shape. The coiled crimp is so robust that it will
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resist extensive footfall. Other ‘smart’ attributes are its resistance to flames, due to a high water and nitrogen content. Fire simply struggles to get going on wool and will largely self- extinguish. This, added to its natural resilience, is why some hotels, casinos and public buildings prefer it over other flooring materials.
Of course, British Wool is a fully sustainable renewable fibre, which is grown on over 60 different breeds of sheep in the UK. The fibre is shorn annually and the wool is made available to the global textile industry over the following year. This means that there is always a fresh supply of wool coming through; eco-perfection.
Due diligence is vital now, and this is something that the British Wool Marketing Board understands. Independently assessed for its environmental impact, British Wool has ISO 14040-2006 and 14044-2006. The additional Best Management Practices Study outlines that British sheep are reared to a very high standard, which places the welfare of the sheep and the countryside before levels of productivity.
www.britishwool.org.uk
Image courtesy of Ulster Carpets
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