Eco Materials

Recycled and Recyclable Polyester

We have chosen to make our tents from post consumer recycled plastic bottles. Why? Because recycled polyester tents are a positive step towards a more sustainable system – one that uses fewer resources, discards less and better protects people’s health. What others throw away, we choose to use, because quality isn’t only how a product looks or functions.

For our tent fabric we work with specialist suppliers who have developed an innovative recycling process that makes new polyester fibres from used drinks bottles, unusable second quality fabrics and worn out garments. It’s all part of making Green as efficient and innovative as possible, but also using appropriate materials that have inherent benefits to the product being produced and the wellbeing of the environment.

Benefits of recycled and recyclable polyester:

• Reduces the demand for and lessens our dependence on oil.
  
• Provides a use for material that would otherwise be discarded so less landfill and no toxic emissions from refuse incinerators.
  
• Promoting a new recycling stream for polyester clothing that is no longer wearable – where we lead, others will follow with other recyclable applications.
  
• Creates less air, water and soil contamination.
  
• Recycled polyester equals lower energy consumption in comparison to virgin polyester.

Hemp

Though our hemp is not certified organic* it is grown organically using all natural ingredients: compost, animal manure and available rainfall. We use hemp blended with cotton.

Unfortunately, industrial hemp is illegal to grow in most parts of the world. Activists, businesses and farmers alike are working hard to get the laws changed, but an aura of fear still surrounds most of the government agencies involved. We currently import our high-quality hemp from China and continue to hope that it might some day grow freely again.

Benefits of Hemp

• Requires no artificial irrigation.
  
• Uses no pesticides or synthetic fertilizers.
  
• Harvested and processed by hand.
  
• One of the most, if not the most, durable natural fibres on the planet.
  
• Wonderful fabric drape that’s comparable to linen.

*The reason our hemp isn't certified organic is due to the lobbying against growing hemp by and in industrialised countries, chiefly the USA, hence no manufactured accreditation scheme for hemp cropping. You will however be pleased to know that the methods used to grow our hemp are organic, as the most efficient and sustainable way to grow it is with good old fashioned muck (natural fertilizer from animals) and rain water. The rest is down to nature, farmers continue to rely on this most basic and simple of methods to grow hemp just as they have for hundreds of years.

Bamboo

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the world. Fully-grown in three to four months and reaching full maturity in three years. After harvesting more is planted and the cycle continues, making bamboo one of the world's most sustainable crops. Only 10% of the world’s bamboo forests are used for commercial purposes.

Benefits of Bamboo

• No chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used in the cultivation of bamboo as it has natural antibacterial and antifungal properties.
  
• With its rapid growth the more Bamboo that is used around the world today will help to convert more greenhouse gases into Oxygen.
  
• Bamboo has superior strength. With a tensile strength superior to mild steel (withstands up to 52,000 pounds of pressure psi) and a weight-to-strength ratio surpassing that of graphite, bamboo is the strongest growing woody plant on Earth. There is a suspension bridge in China 250 yards long, 9 foot wide and rests entirely on bamboo cables fastened over the water. It doesn't have a single nail or piece of iron in it.
  
• Used in ladders, scaffolding and construction, bamboo is twice as stable as oak, walnut and teak.
  
• Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the planet and provides the best canopy for the greening of degraded lands. (Some species of Bamboo grow as much as 4 feet a day).
  
• Its stands release 35% more oxygen than equivalent stands of trees.
  
• Bamboo can also lower light intensity and protects against ultraviolet rays.