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What's the most eco-friendly form of wool?

PETA feels that no wool-wearing is best, but if cozy wool sweaters are your winter must-have, your first green step is to avoid Australian merino wool.
By PlentyMag.comSun, May 03 2009 at 6:17 PM EST  9 Comments

SNUGGLE UP: Get toasty in the cold months without Australian merino wool. (Photo: mararie/Flickr)
Q. Despite the fact that today’s economy is totally un-purchase-friendly, it’s that time of year when all I want to do is buy cozy, soft, wooly things and curl up with a book to wait out winter. Are there any types of wools that are more sustainable or animal-friendly than others? – Lynn, CT
 
A. Unfortunately, one of the most common types of wool is also the one you really want to avoid: Australian merino wool. Before we get into the why of it all, you’ll want to set down any snack or food item you might happen to be eating.  
 
Ready? Okay, one of the reasons PETA is vehemently anti-wool is a gruesome wool shearing technique called mulesing. It’s a hide-trimming technique (we’ll ease you into this with euphemisms) that came into practice in Australia when farmers realized that cutting excess flesh from their animas’ loose hides nearly eliminated the risk of flystrike—an illness that results when flies nest in the folds of an animal’s skin. Matt Prescott, PETA head of corporate affairs, put it this way in an email:
 
“The cruelest type of wool is merino wool from Australia, where farmers painfully carve or clip chunks of flesh from lambs’ backsides.”
 
The good news is that mulesing is practiced exclusively in Australia, so it’s possible to avoid wools that came from animals subjected to mulesing. Next time you shop for any wool item, check the label or ask a salesperson where the wool came from. American Eagle Outfitters, Abercrombie & Fitch, Timberland, Aéropostale, and Limited Brands are several retailers that have pledged not to use Australian merino wools until the practice is eliminated. Which is to say that the 99.9% of tween girls nationwide who wear nothing but Abercrombie & Fitch clothes can feel morally superior in their merino wool sweaters (never mind the company’s quasi-pornographic advertisements).
 
You won’t be surprised to learn, however, that PETA wants you to do more than just avoid Australian merino wool. “In wool production worldwide,” says Prescott, “animals are sheared by careless workers who are often paid by volume rather than hour, so work quickly, often resulting in animals suffering painful gashes and cuts.” What are your alternatives? PETA suggests you make the full switch from animal-derived materials to plant-derived fabrics like cotton, cotton flannel, polyester fleece, synthetic shearling, tencel, and polartec (a fleece made from soda bottles). Can you do it? Can you go as vegan as Natalie Portman?
 
Lastly, don’t forget that farmers’ markets often offer hand sheared and died wool yarns. As with most items you’ll find at any farmers’ market, you can rest assured that these have come from healthy, happy animals that were given much more TLC (and space to roam) than your average sheep.
 
Story by Tobin Hack. This article originally appeared in Plenty in December 2008.
 
Copyright Environ Press 2008
 
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    PETA - Pro-Animal, Anti-Human

    Posted By Robert Moean - Sat, Mar 13 2010 at 9:58 PM EST

    PETA's not as bad as we think? Think again grasshopper. Let's hear what Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA has to say on the subject of animal rights shall we?

    “There’s no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights. A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. They’re all animals.”

    “Six million people died in concentration camps, but six billion broiler chickens will die this year in slaughterhouses.”

    “Humans have grown like a cancer. We're the.... More

    Natalie Portman--whatever.

    Posted By Anonymous - Fri, Jun 19 2009 at 2:52 PM EST

    I fully support the vegan lifestyle, but who could possibly be as green as Hollywood vegans, who have the option of spending as much as they want on alternative clothing? Not a fair comparison. It'd be nice if animal-friendly sites got a little friendlier with their prices, if possible.

    Support responsible health and welfare - not PETA

    Posted By Sally - Wed, May 06 2009 at 7:38 PM EST

    PETA are pretty irresponsible in the way they operate. To get attention they cry wolf and make everything sound much worse than it is. Eventually it backfires because people get wise and stop listening to them. This is particularly the case when they are so hypocritical that they don't even take good care of the animals that they take in themselves.
    In the case of sheep in australia PETA are running a campaign that is trying to stop a health procedure that is currently necessary to save.... More

    AMEN!

    Posted By Anonymous - Mon, Sep 21 2009 at 2:13 AM EST

    I guess PETA would rather see thousands of sheep painfully suffer and die from millions of insects instead of finding a better alternative

    The "Greenest" Wool Is...

    Posted By TheConsumerJournal - Wed, May 06 2009 at 2:13 PM EST

    ...a wild wool, named Paihamu, a foraging rodent, able to kill a lawn in a single's night of consumption, here's more details about this truly eco-wool
    ,http://alertsforconsumers.com/2009/01/29/ecofashion-or-greenwashing.aspx

    Going Green

    Posted By Anonymous - Wed, May 06 2009 at 9:29 AM EST

    Hey everyone,

    I saw the article about going green and being more eco friendly which is great. Lots more people are seeing that Mother Nature really needs our help. I think with global warming creeping up on us, I think it is very important that we become more aware of trying to lower our carbon emissions, and try and do right by the planet. I think we can all do our little bit extra to try and help! At home I always shut the computer down rather than putting it to sleep, and always turn.... More

    Peta not as bad as you'd like to paint

    Posted By Animal Advocate - Wed, May 06 2009 at 5:11 AM EST

    PETA ends up killing 95% of the animals they take in because they take in the sickest of the sick, the most injured, etc. They kindly euthanize them as would ANY other shelter or vet. They are not in the "shelter" business, but will help out folks who have no other resources.

    The two PETA employees did wrong. PETA admits that and was not happy with it, either, though they did help them out legally.

    Your stance is clear when you say you care about animal WELFARE as opposed to.... More

    Wool is green

    Posted By Geraldine Clarke - Mon, May 04 2009 at 10:59 PM EST

    The production of cotton for the world market requires enormous amounts of synthetic fertilizers and water so cotton (except for very expensive "boutique" organics and only those organics grown in the few areas with adequate rainfall) is not a terribly green and sustainable agricultural product. The polyesters and other synthetics that PETA recommends are derived from petroleum products and are even worse for the environment. Well-produced wools are a great green product. I've raised sheep.... More

    http://prophet-of-bloom.blogspot.com

    Posted By india - Mon, May 04 2009 at 8:47 PM EST

    not all merinos are mulesed! ours aren't and we look after them by regularly crutching [trimming] wool that might get mucky.
    sheep have been selectively bred by humans for over 4000 years so that they MUST now be shorn, otherwise they'll die - wool would get too heavy and preclude walking.
    well managed sheep on properly managed pasture assist in carbon sequestration...by converting carbon in grass to carbon in protein [meat and wool]. and no, i don't eat them. fear-mongering by.... More

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