A collection of Design No. Five’s eco-friendly linen fabrics and pillows…bring the beach home without the sand!
Start thinking about how the fabrics you use everyday are made? How does it affect the planet?
If you are a fabric lover, join the movement to Believe In Linen! The textile design team at Design No. Five has committed to using 100% Belgian linen as our ground cloth or base fabric for all of our coastal inspired designs. We have been in love with the most fabulous linen company, Libeco for over a decade after discovering their bedding on a trip to Belgium.
Their entire line of fabrics and ready-made household linens are so lovely. You will fall in love with their linen bedding, table linens and tea towels. Plus the photography is a must share. Here you go – a true Oh WooHoo moment! Libeco’s story of flax to linen is well worth reading – libeco.com.
Responsibly Sourced. Sustainable. Eco-friendly
You might ask, why is it so important to consider how fabrics are made? Did you know that textile manufacturers are some the biggest air quality polluters in the world? The more petroleum based synthetic fabrics are consumed, the more pollution. Yes they may be less expensive, quite durable and washable but the toll it takes on our planet is irreversible if we don’t start paying attention!
Responsibly Sourced is the current tag line or way of categorizing if our food, home goods, clothing and fabrics are being produced in an eco-friendly manner. Not many people look at fabric and wonder if it is Responsibly Sourced. Think about it, fabrics are everywhere: we wear it, we sit on it, we use it in the bath and kitchen, and we sleep on it and even walk on it. The material fibers, the dyes, the chemicals and the manufacturing process itself all contribute to the negative climate effects on daily living. Indie textile designers, such as Design No. Five have opened up a whole new way of thinking about fabrics in connection to our planet’s health. The design team at DN5 is taking advantage of these new technologies, ways of thinkings and innovations.
Sustainability isn’t just a buzzword for me; it’s how I was raised. I grew up with a very thrifty mother who lived through World War II. We didn’t recycle, we up-cycled again and again - and that stayed with me. It was ingrained in me. This culture of sustainability has been factored into Design No. Five’s approach for everything we create and sell. For us sustainability applies to the manner in which our products are produced - we evaluate the sustainability of the plant fibers used to produce our ground cloth or base fabric upon which our designs are printed. We consider the impact on the environment during the growing season as well as the ultimate fabrics lifespan - how durable or sustainable is the fabric. Linen is made from flax. Flax is the longest and most durable of all the plant based fibers. Flax requires very little water and no pesticides throughout its entire growing cycle. Flax is also harvested and produced using centuries-old techniques such as retting, where Mother Nature plays a crucial role - alternating between sun, dew and rain. Retting is very dependent on the weather but is the time in which the flax is readied by Mother Nature before collection.
Eco-friendlyfrom fiber to fabric. Our suppliers and manufacturing partners are equally as caring about negative climate impact. The ink used for printing our designs is low in Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) which negatively affect our carbon footprint. Couple this with ink-disposal processes that come into play after printing our designs, need to be handled in a very thoughtful way so as not to negatively affect the water table. Lastly, the down in our pillows is responsibly sourced. We are currently working on greener ways for shipping our products!
How to tell if you are buying a responsibly sourced, sustainable or eco-friendly fabric. Check the labels…here are a few that should help.
