Skip these narratives around Man-Made Cellulosic Fibers

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Welcome to another issue of The Crisps – your newsletter on anti-greenwashing and honest fashion communication. You can support us by subscribing to a free or pro subscription, liking, sharing, or commenting on our posts.

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Usually, we start our newsletter with a short intro to why the topic of the issue is relevant. But today we have some exciting news to share – and a gift for you!

We hit a milestone last week: More than 1.000 subscribers support and read The Crisps.

We’re very grateful you’re all here and so interested in learning and unlearning. We regularly receive great feedback for our work. But we would like to make our issues even more helpful for you. That’s why we want to understand what you like and don’t like about The Crisps, which topics you want to learn more about, and most importantly, how often you would like to receive The Crisps. We’re getting very mixed feedback on the frequency!

We know giving feedback takes time and effort. But it’s the best way we can make The Crisps better. As a thank you for filling out our survey, we’re giving away 10 yearly pro subscriptions. To enter the raffle, just fill out our survey by June 23rd and like this post.

We will let the lucky new pro subscribers know that they’ve won on Monday, the 24th.

Again, thank you for subscribing to The Crisps and reading our issues so frequently. We appreciate your support A LOT! Now let’s get into the communication of MMCFs that we introduced last week.

All the best,
Tanita & Lavinia

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What’s problematic about MMCFs?

In case you missed last week’s issue, here is a very quick recap. Understanding the basics is key when we want to speak about materials.

Man-made fibers are fibers whose chemical composition, structure, and properties are significantly altered during manufacturing. Unlike natural fibers, which come directly from plants and animals, man-made fibers are created through chemical synthesis and are engineered for specific characteristics.

Man-made fibers are divided into two main types:

1. Synthetic fibers: Made entirely from petrochemicals. Examples include polyester, nylon, acrylic, and spandex.

2. Regenerated fibers: Derived from natural cellulose, such as wood pulp or cotton linters. Examples include viscose, lyocell, modal, cupro, and acetate, also known as Man-made Cellulosic Fibers (MMCFs).

MMCFs are often discussed as sustainable fiber alternatives. But they come with their own set of environmental and social challenges.¹ For example:

🔸 Deforestation and biodiversity loss: According to CanopyPlanet over 150 million trees are logged annually for MMCF production, leading to significant deforestation and habitat destruction in regions like Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, and North America. This contributes to biodiversity loss and carbon release from forests, which act as carbon sinks.²

🔸 Social impact: Deforestation disrupts local water cycles, causes soil erosion, affects water quality, and displaces indigenous peoples. According to the World Bank, approximately 1.6 billion people rely on forests for their livelihoods globally.³

🔸 Chemical use: The production process is chemically intensive, using significant amounts of acids and toxic substances, leading to air and water pollution. Emissions include sulfur, nitrogen oxides, and chlorine compounds, which can cause harm to the environment and human health if not handled properly.

🔸 Water pollution: The process also pollutes waterways with nitrates, phosphates, and other harmful substances, threatening aquatic life. Chlorine bleaching produces toxic dioxins, necessitating responsible chemical management.

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Communicating Man-Made Cellulosic Fibers

Let’s get a bit more specific and look at some words and phrases we see around the use of MMCFs:

“Eco-friendly”

Brands often market MMCFs as "eco-friendly" alternatives to other materials. If you’ve been reading The Crisps for a while you already know that words like “eco-friendly” belong on the blacklist. Just don’t use them when you speak about your products, materials, or production processes (unless you can back it up with data).

“Natural”