Sustainability through traditional processes: Strategy of “Salva a Lã Portuguesa” for revival of natural wool

Abstract

Technological development of this century must step forward by looking back: traditional processes end up offering a higher level of sustainability and market homogeneity. A case of wool is an example of malicious cycle of neglecting the sheep breeders of small scale, high percentage of synthetic fibres in clothing industry that implement complicated industrial processes for deriving a product. What is more, traditional processes, accessible and easy to do, are being forgotten as the industrial products take place in all the daily aspects. By disappearance of wool industry in Portugal, sheep breeders were subjected to selling the wool to foreign industries; however, the breeders of small scale, not able to produce sufficient quantities for reasonable sales, would end up destroying the wool. Portuguese wool is sold abroad for later receiving wool products back to be sold in Portugal. On the other hand, a necessity to produce with our own hands, serving both as therapy and a way to fight against consumerism, has become more and more popular during the last decades. People look for handmade activities yearning for capacities to both plant their food and make their clothing. The paper portrays the current context of sheep breeding and wool market in Portugal, and describes the approach of “Salva a Lã Portuguesa” project to the importance of local sheep breeds, the traditional wool treatment processes and social aspects of such activities. The project “Salva a Lã Portuguesa” intends to offer natural wool supply of local Portuguese sheep breeds, giving access to the knitters, spinners and felt makers to the high quality raw material that justifies the manual process of creation. Working with small quantities of wool would enable a production of yarn types, differentiated by sheep breeds and variation of spinning processes.