Wool is a natural material, therefore it should be eco-friendly, right? But, I’m vegan, therefore my principles state that I shouldn’t exploit animals for any reason, including clothing. The vegan society define veganism as “a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.” However, I wanted to look into the pros and cons of wool, mainly because my nephew asked me “do you think shearing sheep is bad even when it’s those sheep that have really long coats?” Which, to be fair, is a really good question, there are some sheep that would get extremely woolly and would possibly overheat and be really uncomfortable if they weren’t sheared. Let’s get into it…
What is Wool?
| “Wool is the hair that grows on sheep and on some other animals.” “Wool is a material made from animal’s wool that is used to make things such as clothes, blankets, and carpets.” – Collins English Dictionary |
Which animals does wool come from?
Sheep, Goats, Llamas, Alpacas, Camels, Rabbits, Musk Oxen.
How is Wool Made?
What’s the manufacturing process to make a fleece into wool? “The major steps necessary to process wool from the sheep to the fabric are: shearing, cleaning and scouring, grading and sorting, carding, spinning, weaving, and finishing.” Check the sources at the end of the article to read more about this process in detail.
Is Wool Eco-Friendly?
The majority of the steps mentioned above have little to no impact on the environment, but cleaning does involve removing contaminants from the wool, “the wool is scoured in a series of alkaline baths containing water, soap, and soda ash or a similar alkali.” Read more: http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Wool.html The only thing that made me think wool could be potentially harmful to the environment is the cleaning process, but soda ash is what bicarbonate of soda is made from and most soap is eco-friendly. Obviously it depends on what the actual ingredients and quantities being used are and how the cleaning solution is disposed of. Soda ash can be poisonous if ingested.
One thing to consider though is what dye may have been used as some of the dye ingredients could be harmful to the environment.
The Pros and Cons of Wool
Pros of Wool
It’s a natural material
Wool is a natural material that is renewable. An animal can be sheared and the ‘wool’ grows back therefore it’s a sustainable fabric.
Wool can be reused
Even a vegan could wear a wool jumper that was found in a charity shop, although some vegans would refuse to do this. I understand this way of thinking as I’d struggle to buy second-hand leather, however, in my opinion it’s better to reuse something that already exists than to buy something brand new.
Old jumpers can also have their wool reused. Knitted jumpers can be unravelled and the wool used again for a completely new piece of knitwear.
Wool is warm
Wool can be used for blankets as well as knitwear and even carpeting. It’s an especially good material for those that live in colder climates. Lot’s of alternative natural fabrics don’t provide as much warmth as wool.
Wool is eco-friendly
It’s a natural, renewable resource and the manufacturing process causes little to no harm to the environment. Always take into consideration what dyes may have been used. Almost all of the waste products from the manufacturing process, such as lanolin, can be used for other products.
Cons of Wool
The cons of wool focus on animal rights. It upsets me that some people don’t care at all about animal welfare but thankfully the majority of people do and much of the time they only buy animal products because they don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. When we think of dairy we often picture a milkmaid sat on a milking stool in a pretty farmyard setting. Of course the truth is far from being as idyllic as these images conjure up. The same goes for shearing sheep.
My 3 reasons for wool not being so great…
Animals are seen as products rather than living, breathing beings and are often not treated well.
Shearing can cause severe injuries to the animals.
Do we even have the right to use parts of animal because it’s convenient for us?
The problem with buying wool is that it’s extremely unlikely you’ll find out which farm the wool has come from, so it’s nigh-on impossible to look into the animal welfare standards. Therefore you’re probably supporting practises that you don’t agree with. If you’re vegan you should also be aware that wool is a byproduct of the meat industry.
| “‘People are able to make informed choices about their meat and know how the animal has been raised. Yet when it comes to wool, they are given no information. Have the sheep been sheared then live-exported and traded round the globe before being slaughtered? There is simply no way of knowing.’” – Daily Mail |
Sheep / Wool Facts
Natural sheep grow just enough wool to protect themselves from the cold in the winter and to keep cool in the summer. When it’s time, they will shed their winter coat all by themselves. Merino sheep have been bred to have wrinkly skin to produce more wool. Their coats are so thick that some die of heat exhaustion during hot months. Merinos cannot shed their fleece like wild sheep can.
Because a domesticated sheep can’t shed their fleece themselves, the wool grows longer and flies lay eggs in the moist folds of their skin. This is known as flystrike and disturbingly the hatched maggots can eat the sheep alive. Australian ranchers prevent this from happening by performing an incredibly cruel operation called mulesing. Large strips of flesh are cut from the backs of lambs and around their tails, without anaesthesia.
Merino“Almost all Merino wool — from an ancient breed of hardy sheep — on the High Street comes from Australia and New Zealand, including anything labelled with the Woolmark logo, and unless a brand states its opposition to mulesing, it is likely to have been subject to the practice.” – Daily Mail UK |
Lambs tails are docked, males are castrated and holes are punched in their ears without anaesthetic.
Sheep are normally sheared in spring, just before they would naturally shed their winter fleece. Many sheep and goats die every year of exposure after premature shearing.
Cashmere“goats have very little fat on their bodies, and can freeze to death if shorn in mid-winter (when the demand for their wool is highest). Goats farmed in China and Mongolia need their coats to protect them from the bitter cold, but they’re frequently shorn in midwinter to meet market demand, and many then die from exposure as a result.” – The Sun |
Shearers often handle the animals very roughly and a lot of sheep get injured due to shearers being paid by volume and not by the hour.
| “An undercover video filmed by animal rights campaigners shows sheep being hit, kicked, stabbed and stamped on by men shearing them at high speed.” Daily Mail UK |
Transporting Sheep
When sheep stop producing as much wool they are sent for slaughter. They are often exported to be slaughtered meaning long, uncomfortable trips and time spent in crowded holding pens.
The sheep that survive the holding pens are exported in tightly packed trucks with no food and water to countries where animal welfare standards are even lower than our own, meaning some animals are dismembered while they are still alive.
Does this really happen on UK farms?
Many of the examples above are not from the UK, and we mistakenly believe that such practises would not happen here. As a fairly recent article in The Independent shows, bad farming practices are just as prevalent on UK farms.
“A Peta investigator reported seeing illegal cruelty in every one of the 25 English farming sheds visited by two shearing contractor companies over 15 days. In the first secret footage ever taken of shearing in Britain, the witness saw panicked sheep being:
Donald Broom, professor of veterinary medicine at Cambridge University, said that sewing up a cut with no anaesthesia and throwing sheep – as the witness reported – caused pain and suffering to a degree that breached guidelines for legal practice by the World Organisation for Animal Health and other international bodies.” |
The Pros and Cons of Wool – The Conclusion
Wool may be a natural renewable resource that is eco-friendly, but the cruelty shown to animals is why I could never buy ‘new’ wool products. I may still buy second hand wool, but I certainly wouldn’t seek it out as knowing the pain and suffering an animal endured just to make the knitwear would make me very uncomfortable. Of course this is a decision only you can make. I can only ask that you research where the wool has come from. Please demand much higher animal welfare standards from your Government and also demand higher penalties for animal cruelty as well.
If you like what I do and want to support this website, you can buy me a ‘coffee’ which helps with the running costs of the website. Alternatively come and say hello on facebook, twitter or pinterest.
sources
How Is Wool Turned Into Fabric?
How Products are Made – Wool
Animal Cruelty – Wool
PIN ME
Have you ever seen shearing done? The sheep are not harmed at all if the shearer is trained right. I know some pretty good ones. What the heck is a “natural sheep” . Never heard of such a thing. The sheep that shed their coats are called hair sheep. They do not produce wool. I do think you do need to do a lot more research before you talk about sonething you don’t know much about.
Hi Georgia, Yes I have seen shearing done and no injury was caused to the sheep. I’m not surprised though as of course the shearers would take lots of care during a shearing demonstration. I’ve linked to lots of articles that have documented harm. You can click the links for your own research into this if you like. Of course that doesn’t mean that every sheep is harmed every time they are sheared, but the fact is that harm has been documented, and you even allude to knowing that harm can be caused if the shearers are not trained properly.
By natural sheep I mean sheep that have not been selectively bred to produce more wool, I thought that was obvious, but I do understand why that wasn’t completely clear so I will make myself clearer in the article.
It’s all very well saying ” no wool” But do vegans wear only man-made products? What about the effects of the manufacture, the effect on factory workers, and worst of all the waste which is is indestructible? Wool, cotton and linen sem to me the best fabrics. In an ideal world, shearers should be monitored and paid by the hour. Cotton pickers & processors properly paid. Etc etc. But it seems that money is all that matters….
Saying we shouldn’t shear sheep is ludicrous. Sheep farmers can easily shear a sheep without hurting the animal in any way. It also is insensitive to the animal to leave upwards of 10lbs of wool on the animal in the dead of summer heat. How would you feel wearing a 10 lbs wool sweater all summer every day… Probably not too thrilled. Farmers shearing sheep are doing them a service and are making a living caring for and feeding those animals. I don’t agree with cow farmers constantly breeding them to have a constant supply of milk but that is another topic. Sheep that go unsheared can and do accumulate dirt and sweat that cannot be washed out any other way than shearing them. Thinking through this logically Is not difficult. Sheep roaming out on their own would get heat exhaustion from all that wool growing year after year and are easy targets for wolves and coyotes without the protection of farmers. I was using this site for a school project but will not be using or crediting the cite since it’s purely opinion.
I don’t believe I’ve said that sheep shouldn’t be sheared, instead I’ve said to look into where you get your wool from as there are unethical farms that don’t have animal welfare as a priority. I’ve cited many articles which document injuries to sheep to back up what I’ve said. I’m sorry you think my article is just opinion. Of course my opinion is included, it’s my website and I like to let people now what I personally think, but I also research my topics carefully and always back up any information I write about.
Hi – I actually use wool in my weaving process and would buy from small independent wool producers all the time if I could afford it. Wool substitutes are also quite expensive unfortunately and none of them have the same properties as wool.I understand that, regardless of the treatment of the animals, we are still exploiting them for our own ends and that does give me pause for thought.
Would you agree that this is primarily a vegan stance? When you look at the environmental impact of other fibres, both man made and natural, their impact is just as damaging. Many man made fibres include plastics and cotton/linen production uses huge amounts of water.
I know you are talking specifically about wool but the whole environmental aspect of yarn production and it’s effect on the environment is interesting.
You forgot methane output and huge land-use in contrast to cotton.
I agree, sheep require a lot of land which will have been deforested for them to graze. Overgrazed pastures have little biodiversity. The grass is often enriched with petrochemicals too to provide more nutrients to the sheep and most sheep will be killed for their meat. Definitely not ethical.