The eco-friendly hammock.

 Without culture, chlorine, colorants, or pesticides.

Protect the environment.

From the very beginning, the ecological environment has been a concern. I remember visiting a Colombian manufacturer in the 1980s who had a dyeing machine that was leaking directly onto the floor, straight into the gutter. We discussed it then, and he was well aware of this problem. A few years later, he had replaced that machine with a more modern, more ecological, and more efficient one. A win!!

The textile industry is an environmental disaster. It is the second most polluting industry in the world. We cannot continue as if nothing is wrong.

The beginnings of our recycled cotton.

For climatic reasons, cotton production experienced a slowdown in growth in 2007, leading to a surge in prices. It was time for us to take action both economically and environmentally. Thus, together with our Colombian manufacturer, we turned to recycled cotton yarn. We knew that the ecological impact would be significant.

Thus, for example, we avoid using millions of liters of water and pesticides for 6 tons of cotton.

For cotton cultivation: 63 million liters of water, 9,300 kg of pesticides, and approximately 51,600 kWh.

For textile dyeing: 180 kg of bleach (chlorine or hydrogen peroxide), 720,000 liters of water (120,000 for the bleach, 480,000 for the dyeing, 60,000 for the fixer, and 60,000 for the softener), with part of this water heated up to 90°C depending on the production stage, thus also saving a significant amount of energy, and finally, in smaller quantities, various chemicals such as fixers, softeners, color regulators, sodium carbonate, detergents, and dyes.

Our department eco-friendly hammocks and eco-friendly hammock chairs. 

Ecotec recycled cotton.

ECOTEC is a brand based in Italy that exclusively transforms leftover fabric from the production of 100% cotton garments into a recycled yarn containing 80% cotton.

The initial idea is to recycle textile scraps from the fashion industry. These scraps are separated by color and then shredded to create the fiber. After that, the spinning stage will follow to make recycled cotton yarn.

The ECOTEC thread achieves remarkable quality, a nice shine, durability, and vibrant colors.

It has been over ten years since, after trying other recycled cottons that were less effective (the cotton would pill and the colors were not colorfast to washing and UV), we have been producing most of our products with this yarn .

Advantages and disadvantages of this cotton.

In terms of thread strength and color fastness, there are only advantages.

The main drawback of this cotton is that the colors are not consistent from one production batch to another. Each batch will produce different shades for each color. Therefore, we have a lot of difficulty obtaining the same hammock twice across different productions. Our small company must adapt and regularly change the photos ofour hammock sales website.It's a real headache that only small companies like ours can solve because large organizations all need well-formatted, standardized products.

The other drawback (which is debatable) of this product is that the thread needs 20% polyester to be strong enough and to be woven on powerful mechanical looms that weave at a high weight (360 gr/m²). Some will say that polyester is a pollutant derived from petroleum and very harmful to the environment. But in reality, plastic is such a durable material that it would be ideal to use it even more in a society that is precisely seeking sustainable development! What is not ecological about plastic is our behavior. Indeed, it is so inexpensive that we do not respect it; we neglect it by throwing it away and using it indiscriminately. In his book "La guerre du pochon," Hugo Verlomme explains this process well. A very interesting debate...

Organic cotton is gaining more and more followers, and a fairly wide range of hammocks can be found from various retailers. Cotton has the advantage of not using pesticides. But that is its only advantage. Ecotec recycled cotton has a much greater ecological impact.

Sustainable development.

The use of this recycled cotton has earned Tropical Influences to obtain on September 28, 2013 the Trophy of Landais Merchants and Artisans in the field of sustainable development and which was awarded by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Landes.

In 2017, Nature & Discoveries, attracted by our ecological approach, decided to promote us! Another great success in our eyes.