Oliveira Textiles

Do you have any eco-sins?

Dawn: Fashion. I lived in New York for 22 years and I love fashion. It's hard to find really funky cool clothing that's all organic. There are a few companies out there doing it. But I love DKNY and Calvin Klein. Big companies are starting to get onboard with eco-friendly options, but it's a very slow process. I was recently in Chicago on a 'fiber walk' and we went into Timberland, and Eileen Fisher, and Levi's. And a lot of them are starting to go green, but in small ways. Levi's had a pair of all organic cotton jeans on one display. The more the organic market grows, the more they'll expand. Deb: Plastic. Plastic water bottles and plastic shopping bags. When you have kids and you're in a hurry, you tend to grab plastic water bottles. I'm trying to wean myself off them but it's really hard.

What was your most memorable eco-challenge in starting Oliveira Textiles, and how was it resolved?

Dawn: Our biggest challenge was not the fabric, but the dyes that go into the fabric. Conventional dyes are made with many harmful chemicals, including formaldehyde [which is ubiquitous in furniture production], and hydrosulfite. It's a health hazard as well as an environmental concern, because these chemicals are then circulating in the air you breathe in your home [because of a process called off gassing]. But there are many ways to process fabric and finish fabric without any of those chemicals. Right now, we're using water-based pigment dyes, instead of petroleum based conventional dyes. They're still synthetic, but they're lower impact, and don't have any heavy metal in them. They're in line with the Organic Trade Association's fiber standards. They're not hard to get and it's surprising that more people don't know about them. Deb: Our goal is to be certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard, and to do that we'll need to switch to fiber reactive dyes. We'll be using them starting with our next collection. They're really eco-friendly because they literally become part of the fiber, so there's less water runoff when the fabrics are washed. It's the ideal solution. Right now we're working on finding a printer that we can work with to do this. It's the most challenging part of creating eco-friendly textiles, and that's why most people aren't doing it. Dawn: We're probably going to be moving overseas to do that next collection, because we haven't been able to find someone in the US who will work with us to do it. We did find someone in Portugal who is working towards complete organic certification of his whole plant, so we'll probably be working with him. It's hard to find someone doing it because it's expensive and it takes a lot of time. Europe is so far ahead of us in all things green. It will eventually change. The more people who are exposed to a product like ours, the more questions consumers ask, and it will prompt other manufacturers to go this way.

When did you become aware of environmental issues and start to incorporate greener habits into your life?

Dawn: We grew up in Rhode Island, the Ocean State, and our dad was a shell fisherman for thirty years, so we've always been aware of the frailty of the environment. But my real eco-awareness is directly related to family illnesses. My husband and my dad and our younger sister were all diagnosed with cancer over the last 6 years [their sister is doing better with leukemia after a bone-marrow transplant; their dad and Dawn's husband passed away]. When we started this business two years ago, we knew we wanted to make a really healthy product. So we started to research and investigate how to do it. When we started to manufacture, we asked ourselves, 'How can we do this is in the healthiest way we can? Because we don't know what's making people sick, but we don't want to contribute to it.'

What was your inspiration for Oliveira Textiles?

Dawn: We had been talking about working together for years, but we were both in different places. I was in New York and Deb was in New Hampshire. But when everything changed in my life and I was pushed to come back here to be near family, we started talking more seriously about it. I said, 'Now's the time, let's just do it.' Our dad was also a big inspiration. Keeping the family name was important to us. We dedicated our first line to him and called it the Ocean collection, because his life on the sea influenced our early years, and we wanted to pay tribute to him.

What kind of green materials are you using?

Dawn: We're using certified organic cotton, and 100% hemp, which we absolutely love. Hemp is completely sustainable. It grows to full height in three months, and unlike cotton, it doesn't need any pesticides or herbicides. It's a 6,000-year-old plant that has been used to make everything from our Constitution paper to tall ship sails. I read recently that you can use it to make everything from car parts to food. It's amazing. It's incredibly durable, biodegradable, and mildew-resistant, and it has a really natural lovely luster that cotton doesn't have. We're really happy with the results we've had so far. It can be woven into any form, from a soft and lightweight clothing material to a really rugged material that can be made into bags. Right now, we're using a tighter-weave hemp fabric that's perfect for upholstery. There's a big misconception about hemp because people associate it with marijuana. But the industrial hemp plant is a completely different plant than the one that is grown as the drug. The joke I tell people is: 'In order to get high on industrial hemp, you'd have to smoke a joint the size of a telephone pole.' We’re not the only ones doing it. Ralph Lauren is doing it too. He makes coats out of hemp.

When was the last time you experienced an eco-conflict?

Deb: We have to purchase most of our fabric [the hemp] from an overseas provider because no one in this country is allowed to grow it or process it. It's absurd. It's a big hurdle financially, because we have to pay to import it, and environmentally, because of the shipping concerns. Of course, we want to do it all locally and reduce our carbon footprint, but we're forced to go overseas to find the product we want to use. Dawn: We're hopeful things will change soon. In just the last year, it's become easier to find more information and resources. Deb: It's really a paradigm shift, and people are having to rethink how things are made and what they're buying in this country. Just as the industrial revolution happened, this green revolution will happen. People will make the changes they need to make.

How does someone go about finding a green, healthy reupholsterer?

Dawn: Start by contacting interior designers who have a green focus. There are tons of them, and if you do a little research on the web you can find them. They'll be able to tell you which workrooms they are associated with and point you in the right direction. Deb: There's a great company here near Boston (in Watertown, MA) called Furnature, and they upholster using all organic materials. They'll even upholster a piece for you using your own organic fabric if that's what you want. They make beautiful stuff.

What should people consider when deciding how to choose a fabric for a specific piece?

Dawn: It all depends on the end use. If you're upholstering a sofa or chair that will get heavy use, you want to pick a really durable fabric, like hemp, that's tightly woven. It will hold up a lot longer. If the furniture will only get moderate use, or if you're a single person in an apartment and it's not going to get used or abused by kids, you can pick a lighter, multi-colored fabric.

What about color and patterns? What's the best way to choose a palette for a room?

Dawn: Go with your gut instinct and start with the colors you love. Everybody intuitively has a color palette they feel comfortable with, whether it's mauve or bright blue. I love reds. We're all about bright colors and bold patterns. For some people that would be hard to live with, but we're not about beige. I think having bright colors and funky patterns around can make you happier. As an artist and designer I want a livelier, more artistic kind of setting. It definitely fuels my creativity.

Should upholstery change with the seasons?

Dawn: I like the idea of changing your drapes. In the summer, I'd use lighter weight fabrics like cottons and linens, in lighter and brighter colors. And in the winter, I'd use heavier weight hemp fabrics in darker colors. But region definitely affects color palette and fabric weight. In New England you stay indoors a lot in the winter, and the reason to use heavier weight dark fabrics is not just an aesthetic, it's about insulation.

What green thing do you do that sometimes feels absurd?

Deb: I unplug everything at night, because my husband has done his research and he insists that it's a way to save a lot of energy. But then I come down in the morning and plug everything back in and have to reset everything. It drives me insane.