Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/875036
TEXTILE TALK | EMILY WALZER t was a long good bye to Salt Lake City OR trade fairs for me this July as my flight home took a few ticks over 14 hours. We've all endured delays, cancellations, and tarmac sit-ins over the years as we wended our way back and forth from Utah, but this was the first time I spent the midnight hours in a nearly deserted Baltimore airport as I waited to board my connecting flight to Hartford. It's odd to be one of only 50 or so people in a major airport in the middle of the night; a place usually throbbing with frenetic energy is reduced to barely registering a pulse of activity. Here, a few midnight confessions from that strange evening: 1. I don't like to fly. To prepare myself, I have a lengthy pre-flight ritual, an airport ritual and an onboard ritual. The latter is slowly counting to 10 after take off. I learned that from a retired pilot. He told me if the flight is doomed, that disaster is most likely to strike in the first 10 seconds airborne. I think he meant that to be comforting. 2. I believe in food as a bonding experience. Knowing we were stuck waiting for hours for the next leg of our journey, passengers made a beeline for a food source in BWI. I practically did a limbo dance as the grate was coming down in front of the Hudson News stand. The gentleman at the cash register took pity and let me enter. I was staring blankly at the candy selection, too tired to make a quick decision, when he said, "You look hungry. Take your time. Maybe you like some hummus?" Such a kind gesture. I bought the hummus, thanked him, and then we had a friendly chat for another 10 minutes. 3. I don't equate "Free Drinks" with water. When we finally started to board back in SLC, flight attendants announced, "As a thank you for your patience during this delay, there will be free drinks on the flight." The offer was in fact water – with or without ice. 4. I'd rather read a book. In a last ditch effort to stay awake and not miss my 2:45 am flight home, I unearthed a pile of trade show literature from my carry on and tried to engage. No dice. Sustainability, however, makes for compelling reading. Efforts focused on environmental and social responsibility have reached a tipping point with execs predicting that in the near future sustainability will be integrated into all areas of product development, garment design and consumer purchasing. We have jam-packed eco info on the following pages. I encourage you to take your time reading the articles and advertorials presented here as there is so much news and trend reporting to absorb. The outdoor industry deserves big thanks for relentless stewardship of sustainability issues. One more shout out to the outdoor community: A recent article in the New York Times reported that "The most purchased photo this year for the search term 'woman' in Getty Images' library is of a woman hiking in Banff National Park. Ten years ago it was a woman in bed." How great is that! O Cheers, Emily Midnight Confessions, Sustainability & More textileinsight.com 4 • Textile Insight ~ September / October 2017 I unearthed a pile of trade show literature from my carry on and tried to engage. No dice. Doing it for the outdoors — Concept III sources the most advanced sustainable fabrics and eco-friendly textile technologies for brands everywhere. Sustainable Fabrics SUSTAIN AMAZEMENT info@conceptiii.com • www.conceptiii.com