Diminishing natural resources, problems with waste management and environmentally unfriendly production methods boost public awareness for greener clothing. If you don’t know where to start, this four step guide for a greener wardroble can be helpful.
1. What do you have in there?
“I have nothing to wear..!” Sounds familiar? Lou Taylor, a Brighton-based ethical stylist says that 80 per cent of women only wear 20 per cent of their clothes. The rest is often consist of piles of long-forgotten fashion mistakes or wrong sizes.
Before everything else, it would be wise to reconsider every piece, with different tops/bottoms, with accessories. If you need some inspiration check this girl’s blog where she posts a new outfit each day with the very same black dress for one year!
Then you should determine once and for ever those unhappy pieces that you would never ever wear again.
2. One man’s garbage is another’s treasure
Now that you are left with a pile of mismatched stuff, it should be the last thing to dump them in the container. You may look like a tomato in that red shirt but someone else wouldn’t. Offer them to your younger sister, cousin or friends. Get in groups and forums where people exchange used items, such as ReUse @ ecofuture.net. You can even organize a local event where everyone comes in with their unwanted clothing and leaves with each other’s. You can donate your stuff to a charity so that they can be handed in to the needed.
3. Shopping – conscious, used, organic
Are you well informed of big chains using sweatshops or those engaged in environmentally unfriendly practices? There are two good web sources on ethical and eco-conscious consumption (www.ethicalconsumer.org and www.labourbehindthelabel) to have an idea.
Don’t put extra pressure on the resources, try second hand shops and vintage stores first. In these places you are very likely to find some very interesting and unique items in high quality. You can also check eBay for second hand cloths.
The constant demand for cotton, which is extremely hard to grow, leads to fertilizers used in large amounts. In other words, it takes one-third pound of pesticides and fertilizers to produce just one cotton T-shirt. It’s now possible to buy attractive clothing made from 100% organic cotton -as well as hemp, and silk- from companies such as Patagonia (www.patagonia.com), Prana (www.prana.com), and Maggie’s (www.organicclothes.com).
You can also try different fabrics, such as bamboo which being the fastest growing plant on earth, doesn’t need pesticides or insecticides. It is also anti bacterial and good for sensitive skin.
Back to the uniform project example, consider quality over quantity, not to end up with new wrong choices.
4. Repair
Recently, buying a new one of almost anything is cheaper than getting it repaired. However, putting extra strain on environment in terms of waste management as well as resources, due to a little rip, is not a green option. Moreover, you wouldn’t believe how easy some of these thing to do yourself.
