Sustainable Clothing: Making simple changes can have a big impact on the environment
What is sustainable clothing?
Sustainability means conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources. Each step in creating sustainable clothing from growing the raw materials to manufacturing the finished product and transporting it to market must be environmentally friendly and protect the health of humans and ecological systems.
Not all natural clothing is sustainable clothing.
For example, conventionally grown cotton is natural but is not considered sustainable because large amounts of pesticides and herbicides are used to grow it. According to the Organic Trade Association conventionally grown cotton uses 25% of the world's insecticides and more than 10% of the pesticides (including herbicides, insecticides, and defoliants). The Organic Consumers Association estimates that in the US, 1/3 pound of agricultural chemicals is typically used to make one tee shirt.
Though natural dyes may be obtained from vegetable or animal sources without chemical processing, many of the setting agents (mordants) pose environmental hazards (Green Cotton Blog). Products using toxic mordants are not considered sustainable.
Organic clothing produced abroad is not the most sustainable clothing.
Because it travels thousands of miles before reaching market, organic clothing
produced abroad has a larger ecological footprint than organic clothing produced
in the USA.
Though our fabric is imported (very little fabric is currently made here), designing, grading, sampling, cutting and sewing is done in the USA resulting in a smaller carbon footprint and a more sustainable product.
To be considered sustainable, clothing should be:
- Safe for humans and the environment in all stages of its life cycle.
- Use energy, materials and processes that come from renewable or recycled sources, such as biomass or wind energy or organic cotton, hemp, wool, linen or Tencel.
- Capable of being returned safely to either natural or industrial systems.
- Made to last and able to be reused or recycled.
- Be created by workers who receive fair wages and have healthy working conditions.
It's tough for consumers to know what happens in every step of the production process, so there is a cultural component in making sustainable clothing the norm. Better designs and more availability together with increasingly informed consumers who demand sustainable clothing have the potential to transform the clothing industry.
Steps you can take to make your wardrobe sustainable
While awareness and transparency about sustainable clothing grow, consumers can exert their influence by
- becoming informed about sustainability issues
- buying clothing made of durable fabrics in timeless styles
- repairing, recycling and re-using clothing
- buying second-hand clothing
- choosing products made with genuine environmental concern
- washing clothes less often, at lower temperatures, using eco-friendly detergents
- avoiding purchases of garments requiring dry cleaning; when that's not an option, using "wet cleaning" instead of conventional dry cleaning.
See our selection of hemp clothing: tops and blouses, skirts and pants.