Shopping for clothes is an exciting activity for many of us. Quality, durability, color, style and price affect our buying decisions. Increasingly, we are also checking on the “green content” of the clothes we buy. We can help our environment better by adopting a green way to shop for clothes.
The concept of green living calls for eco-conscious decisions in how we buy and use things. This is certainly so when shopping for clothes. Nowadays we look for more than quality, durability and style in the price we pay for clothes. The clothing industry is responding with a range of “green” clothing sourced from natural fibers such as cotton, silk and hemp. What we fail to realize is that there are negative environmental consequences in producing such green clothing just as with synthetic clothing.
There is an alternative. Rather than look for “green” clothing, we can choose our clothes in a more eco-conscious manner. A green way of shopping makes us look to reducing two components, pre-consumer and post-consumer waste, in the clohes we buy.
Pre-consumer waste relates to all the processes that convert a raw material such as cotton to the clothing item we buy from the shop. Planting of cotton or hemp for clothing requires land. This means clearing land or taking away areas on which other food crops are grown. The crops, especially cotton are highly dependent on chemical fertilizer. It is reported that 1/3 lb of fertilizer is required to make just one cotton T-shirt. Most of the processes involved in breaking down natural fibers require water and energy. Additional chemicals are added during the conversion of the fabric to a finished garment. As is apparent, the green clothing we proudly wear do have some environmental flaws.
Alternatively, fabrics produced from organically grown crops use no chemical fertilizer or pesticides or do not use genetically modified material during growing. Clothing made from such fabric will carry certification from the Organic Trade Association that it was processed, transported and packaged in the most non-toxic manner possible. This is why organic clothing is expensive.
As against organic clothing derived from natural sources, there are also clothes produced from sustainable fabrics. The Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability (MTS) has developed the Sustainable Textile Standard against which such textiles can be graded. A sustainable textile can be petrochemical or bio based. It must be produced using environmentally friendly processes throughout the supply chain and be capable of returning safely either to a natural or industrial system. Sustainable clothing, though not natural, can lend itself to green living on account of these factors.
In between organic and sustainable textiles are man-made fibers which are based on crops such as wood pulp, soy, corn and flax. These crops require energy intensive processing to convert them to fabrics suitable for clothing. The plus factor here is that since they are plant based, they are bio-degradable.
Processes involved in the clothing industry such as harvesting, processing, stitching and finishing are labor intensive. Some producers use labor practices that infringe on the rights and dignity of workers. We can help stop such abuse by buying clothes that are advertised as produced under fair trade conditions.