Can you make what you wear more sustainable?

  

 

Clothes may not seem like the most wasteful item we own.  After all, we wear them for a decent amount of time; then we throw them away.  But are there more sustainable approaches to clothing that can waste less?  And even go with more environmentally friendly materials to wear?  Here are a few ideas to get you started.

 

 

 

Used clothes

If you source them from the right place, used clothing can be a great problem solver and makes clothing more sustainable – because someone has already used them.  Charity shops are great for this because they are very strict about what they sell, how they clean it before a sale, etc. However, clothing manufacturing does take a lot from the environment so going with second-hand clothes helps balance this out.

 

 

 

Washing clothes

There are a few tips for making your clothing care more sustainable:

Don’t wash your clothes every time you wear them

Modern materials are very clever and mean you don’t need to wash them every time you wear them unless there’s a stain or something specific that needs cleaning.

Line dry as much as possible

Dryers use a considerable amount of electricity and don’t always create the nicest smelling clothes.  So where possible, line dry your clothes and let the fresh air do the work for you.  One tip is to use a little less detergent to ensure they are well rinsed before hanging to dry.

Avoid dry cleaning

The worst way of cleaning clothes is dry cleaning, using loads of harsh chemicals and resources.  Most clothes now don’t need dry cleaning, so avoid it as much as possible.  And when choosing clothes, aim for ones that don’t need them to be dry cleaned.

If you have dry cleaning only clothes, see if you can use a spot treatment on any stains when they happen to reduce the number of times you dry clean the item. Also, a gentle hand wash with some liquid soap can often do a good job and leave them to air dry.

Use water-saving washers

When looking for a new washer, hunt down the ones that save the most resources – either power or water (or both).  Front-loading washers are less water heavy and are gentler on the clothing – the fewer the washes, the longer the clothes last.

 

 

 

Clothing materials

The other area you can consider is the actual material in the clothing.  Some materials are more sustainable than others.  Here are a few ideas:

Look at hemp

Hemp is one of the top sustainable materials because it doesn’t need a pesticide to grow or chemicals to process it into clothing.  It is a highly renewable material and tops most lists of environmentally friendly fabrics.

Ethically produced clothing

Vegan, artisan, locally produced or organic are examples of ethically produced very sustainable clothing and avoid pollution and animal testing.  Often these clothes are well made and can last a long time, too.

Read up on cotton

Cotton is everywhere but not all cotton is equal.  Look at the information on cotton and watch for ethically produced cotton that avoids chemicals and pesticides in its production.

Conclusion

These ideas show you can be fashion-conscious and still be sustainable, choose clothing with suitable materials, wash them in sustainable ways, and even use second-hand clothes.  All the while, you can still have your look!

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