Does Buying Eco Friendly Clothing Really Help the Environment?
Aug 9, 2010 Going Green
Choosing eco friendly clothes is a common piece of advice for families who are trying to go green. Clothing is something we all need, and with kids in the house, new clothes are needed pretty often. Wondering if your shopping habits are really making a difference isn’t a bad thing; it just shows that you’re really thinking about the impact you’re having/
What Is Eco Friendly Clothing?
The first thing you need to figure out is just what is meant by eco friendly when it comes to clothing. Clothes made from organic cotton come easily to mind for most of us. Bamboo is a popular material now. But to really get into eco friendly clothes, you need to go beyond the simple categories.
Handmedown clothes are eco friendly. You’re reusing clothes that someone else was done with.
Clothes bought at thrift stores are eco friendly. Same deal as with handmedowns.
The clothes you have in your closet aren’t going to get any more un-eco friendly, so long as you care for them in environmentally friendly ways.
That’s important to remember. Going green is not all about shopping.
Worrying about whether the materials used to make the clothes matters most when you’re buying new. That’s when you get into organic cotton and other such materials. They matter most when the materials used are new to your purchase.
Does Buying Organic Cotton Clothes Make a Difference?
You can feel as though the difference in how your clothes are produced is a small issue, environmentally speaking. We’re so far removed from where the cotton is grown and processed that it’s easy to miss the harms.
Tremendous amounts of fertilizers and pesticides are used on conventionally grown cotton. This is bad for the land it’s grown on and for the lakes, rivers and oceans the excess water may runoff to. There’s a good post over on The Good Human called What’s So Bad About Non-Organic Cotton? that explains the situation well.
Buying organic cotton also means you’re supporting farmers who aren’t using so many potentially dangerous chemicals.
Clothes made from bamboo, even organic bamboo, are a bit more complex. Most bamboo cloth is chemically processed. Some of these chemicals are hard on the environment and on the workers using them. This processing turns it into a viscose or rayon fiber. It’s not as natural as many want you to think.
Overall, if you want to help the environment through the clothes you wear, really think about where they’re coming from, and don’t go for the huge wardrobe. Reduce how much you buy new, buy used when you can, and pay attention to how the new clothes are made. That’s the best way to limit the impact your clothes shopping has on the environment.
Sites to try:
Tags: clothes, green shopping, organic cotton, shopping, thrift stores
How to Deal with Crunchy Towels and Jeans After Line Drying Laundry
Jun 11, 2010 Eco Friendly Home
Line drying your laundry saves a lot of energy and money. It’s even pretty good exercise as you hang out your clothes, not to mention carrying damp laundry from the washing machine to the backyard.
There’s just one problem. Not everything dries nice, soft and comfortable to use.
Jeans and towels are notorious for this. They usually feel stiff and crunchy when you pull them off the line.
How can you get rid of the crunchies?
Take Them Down Damp
The simplest solution is to let them dry most of the way on the line, but take them down while they’re still a little bit damp and throw them into the dryer. It won’t take long to dry them and you’re still saving energy.
The towels and jeans will feel as though they’d spent the entire time in the dryer. No more nasty crunchy feeling.
Air Fluff
If they’re dry, you can still throw crunchy items into the dryer and just give them a few minute on the No Heat or Air cycle of your dryer. The motion will break up much of the crunchiness.
Add Baking Soda to the Washing Machine
Baking soda works as a water softener, and can help your towels and jeans to dry softer as well if it has been used in the water. They won’t get completely soft this way, but it may decrease the crunchy sensation enough.
You can also add vinegar to the rinse, which should help to soften everything.
Don’t use fabric softener on towels; it’s bad for their ability to absorb water, which is kind of contrary to the whole point of using a towel to dry yourself.
Double Them Up
Many people say that if you fold the towels in half to line dry them or hang two together, they will not be as stiff when they dry. The reason is that they tend to be less stiff if they dry more slowly.
Give Them a Snap
Some swear by this method. Give the towels and jeans a snap before hanging them on the line, maybe another when they’re about halfway dry, if you remember. This helps to limit how crunchy they get.
Get Used to It
Some people actually like their towels a little crunchy. It’s a feeling you can get used to.
Same for jeans. The crunchy feeling decreases as the jeans get older as well, so the problem may not be serious for long.
Give a few solutions a try and see what works for you. Your results may vary due to the weather you’re having, the age of your towels and jeans, and the hardness of your local water.
Tags: clothes, crunchy towels, laundry, line drying
How to Make Your Wardrobe More Eco Friendly
May 3, 2010 Eco Friendly Home
Green is a great color for your wardrobe, whether you like to wear it or not. But I don’t mean the color. I mean having a wardrobe that is the eco friendly kind of green.
It’s really not that hard to make your wardrobe be kinder to the environment. This may not sound ideal to you, especially if you love buying new outfits, but you can make this work.
Thrift Store and Consignment Shops Are Your Friends
One of the easiest ways to have an eco friendly wardrobe is to focus on buying used clothes. It may not sound appealing at first, but you might be amazed at what you can find that has belonged to someone else first. An amazing number of people replace clothing in their wardrobe after very few wearings. You can buy used clothes that look as good as new.
Thrift store shopping can be an adventure. It’s not the easiest way to shop sometimes. Some stores are better organized than others. You may find clothes from many years ago. Some outfits may look as though they’d do better as a Halloween costume than everyday clothing. Bring your sense of adventure and sense of humor when you head out to the thrift stores to shop.
When you’re done with an outfit, it can head back to the thrift store. If it’s still in good condition they’ll probably just sell it on.
If it’s not in good condition, find out if it’s welcome first. Some thrift stores sell torn and stained clothes in bundles as rags. Others just throw them out. It’s better if you are certain you aren’t just moving something from your trash to theirs.
And you could always make rags for yourself.
Find Eco Friendly Retailers
You can find all kinds of shops online and in some areas that offer eco friendly fashion for those times when you do need something new. Fair trade is a good option to look for.
You can find companies that make clothes using organic materials and use natural dyes. You can find vegetarian and vegan fashions. Just look around and see what suits your eco choices.
A tragic number of retailers still use sweatshop labor. That’s why it’s so important to pay attention to where your clothes are coming from when you buy them new. Being green isn’t always just about the environment. You should be thinking about the human factor too.
Here are a few online retailers to consider:
Ragaboo Bamboo Clothing
Organic bamboo clothes for kids. Some really cute designs. It’s run by a mom of four boys, so she knows what kids can put clothes through.
Turning Life
Sells apparel and more. They’re a Certified Partner of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership, member of the Green Business Network™ of Green America and buys carbon offsets for ZERO Carbon Footprint Shipping. With all that it’s no surprise that they offer products made from organic and sustainable materials.
Ruby Pinwheels
More children’s clothing, and ever so cute! They focus on providing products for children that are eco-friendly, organic and made under fair trade conditions.
It’s not always going to be easy to find just the right outfit from an eco friendly source. That’s still pretty challenging. But you might be surprised by the many great green options you do have when you try.
Tags: clothes, green shopping, shopping, thrift stores, wardrobe
