Dress for our Planet by Anne Janik

Do you really need that shirt? When you buy new, buy just what you need, buy for value and durability, and wear your new clothes for longer before replacing them. According to the Council for Textile Recycling, the average person throws away around 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles every year!

Clothing choices are an easy first step in reducing our carbon footprint. By extending the active life of our clothing by just nine months and cutting our consumption of new clothing we can significantly reduce our contribution to fashion’s carbon footprint and worldwide waste. According to the Council for Textile Recycling, the average person throws away around 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles every year! That’s a lot of waste that could be diverted from our landfills.

Textile production requires energy, and many fabrics use synthetics that are made from petroleum and fossil fuels. The clothing you choose has an impact on the carbon footprint created by the clothing industry. The fashion industry fuels textile consumption, which in turn increases the carbon footprint at levels that can give motorized travel and energy production a run for their money (www.earthday.org/our-toolkits/). You can choose to make clothing choices that reduce your carbon footprint and improve our planet’s soil, fresh waters, and oceans.

Here are a few tips to get you started. 

• Recycle clothes—shop secondhand first. Buy pre-owned clothing from thrift shops, consignment stores, vintage sources, and online resale sites. When you buy new, buy just what you need, buy for value and durability, and wear your new clothes longer before replacing them. Check seams, zippers and the quality of the textile. Better-made clothes wear longer, fit better and help you avoid volumes of cheaper clothing that often are thrown out.  Trendy, low quality clothing will only last a season or two of wear and washing.  Investing in well-made clothes will save you money by not having to replace items every season. High-quality items usually have lifetime guarantees and can be repaired. Some designers will even repair clothing free or for a small fee. Consider developing a wardrobe that creates your own style for years to come, rather than quick-changing fashion trends. 
  
• Buy clothing made with organic or natural fabric fibers instead of synthetic fabrics. Natural alternatives to synthetic fabrics include cotton, linen, bamboo, flax, jute, silk, wool, and alpaca. Avoid polyester, nylon, spandex and acrylic. These materials are made from petroleum, a high-emission fossil fuel. You’ll play a part in reducing the use of pesticides and herbicides and you’ll reduce the amount of microplastics  in rivers and oceans from synthetic fibers that shed during washing. Check out modal or lyocell, two environmentally friendly, durable plant-based textile options. 
• Shop sustainable brands and look for certification labels that indicate clothes are made sustainably and ethically. Ecolabels (www.ecolabelindex.com) provides a detailed list of certifications for a company’s products such as organically grown cotton, fair-trade marketing, certification for animal products humanely raised/ handled, or certified wildlife friendly. Many companies promote certain clothing lines as having been made with renewable materials, but still use unethical labor practices to make the clothing. Make sure to do your research on a brand before you buy from them. 
  
• Sell your unwanted clothing online or in resale shops. There are so many websites and apps which allow you to buy and sell used clothing. For a short list of sites to help you simplify your closet go to www.rd.com/article/best-place-to-sell-clothes-online/. You’ll divert waste from landfills while earning money. 
• Consider upcycling and repairing your clothing. You can work wonders with a pair of scissors and a needle and thread to give new life to an old garment or make new items from old garments (for example: mittens out of old sweaters). By repairing your clothes you will divert waste from landfills and save money! Many outdoor clothing companies have free repair services so your expensive outdoor gear can live on. 
  
• This Earth Day, celebrate differently! Host a clothing swap where you exchange spring/summer clothing items with your friends; you’ll divert waste from landfills while having fun adding pieces to your wardrobe. A google search can provide fun ideas for a swap or go to Fashion Revolution (www.fashionrevolution.org). Fashion Revolution is a global movement calling for more transparency in the fashion industry. Follow #WhoMadeMyClothes or #WhatsInMyClothes for more information on fashion transparency.
  
• If you have clothes that no longer fit or you don’t wear anymore, donate them to thrift stores or shelters instead of throwing them out. One person’s trash is another’s treasure. 
  

Let’s take a closer look into the current fashion industry. Fast Fashion is the design and production of high volumes of low quality garments bringing cheaply made, trendy styles to the consumer. Many “fast fashion” brands earn millions of dollars by selling large numbers of cheap garments. These are the items that end up in the landfills. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans send more than 11 million tons of textile waste to landfills each year. These are mostly synthetic garments full of toxins, heavy metals, dangerous dyes and countless other chemicals that rarely break down. Instead, as they lay in landfills, toxins are released into the air and local water systems adversely affecting the health of the local residents and animals.

Fast fashion also affects the health of consumers and garment workers. Harmful chemicals such as benzothiazole—linked to several types of cancer and respiratory illnesses—have been found in apparel on the market today. Our skin is the largest organ of the body, and wearing these poorly made clothes may be dangerous to our health. Garment workers for many brands are paid well below the minimum wage, and in many instances work in substandard conditions. 

In addition, the more clothes we buy, the more clothes are shipped from foreign manufacturers. Transportation costs have a huge impact on the carbon footprint of our global system. Collectively, as consumers, we can use our buying power to encourage the fashion industry to change its current business model based on price, volume, and transportation needs, and move towards a more sustainable and ethical future.

How do you care for your clothes? Whether clothing is new or second-hand, an everyday item or a special heirloom, all clothing lasts much longer with some simple, basic maintenance. As an added bonus, proper care saves money in the end and can have important earth-friendly consequences. Did your mom pass on these laundry tips? 

• Wash clothing only when necessary. You can wear many items multiple times before they need washing. In dry climates like Colorado, there is no need to wash your bath towels after every shower—isn’t your body already clean? 
• Wash shirts less often if you wear them with a layer between them and your skin. Each washing shortens the life of a garment. 
• Synthetics shed microplastics. Wash these items less frequently and use a Guppyfriend™ bag to capture the microplastics.  
• Wash with cold water and on shorter cycles to save energy. According to the Sierra Club, every household that switches to cold-water washing could eliminate about 1,600 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Warm water is also more likely to break down dyes and cause shrinkage.
• Wash clothing (especially jeans) inside out keeps colors from fading.  
• Avoid dryer sheets, which can be full of chemicals such as toluene styrene. Use earth-friendly detergents and use half the recommended amount with ½ a cup of baking soda to get clothes just as clean. Instead of chlorine bleach, substitute one half-cup of vinegar to the final rinse. Vinegar is a natural brightener that won’t wear out the fibers of your clothing. 
• Hang clothes to dry outdoors on a clothing line or a drying rack. You will save energy and money while your clothes suffer less wear and tear from the dryer.  
• Avoid dry-cleaning, which uses petroleum-based solvents. If it’s necessary to dry-clean your clothing, choose a dry cleaner that uses environmentally friendly cleaning solutions. Bring your own reusable bag and hangers to reduce your impact.
• Change your clothing rotation to reduce wear and tear on individual pieces. 
• Convert old t-shirts and other worn items to rags. You’ll divert waste from landfills. 
• If your favorite shoes are wearing out, look for a shoe repair shop. There are still cobblers around that can repair heels and soles.  

Earth Day is an opportunity to be a better global citizen and care for our planet.  The extent you want to lessen your footprint is up to you, but now is a good time to rethink what changes you want to make. There is a lot you can do to reduce your carbon footprint on our planet just by your fashion choices and how you care for your clothes.