When it comes to waste, the clothing industry is in a league of its own. “Cotton is the most common natural fiber used to make clothing, accounting for about 33 percent of all fibers found in textiles,” according to the World Resources Institute (WRI). “Cotton is also a very thirsty crop, requiring 2,700 liters of water—what one person drinks in two-and-a-half years—to make one cotton shirt.” Then you buy that cotton shirt, wear it a few times, get tired of it and throw it in the garbage. The Council for Textile Recycling estimates that 5 percent of the waste currently sitting in landfills is textile waste. And, even though nearly all textiles are recyclable, only about 15 percent of the 14.3 million tons of textile waste generated in the U.S. every year gets recycled.
To find out more about How to Recycle Fabric, click over to https://recyclenation.com/2014/05/recycle-fabric/.
There are a number of clothing companies that are doing their part to reduce wasteful manufacturing. Here are 10 eco conscious clothing companies you should know.
- EcoVibe is a Portland shop that is powered by 100 percent renewable energy. They make their clothes out of sustainable materials like bamboo, modal, tencel, cork, and recycled polyester.
To find out more about EcoVibe, visit https://ecovibeapparel.com/.
- Style Saint. Style Saint uses 99 percent less water than the industry standard. They also pay 2000 percent higher wages. And to highlight these high standards, each item in their shop lists the amount of ethical labor, yards of fabric, and the total amount of water saved for each item.
To find out more information about Style Saint, visit them at http://www.stylesaint.com/shop/impact.
- Amour Vert. This is one of my favorite clothing lines. The name Amour Vert means “Green Love” in French. They use certified organic cotton, chemical-free linen and recycled polyester. They also use other sustainable materials like Tencel (from eucalyptus trees) and Modal (from beech trees).
To find out more about Amour Vert, check out their site at https://amourvert.com/.
- G Star Raw. G Star Raw takes pride in using materials has use ethically sustainable materials is committed to creating products with minimal environmental impact through their use of ethically sustainable materials. When Pharrell Williams signed on in 2015 to work with the brand, they launched Raw for the Oceans, a line of jeans made from the ocean plastic.
To take a look at G Star Raw, visit https://www.g-star.com/en_us.
- Threads 4 Thought. Threads 4 Thought uses sustainably produced, organic and recycled materials. Their factories in Weihai, China recycle and reuse more than 80 percent of the water that is used in the production process of their clothing. They also use low impact reactive dyes that don’t contain any toxic chemicals or hard metals to color their fabrics.
For more information about Threads 4 Thought, visit http://www.threadsforthought.com/.
