Edited: Ha! This is what happens when you fall asleep at night next to your toddler instead of getting up to make sure your blog post is ready to go for the next day.
At any rate, check out this New York times article about what kinds of fabrics are most (or rather more since it’s all relative) environmentally friendly. It ends with the no-brainer thrifters and capsule wardrobe fans have long embraced: “the most effective solution may be to keep wearing that old T-shirt that your family hates, buy used clothes or just make do with fewer articles of clothing.”
Happy (long for the US) weekend, Thrifters!
Sounds like thrifting is the way to go! (But even making donations to charities has a down side.) This article is so distressing! Although articles on “fast fashion” abound, I never knew before that polyester particles end up not just in landfills but in water systems, fertilizer and animals! Then of course what about in us humans?
Well-planned capsule wardrobes, thrifting most essential purchases, insisting on better quality, not shopping “just for fun”, careful husbanding and maintenance of our possessions, perhaps even adopting a more “minimal” lifestyle, buying organic and locally produced foods, researching consumer issues — these are some things we can do . . . but is this enough?
You’re right, Carol – any time I really take a look at our consumption habits I feel pretty distressed. It’s one of those issues where we need to double-down on individual habits but also fight for improvements at the policy level.
For those interested in going “zero waste” – creating as little personal waste as possible, including on the clothing/fiber front – check out http://www.zerowastehome.com and http://www.paris-to-go.com. They both have a bit of a no-excuses attitude about living more sustainable lifestyles (as many hardcore environmentalists do, I guess because we’re in so deep!), but if you can get past that and see them as places to pick up a few tips to adopt, and then a few more, they’re great resources.
That article was eye-opening. Certainly I knew that our present wear-it-one-season- and toss culture is unsustainable, but learning of the actual progress of the clothing from factory to post-disposal is both edifying and disturbing. Thank you, Leah, for linking to It for us. Carol you make excellent points as to the responsibilities of the enlightened consumer. We can try to change policies, but something we all can do is educating, gently of course, others about the perils of the cheap, fast clothing culture. Honestly it occurs to me a simple thing I can do is wear an apron while I cook so I do not lose tops to the errant spatter spots that render them unwearable! Ignorance is just not bliss when it comes to our, and our descendants, environment.