#8: a quick fire round of sustainable fashion mythbusting
Hi!
Thought we’d go through a quick fire round of sustainable fashion mythbusting today – as predicted, little is black and white in the world of green fashion, so we’re leaning heavy on the ish. If you’d like the TLDO (too long; didn’t open!) of this monthly word count dump, let’s summarize it as: wear clothes you already own, wear them again & again, wash with care. Now, on to the meaty bits!
Recycled polyester is just as bad as virgin polyester.
Fiction … ish. Brands like Everlane and Girlfriend Collective have been on the recycled polyester beat for quite a while, prompting a swift backlash from sustainability writers (much of which is at least somewhat warranted – plastic is plastic, and microfibre shedding is a real concern, in and out of the wash). However, as far as natural resource usage goes, recycled polyester actually ain’t half bad. In fact, it scores above organic cotton, linen and hemp on Made-By’s Environmental Benchmark for Fibres, which grades against greenhouse gas emissions, human toxicity, eco-toxicity, and energy, water and land usage. A few sticking points remain: as Whitney Bauck shares in her excellent piece on circularity and recycled polyester, there are great systems in place for recycled bottle collection and … not-so-great systems for the recycling of end-of-life polyester. Therefore, when bottles are pulled from the recycling stream to be spun into fibres, their lifecycle and potential for circularity can actually be cut short.
Organic cotton is better for the health & safety of end consumers.
Fiction. Ever the darling of bespoke eco undies and baby trousers, brands often tout organic cotton as being better for us, as if the finished product would have fewer chemicals than a garment made of traditional cotton. However, any pesticide residue used in the farming of traditional cotton is long gone by the time your garment reaches you – more of a concern (if this is a concern for you) would be the chemicals and processes used to finish and dye the garment, which is where you may want to look for an OEKO-TEX certification. Organic cotton is better for the environment and for the health of the farmers themselves (barring that which was harvested by forced labour) however: with organic cotton, surface and groundwater use falls 91%, there is 70% less acidification of the soil and energy use falls 60%. More urgently, as the many pesticides used in cotton production are linked to a laundry list of ailments for cotton workers and those in surrounding communities, a switch to organic cotton farming can greatly impact and improve health outcomes – just not necessarily for the wearer.
ECOVERO is more eco-friendly than rayon/bamboo/viscose.
Fiction … ish. ECOVERO, a “more sustainable” viscose by Lenzing (the company that makes Tencel) does promise sustainable wood sourcing and lower emissions (great!). However, it still uses carbon disulfide in its production, a neurotoxic solvent that’s been causing well-documented nerve and brain damage in factory workers for over a century. I’m pleased re. sustainable forestry and lowered emissions but, to be honest, a bit miffed by Lenzing’s marketing around this (hey, I fell for it too!). They know that what makes viscose truly nasty is the harm done to workers, but they’re averting our gaze with a sexy bait & switch (look ma, less water!) so they can claim the EU Ecolabel via reduced emissions (as compared to traditional viscose).
Off-price stores (ie. Winners, T.J. Maxx) are a sustainable way to shop.
Fact … ish. On a sliding scale of super sustainable (using & mending what you already own!) to not-super-sustainable (constant fast fashion hauls), off-price shopping nestles somewhere neatly in between buying consignment and buying new sustainable pieces. Barring any house brands they may carry, off-price stores do serve a purpose: they move excess stock that large brands no longer have use for (a la deadstock fabric). However, their mere existence means that big brands don’t need to carefully plan their inventory and can carelessly over-produce, knowing their unwanted pieces will find an end-of-life seller who isn’t particularly discerning about quality or quantity. (The same argument can be used for some producers of deadstock fabric as well).
An OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certification means my fabric/clothes were responsibly made.
Fiction. With a trademark sounding suspiciously (and probably purposefully) like "eco" and featuring a friendly daisy on the logo, you'd be forgiven if you thought that OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certification meant that a fabric was sustainable. However, this certification just means that the fabric, clothing or other textile in question has been tested for harmful substances. This certification only applies to the raw material or fabric - meaning that if you were to test those bamboo sheets, you wouldn't find any formaldehyde, cadmium, pentachlorophenol, lead, etc. over a certain percentage. This certification doesn't touch environmental impact, worker safety or handling of hazardous waste materials. A company could still claim this certification if they were dumping gallons of carbon disulfide into rivers - as long as it isn't found in your finished t-shirt. This doesn’t mean this certification is purposeless – it’s an important one to look for if you’ve got sensitivities, or are manufacturing garments for more sensitive populations. However, a cynical take: many brands opt for this cert above other more challenging to obtain eco certifications, hoping it’ll satisfy the increasingly discerning eco-concerned consumer. (OEKO-TEX does have other certifications that cover garment worker safety and environmental impact, but this isn't one of them. )
The biggest way I can reduce my individual carbon footprint is by … washing my clothes responsibly?
Fact. Take a peep at the graph below, snapped at a sustainable textiles workshop I attended a few years ago. The use phase of a cotton t-shirt (accounting for the time you purchase the shirt right to its disposal) accounts for nearly as much natural resource usage as cotton harvesting, processing fabric manufacturing and transportation. I land firmly in the camp of striking a healthy balance between rallying large corporations to own up for mass environmental warfare (re. the processing, transportation and disposal columns) and small, empowering changes we can do ourselves, especially those that are accessible to all. Washing our clothes less frequently, and washing them on cool and hanging to dry, can have a huge impact on the overall carbon footprint of our wardrobe (and doesn’t require a bottomless dispensable income).
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