We bring our reusable bags to the grocery store, changed our lighting to energy saving bulbs but how often to we stop to think about how our clothing choices effect the environment? Even new "eco" fashion lines leave a carbon footprint. Karla Zens writes about choosing truly environmentally friendly clothing: Vintage
It feels like a new socially responsible fashion line emerges every week: handbags made from organic hemp, sunglasses fabricated from 100% renewable materials, jewelry crafted from recycled gold and responsibly mined gems. Green fashion is almost mainstream: you can purchase your organic cotton t-shirt from Barney's...or from Old Navy. Don't get me wrong, these are all wonderful developments, but they continue to feed our insatiable appetite for consuming "new stuff."
It's time to start thinking about a fashion choice that doesn't come with a "feel good" eco sound bite: your local thrift store, vintage shop, or a clothing swap between friends. With the economic downturn, shoppers have started to wean themselves off Macy's and learned to love pre-owned designer merchandise. (Oh, and if you're turned off by thrift store cooties, I'll help you get past that a bit later.)
For the eco-minded out there (those of you who shop locally, bring your own bags to the grocery store, monitor the parabens and bisphenal A in your life), it's time to take note: besides being a way to snag high-quality, fashionable threads for a bargain, second hand shopping is one of the most socially responsible shopping choices you can make.
Just consider today's most rampant "disposable fashion" item: a cotton shirt, available for less than $20. This fictional shirt started out as cotton in a pesticide-laden field in the US. It was shipped to China, where it was milled, woven, and then dyed using harsh chemicals that leaked into the local water system. It was cut and sewn by children working in appalling conditions, before being shipped back to the US and sold. It's a process that keeps the price low at the expense of quality, the environment, energy resources and labor practices.
And even your sweat shop-free, organic, vegetable dyed, carbon offset garment has consumed energy. Some virgin materials were likely used. The item was produced, packaged, and shipped, perhaps several thousand miles. It was likely marketed in some way, maybe on the pages of a magazine that was printed on virgin paper.
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