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Is silk sustainable? How to shop fair trade? You asked. We share how to be more sustainable with a few conscious tweaks.
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Let’s face it, being sustainable in this world may not come naturally. (Pun intended). Since the 1960s we’ve been sold advertisements for fast-fashion, consumerism, single-use plastic and a throw away culture. It’s the reason why 1 million plastic water bottles are made every minute and the average American throws away 80 lbs of clothing.
It comes as no surprise that learning to be sustainable is as much of an educational journey as it is an unlearning process. Raise your hand if you had a rough go your first few times quitting fast fashion and ‘wearing what you already have in your closet?’ Or, if you had to Google ‘what does sustainable mean’. Many of us have a lot of questions about living our best sustainable lives even if we’ve been doing it for a decade.
We’ve gathered your questions about how to be more sustainable and have combed through research, interviews, and tips from the experts to give you the best answers.
Are there sustainable silk, wool, or cashmere brands?
Cotton, hemp, tencel and linen are plant-based materials considered to be sustainable, because they’re plant-based and biodegradable (as long as chemical dyes aren’t used). Materials like wool, cashmere, and silk are animal-based, so they come with their own controversies. However, there are brands that focus on causing the least amount of harm to the animals who are donating their warmth or skills for our comfort.
There are brands like the luxury hat brand, Kin the Label, whose wool fedoras are only made from wool sourced from farms that focus on humane shearing practices. Some include ensuring that the shears don’t get too close the sheep’s skin and that the sheep themselves enjoy a good life. Other brands like the womenswear label Siizu are also known for their dedication to ethical wool cashmere by working with family owned farms to obtain the finest fibers.
Silk, a fiber traditionally derived after boiling the silkworms’ cocoons while the worm is still instead, is often viewed as animal cruelty. Peace silk allows the silkworm to emerge from the cocoon (as a butterfly) before the silk is extracted. Often called, vegan silk, brands like Stella McCartney and Mother of Pearl use it in their garments.
What are the best sustainable brands for basics like t-shirts?
If you’re looking for brands offering your everyday basics, it’s fair to warn you that while you’ll find reasonably priced brands, you won’t find the $1-$5 steals you’ll often find at fast fashion retailers.
PACT ($25 Tee, $50 Lightweight Hoodie) is a basics brand that offers all the V-neck and crew-neck tees that you could ask for. Plus, they are dedicated towards using organic cotton and being Fair Trade certified.
Made Trade ( $50 Top, $100 Cargo Jacket) is another basics and loungewear brand that uses sustainable brands like bamboo that are GOTS and OEKO-TEK certified.
Why is sustainable fashion so expensive?
There’s an old proverb, “You get what you pay for.” Part of the reason why fast fashion brands can charge $5 per item is because workers are paid below livable wages. Also, the cheapest materials and dyes, that are often man made and sometimes toxic, are used to ensure that prices can stay low. On the opposite end of the spectrum, are living wages, third party certifications, and organic fabrics.
Treating employees as you would want to be treated with fair wages, paid leave, benefits, and health insurance is an ethical reason to support brands. The sad reality is that fast fashion brands have been known to pay garment factory workers as low as $2.77 per hour even for clothing produced in the U.S.
Are there vegan leather materials that aren’t plastic?
For decades vegan leather was plastic-based. These materials aren’t biodegradable and don’t last as long. Today, there are plant-based alternatives made from cacti, mushrooms, apples, pineapples, and grapes.
Brands like the streetwear label Pangaia have released ‘leather’ sneakers made from the stalks, leaves, and skins of grape plants discarded from the wine industry. Samara is a sustainable brand that uses ‘leather’ sourced from apples for the materials for their wallet.
How can you tell if a brand is sustainable and avoid greenwashing?
If you look in the dictionary, the word sustainable means ‘able to be maintained at a certain level’. When that applies to fashion that relates to how fashion is impacting the environment and whether or not it can be maintained at the level that fashion is currently being produced. Unfortunately, it’s estimated that if the fashion industry continues on its current fast fashion path, we will surpass the earth’s resources by 40%.
Sustainable fashion brands design and produce in a way that minimizes their impact. That means switching to materials like hemp or organic cotton which require less water and fossil fuels than polyester or conventional cotton. Or, using non-toxic plant based dyes. And, they might even ship items in recycled or compostable mailers.
One way to avoid greenwashing is transparency. If you’re buying online, see if the materials are listed as recycled or organic. Do the brands show the factories where their clothing is produced in? What about a sustainability report where they transparently share their process with customers? Pretty campaigns don’t make a brand sustainable, but campaigns that are backed with facts, data, and third party certifications do.
How can we prevent clothing from going into the landfills?
The best way is to begin with your shopping habits. Shop your closet first before you buy to try to use what you already have.
- Reduce waste. When you do go shopping look for items that you need and will wear first.
- Repair items before throwing them out. Sew a button on instead of tossing out a jacket. For larger repairs send to a tailor.
- Host clothes swaps or sell your clothes on apps like DePop, Thred Up, or Tradsey before throwing them out.
- Repurpose items that are beyond repair or sell into cleaning cloths.
- Donate clothes to fabric recycling companies like Terracycle.