‘’Cheap synthetic fibers also emit gases like N20 which is 300 times more damaging than CO2’’.
— James Conca – FORBES
In the fight for a cleaner and healthier environment, there are some everyday things we can all do collectively which will have a positive and significant impact.
1. Choose organic or a natural fiber such as organic cotton, linen, hemp or ramie. Organic cotton, hemp, and bamboo are all biodegradable; this means they have the ability to decompose naturally via living organisms. Organic fabrics contain no micro-plastics or chemicals and there are no pesticides used in the production of natural fabrics (70 million oil barrels are used each year to produce polyester)
2. Buy fewer clothes going forward, and buy better quality garments if you can – mend, repair, or alter your clothes where possible (70 million trees are cut down every year to make our clothes).
3. Wear clothing made from lyocell/Tencel rather than viscose, rayon and modal (30% of clothing made of viscose and rayon comes from endangered and ancient forests)
4. Buy clothes with fibers that are friendly to the soil (93% of the worlds soil degradation is caused by overgrazing 35%, deforestation 30% and agriculture 28%)
5. Love, enjoy and wear your clothes over and over (400% more carbon admissions are produced if we wear a garment 5 verses 50 times)
6. Check out successful and well known sustainable brands like Bassike, Kowtow, Intimo, and Good Krama. And of course, buying locally as it’s one of the best ways to shop sustainably – definitely check out the following Adelaide labels, Thread Harvest, Slowclothes, and Good Studios.
7. Also look for garments with certification labels such as OEKO-TEX, GOTS, or BLUESIGN
For those who are truly environmentally conscious and those who would like to be the following will bring peace of mind!
‘’If a product is labeled as Oeko-Tex certified it is completely free from harmful chemicals and safe for human use. To attain Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certification, the fabric has been tested and certified to be free from harmful levels of more than 100 substances known to be harmful to human health.
The International Oeko-Tex Association has been testing for harmful substances since 1992. The Oeko-Tex Standard 100 is a global uniform testing and certification system for textile raw materials, intermediate and end products at all stages of production that gives the customer the confidence that there is no harmful chemical residue in the end garment.’’
As seen in http://www.weekenderherald.com.au/
