Earth Day: Fashion And The Environment

So as it's World Earth Day today I thought that it gives me a great opportunity to discuss an issue which I think can often be pushed aside and forgotten in the rush of 21st century living. I know that almost all of us have near perfect environmental ideals. We believe in sustainability, in not wasting our fossil fuels, in fair conditions for the workers who make our clothes. But just as we mostly believe in sustainable energy yet will rarely go out of our way to make the financial investment to install solar panels onto our roofs, sustainability in fashion seems to be pushed aside in order to purchase what we want at the prices we want.

While there are a fair amount of small indie brands embracing an eco-friendly ethos, very few of the big players are doing the same. In fact only one springs to mind, H&M. I think what they are doing is brilliant; they are investing some of their (huge) profits back into setting up a more sustainable practice. On their UK site they express their goal of having all of their cotton from sustainable sources by 2020. While H&M's conscious collection is large with 91 different styles in the UK, I will be happy to see their entire range a conscious brand without compromising design. 

I think that as consumers making choices about what to buy, we should first think about where the fabrics are coming from. Polyester, elastic, and plastic in our shoes are perhaps the most common components. Cotton is also surprisingly wasteful. The WWF say that a pair of jeans takes 8500 litres of water to grow, which means that farmers often use chemicals to enhance growth which of course impact the surrounding environment. So if you are buying cotton then organic is best for the immediate environment, but so much water is used that it still hardly seems ideal. Fabrics like Tencel which come from fast growing eucalyptus use much less water than cotton, and so help in the global water crisis which is often forgotten.

Unfortunately there's no way I can sit here and write, with a clear conscience, telling you to buy less products with plastic or cotton in them because at the end of the day we all have a budget and there are only so many options available. I personally can't afford to buy eco under normal circumstances, and polyester and cotton have got to be the two most common fabric components there are.

I still believe that there are ways everyone can help no matter what their budget is. Donate every single piece of old clothing which is still wearable to charity shops, and the rest to schemes like H&M garment collecting. If sewing and dressmaking is something which you're interested in like me, then find a local textile recycling bank where you can deposit your scraps instead of sending them to landfill. 

I have compiled a list of eco friendly brands (focussing on lingerie) which still have design at heart and aren't compromising their design aesthetic for a variety of budgets.

-H&M conscious range

-LuvaHuva (bras £29-£44, knickers £16-£26)

-Anne Wiggins London (silk pjs £225)

-Augustine London (bras £34-£44, knickers £19-£25)

-Clare Bare (bras $58-$82, knickers $34-$72)

Do you have any eco friendly brands you like?