The Wearin' o' the Green

On St. Patty's Day, I thought it quite appropriate to address the green-ness of our clothing.

This is one of those issues that is so convoluted with all manner of companies trying to cash in some long green on the newly conscientious consumer's desire to do the right thing.

Being somewhat green in the green lifestyle, this is what I do know.

First, the most eco-friendly clothing out there is the clothing you already own. We have all become so very accustomed to our throw-away society that we are now insensitive to the higher cost (and I'm not talking just greenbacks here) of the clothing we wear. Keeping that in mind, however, the clothing you own becomes decidedly less green depending on how you launder it.

Dry cleaning is super-duper deadly in terms of the cocktail of chemicals they use to clean; most clothing labelled "Dry Clean Only" can, indeed, be handwashed & hung to dry, the greenest of all laundering practices. Other things to keep in mind are the efficiency of your laundering; do the largest load possible, with the coolest water setting possible. When you need to replace your machine, do it with a front-loading model, which are much more water- and energy-efficient than the old top-loaders.

Buy used clothing. Visit thrift stores, vintage clothing stores, consignment shops. There are more and more upscale consignment shops cropping up now than ever. Take advantage of these to find name-brand like-new clothing. I've not tried them out yet, but there are many people who are loving Freecycle and Craigslist. At the other end of the spectrum, don't forget to recycle your own clothing. Donate wearable items to the Goodwill. Items that are no longer wearable can be cut or ripped apart for rags, pet bedding, etc.

If you must buy new clothing, buy sturdy clothing of eco-responsible materials. Good choices are bamboo, organic cotton, and, in some cases, polyester (some companies are leaders in recycling plastic bottles to make polyester). Some mainstream companies are beginning to offer greener choices. Mark has two pair of these organic cotton Levi's. Purchasing sturdy clothing that will last many years will take a shift in mentality; if you can buy those jeans for $15, they probably aren't going to last 5 years, and they probably were NOT sewn by adults making minimum wage (read: they were sewn by 7-year-olds making $0.24 a day, but socially responsible companies will be another post for another day). If you just think about long-term rather than short-term monetary issues, paying $68 for a pair of sturdy jeans that will replace 2-3 pair of jeans that would wear out sooner makes a lot of sense.

Okay, I'm off to don my green St. Patty's day get-up. Hopefully, today's post will make you think about green in more terms than just their color.

Comments

[RedMolly]

I need to get over my baseless thrift store willies and start going green with the clothes, man. (I haven't thriftscored since I bought that thermal in college, out of which I never could get that weirdly persistent curry smell.) Thanks for the buttkick in the eco-friendly direction!

Also, you've been tagged at the Pic-Dem... hope you'll play!