Group items tagged

Fashion retailer H&M has been named the biggest user of organic cotton for the second consecutive year. Their increase in the use is part of their plan to use more sustainable cotton in their clothing lines by 2020. The company has been using certified organic cotton for the past 8 years and their clothes are clearly labeled to inform the consumer of their informed choice. 

But the cotton is probably not from the U.S. Only 1% of U.S. cotton is organic.

Sunglasses have become one of the most popular accessories in today's world of fashion. Creating sunglasses from organic processes and materials and donating the proceeds to reforestation efforts, while planting a tree for each parir of glasses that are purchased not only encourages shoppers to stay on trend with purchasing sunglasses, but it raises awareness to our environment and the impact that we can make on it.

They are all sold out on their web page. My kids would break them so fast!

Greenpeace is claiming that the toxic chemicals used to produce clothing are harming manufacturers in Asia, as the chemicals contain carcinogens. They suggest buying second hand or organic clothing or buying less garments. It does raise the question of whether the chemicals harm the consumer over time. Obviously it would be very beneficial to reduce the use of these chemicals but I think there are other options besides buying less or second hand.

This article talks mostly about H&M;s low prices and how it might encourage the idea of disposable fashion. It also mentions how H&M is increasing its use of organically grown cotton by 50 percent every year until 2013. They are also working with its Chinese suppliers to reduce water, energy, and toxic-chemical use in its supply chains.

I like the candy wrapper analogy. This is a good issue for fashion students to think about. The most sustainable fashion is to keep wearing the clothes you already own!

Who would have thought that cardboard, steel/tin, recycled fabric and clothing, aluminum, plastics, paper cartons, chipboard, newspaper, mixed papers and glass could be used to design dresses, pantsuits, coats and more? I feel as though more and more people will participate in creating clothing made from recycled products, so long as the word about it continues to spread.

I feel like I've seen these projects before and even used as displays to promote recycling. At my last school, I took a fiber class and the professor had each of us make outfits from recycled materials she offered. It turned out to be a fun project and most of the outfits actually looked good. This is just one of many ways to get people more excited and aware of recycling and reusing materials.

Two years ago at our Earth Day, a student organized a Recycled Fashion Show. She created all the clothing, organized the models, and conducted the show on the quad. Look at page 16 of this report I wrote a few years ago: http://www.lasell.edu/Documents/Reports/2009-2010-Lasell-College-Sustainability-Report.pdf

A Minnesota fashion group has created a set of standards for sustainable and "green" fashion. The group hopes to better put the consumer at ease by informing them of the strict standards that are carried out to ensure their garment is ethically made and environmentally sustainable. The group offers their certification requirements free of cost to the designer so it is not difficult or expensive to attain for companies just starting out. 

A set of standards is a good idea. The USDA can set organic standards but most of the environmental harm is from the chemicals used on the textiles later in the cycle.

Thanks to organizations like the Green Hotels Association, Economically Sound, WTTC, and the ITP, hotels are on a trend to become more involved in environmental issues. The Linen Reuse Program is most popular currently, hotels simply ask their guests if it is necessary to wash the sheets every night. This program has been on the rise for awhile now but the newest trend is for hotels to calculate their carbon footprint. I can only see the interest in hotels becoming more environmentally friendly increasing.

What is cool about the cards in hotel rooms about reusing towels is that psychologists have studied it extensively. They have found that tweaking the wording can have a huge impact on towel reuse rates. http://csi.gsb.stanford.edu/room-viewpoint

This article discusses Fashion's Carbon Footprint and how recycling textiles can reduce the amount of CO2 emissions.

Thanks Meghan. To be honest, I had no idea fabric could be recycled into new clothes. We collect tons of clothing at move out time. Most is donated to organizations that can distribute the clothes. But some is so gross we toss it. Where can we recycle it?