Where did your clothes come from and what was that like?
With most garments these days, it can be pretty difficult to determine the origin of the fibers in them. Suffice it to say, most clothes on the market have a global foot print. Polyester fibers start out as oil in the ground then go through a lot of steps, often crossing the globe, before making it to your closet with a rather large carbon footprint.
At first, the crude oil was pumped out of the earth, shipped to a refinery, where the heaviest part of the oil - ethane, is used to make ethylene which is again transported elsewhere then made into polyethylene plastic beads called nurdles, which are then shipped somewhere else that will use the nurdles in an industrial chemical process, spinning it into threads, weaving them into bolts of cloth. Bolts and thread get sold around the world to end up in a sewing shop, most often one with cheap labor and little protection or care for the workers and environment. These plastic clothes then end up getting exported to large buyers who distribute on trucks vast distances to shops.
You might be able to determine the country where your new T shirt was sewn, but that is about it. Can you find out where the cotton was grown? Can you tell if it was grown organically (maybe if you're lucky and a discerning customer), or conventionally with GMOs, or what the labor practices are like? What was the dye made from? Is the process toxic? What about the effluent from the factory?
Maybe you like wool for it's natural ability to retain heat, stay dry or for it's comfort. Most wool comes from New Zealand and is shipped and processed around the globe. It's not the worst thing happening but there are plenty of sheep right here. How do I know where the wool is from if I buy some smart wool at REI?
Pretty easy to feel disconnected from your wardrobe, huh?
Fast fashion products are cheap, meaningless and disposable so one never really has the chance to care, let alone develop a close personal relationship with any of it. Since they don't satisfy, they require constant new purchases of more, but they will soon be joining the cycle - take back last years unwanted jeans back at the counter at H&M for recycling at no charge.
I'm certainly not perfect, but I do try to be conscious of some aspects of the impacts of my consumption and purchasing practices. If I can buy local, I usually do and I try to avoid polyester fabrics, with a few exceptions, as they can contain and accumulate toxins and they also release microplastics into the environment as they degrade. It's everywhere, from your house and dryer vent to your washing machine drain and into your watershed or the ocean!
Some people hearing all this might flip out and want to go full on nudist or if in the north, wearing caveman style deer pelts and furs. Others might just care more about how good their ass looks in yoga pants. I think most of us fall in the middle. Thinking twice about the types of fibers one is wearing and buying is the first step in finding an answer that works for each of us. Going deeper, we're going to need some professional resources.
Luckily for us, good people are working on this problem!
There is growing awareness in the corporate world about these issues, and some companies are being nudged in the right direction toward changing for the better. Levi's jeans are already 30% organic cotton but they don't label them as such (The CEO told me) because it's too hard to source enough right now and it necessitates a gradual change in the supply chain and tooling to get to 100% organic. If they were labeled 30% organic people would be demanding 100% organic overnight, they say. So, some people are asking for it and Levi's is responding.
The ideal for me would be getting a clothing item from a local, independent shop and being able to see on the tag not only care instructions but a bit of the story. For a wool jacket, I might see that the sheep were grazed on grasslands 100 miles away where they are combining carbon farming with sheep raising. Through compost application on the rangelands and sheep to mow and further fertilize, they are literally using the grass to pull carbon out of the air and sink it long-term in the soil, a process that may sequester more long term carbon than forrest while increasing livestock forage and soil water retention.
So, my jacket is carbon negative? Cool! It was dyed with locally raised organic indigo from a no-till farm? Also awesome. It's durable and timeless in it's style and build, but with local flair. SOLD
There is an organization called Fibershed dedicated to making this a reality, which has the potential to reconnect us with our local farm and rangeland while we learn to cool our planet, support our resilient local economies and artists and get a meaningful wardrobe that isn't toxic to you or the earth, but instead nurtures it while comforting you and offering an uplifting story to share. Check out their page! There is a ton of interesting work they are doing ranging from what I already mentioned to supporting farmers reviving rare heirloom crops like cotton that is naturally colored. They have a wealth of information and stories on their site.
I first found this group at the Heirloom Festival in Santa Rosa, but recently heard a great interview on the radio that got me thinking about this again and how I love their work.
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STOPSally Fox is breeding colored cotton varieties, no need for dye!
http://www.fibershed.com/producers/sally-fox/