Clothing
Destroying Clothes- Brand Managmenent and the Apparel Industry
It really is quite a dilemma, the question of brand and style management and environmental stewardship has been at the forefront of controversy since the H&M and Walmart clothing destruction and disposal incident. This conjures up a similar dumpster diving topic of food disposal by grocery stores and restaurants, food safety concerns can pose some justification while the destruction of clothes can be more difficult to explain.
Given that people are dying of exposure around the world and there really doesn’t seem to be any cause to destroy perfectly good clothes, there are two issues one must consider- Brand management and the fragile economy of clothing manufacturing. In some ways they can be interconnected although one is detrimental to a company, the other can doom an industry.
Brand management to some is not an excuse, but in our society it is a necessity. Much like the regulation of food production to maintain pricing, people starve as a consequence, however, it is needed to maintain the industry. If a brand is de-valued, it can bring about the death of the company. If you had just purchased a new jacket at a store for $100, and then started to see that same jacket being worn by homeless, showing up in large quantities at second hand stores and charities, it would probably disappoint you or make you feel like you got ripped off (you paid decent money for something that others are getting at a heavy discount or even free). Not only does it sabotage the ’style’ (style inherently involves an exclusivity factor or comparison with ’stylish’ people), but it de-values the item knowing that you over-paid for it. This will cause a collapse in the brand as no one will want to pay that much for their items if they can get it cheaper elsewhere, or know that ’societal unsavory individuals’ will be wearing them at the same time.
The other, and probably least recognized issue is the affect on the clothing industry as a whole. This has been a particular problem in very poor regions of Africa and South America. The infiltration of charities giving away free clothes has destroyed any hope of a local industry and sadly closed down the manufacture of traditional style clothes. In areas of true extreme poverty, where the chance of death from exposure is a real risk, these practices have indeed saved lives. It is the collateral damage from an over-abundance of these items which has spread throughout these areas that wreak havoc on the local clothing industry.
Finisterre UK Surf Clothing
As a Christmas gift this year I received a surfing video from a friend which got me not only dreaming of surfing, but also of some of the great surf gear out there. This being winter for us up in the Northern Hemisphere, warm clothes and green wetsuits are required to ride our eco-friendly surfboards.
A company called Finisterre, based out of the UK, is doing great things in the world of surfing, and really for all outdoor activities. Also founders of Offset The PLC, they are working to reduce the amount of waste found in consumer goods today. Less raw material waste, production waste, transport waste, and ultimate disposable waste.
“After a certain point the correlation between material goods and happiness breaks down to such an extent that it is questionable as to whether a relationship actually exists.
So again we find less is more.”
With company values like that, along with truly eco-friendly products, and a One Percent for the Planet member, they earn five stars with me.
Eco-Friendly Friday – Sustainable Sushi n Rice + Tshirts
If you are following me on Twitter, you probably already have seen many of these, so start following @chicecologist for up-to-the-minute eco-friendly updates from The Chic Ecologist. Hope you are having a great Friday, and hopefully this will make it even better!
Sustainable Sushi
If you love sushi like I do, then you should check out Seafood Watch’s sustainable seafood initiative. You may already carry around a pocket guide (or the cool iphone app they have), but now you can help your favorite sushi restaurants also be more aware of the seafood they serve.
You can even get a sushi kit by pledging to get sustainable with your sushi. The kit includes chopsticks, sustainable sushi cards and informational brochures to leave with your sushi chef. For those who don’t know, Seafood watch is a part of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a very respected marine institution.
Free Rice
Helping to feed the hungry and improving your vocabulary don’t seem like they go together, but freerice.com pairs them like white on rice. For every correct answer you get, you donate (through their sponsors) 10 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program.
Let me tell you, it gets very addicting, and before you know it you have a bowl-full of rice on the screen. You can even change the subject to different languages, geography, math, chemistry, even art! If you are a teacher, or know a teacher, pass it on to the students- they will love the game-like play and visual rewards. All for a great cause.
T shirt recycling
Andy over at hideyourarms.com put together a great blog article on how to customize and recycle your old t-shirts. From scarfs to dog clothes, pillow cases, underwear and more. Tons of great ideas, videos and how-to’s to reuse those favorite old T’s.
Can I Recycle This, and Where?
I have this happen to me all the time. Random electronics, toys, packaging, home remodeling projects, etc. I don’t want to throw it away, but can it be recycled? Real Simple has come up with a great A-Z guide to recycle just about anything, and gives you the information you need to find a recycler in your area. Their list is pretty complete, however I have a few additional resources for some specific items- mainly clothes and denim jeans.
Probably the best way to recycle clothes is to take them to your local charity that accepts donations. Goodwill, The Salvation Army, and many other large scale donation resellers will bundle unsellable clothes and sell them to textile recyclers who then make them into industrial rags. Alternatively, recycled denim is becoming an increasingly popular form of insulation in new and remodeled homes.
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Organic Colorful Childrens Clothes – Happy Green Bee
Fresh from Green Festival Seattle 2009 where I saw so much great stuff, i have decided to begin with some of the baby items I came across.
Drawn to the bright colors and simplicity of the designs, I could not help but love what I saw. The colors and patterns remind me of a roll of lifesavers candy, but with a European look and feel. Crafted to stretch and move with the energetic activities of young children, yet still be cute and stylish, and it’s no wonder; the companies founder Roxanne Quimby has a background in art and is well traveled.
Green Up Your Launderd Clothing – Dry Cleaning Re-thought
Ever think what a little tweak here and there to a huge industry such as dry cleaning? There are about 6 dry cleaners just in my one block radius, and they each get enough business to sustain themselves, so it makes me wonder; what kind of impact could a single little change do to preserving the environment? Many of you may have heard about new ‘Green’ Eco-friendly dry cleaners, so what makes them green you say?
Most dry cleaners use the chemical perchloroethylene (also called tetrachloroethylene, perc, Cl2C=CCl2 and C2Cl4) to launder your clothes. Exposure to perchloroethylene has been found to be dangerous to your health, and has been linked to increased risks of several cancers including: bladder cancer, cervical cancer, esophageal cancer. It also is an irritant causing skin, eye, nose and throat irritation, reduced fertility, and many other adverse health effects. Environmental impacts have been less clear, although lets assume that if it causes issues like that, it probably isn’t too good for anything else either. Those most affected by these afflictions are the actual dry cleaners themselves since they are exposed to these chemicals on a daily basis.
Environmentally friendly ‘Green’ dry cleaners commonly use one of two substitutes for perchloroethylene, mainly liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) or silicone-solvent based cleaning. Both of these are widely believed to be more environmentally friendly, however, the health risks to workers using silicone-solvents have not been fully studied. Consumer Reports recently compared the cleaning ability of these methods, and found that the liquid carbon dioxide ‘dry cleaning’ method to be far more effective than traditional perchloroethylene with silicone-solvents coming in a close second. It appears the green dry cleaning methods not only are more eco-friendly, but also more effective!
That’s really just the tip of the iceberg. What about the billions of disposable items that we take home from the dry-cleaners after picking up out clothes? Two companies have each addressed seperate items in order to green up the industry.
Hanger Network Recycled Hangers
It may not surprise you that over 3.5 billion wire hangers are used every year, and while they may be useful for pulling wire behind a wall or fishing a wedding ring out of a sink drain, most of us don’t re-use all of the dry cleaning hangars we collect over the years. A marketing company called Hanger Network has come up with a great earth friendly design and a new way to market to the consumer, the EcoHanger. It remains re-useable, and is composed of almost entirely recycled content from the 100% recycled paper cover to the recycled bottle-cap hook. Made in the USA from renewable resources, it also remains 100% recyclable.
Clothesnik Reuseable Cotton Dry-Cleaning Covers
And finally, the plastic bag covering that your dry cleaning always comes back wrapped in. Reuseniks came up with a reusable cotton cover to be used when transporting your dry cleaning to and from the dry cleaners called the Clothesnik. Not only does it make your dry cleaned clothes easier to find when picking them up, you reduce the plastic waste generated from the one time use disposable plastic covers. Now if only we could get them in organic cotton, or better yet, hemp!
For environmentally friendly dry cleaner locations near you, check out Hangars Cleaners or Blue Sky Cleaners, which uses to liquid carbon dioxide method, or Green Earth Cleaning for the silicone-solvent method.
[via treehugger and ecolect]
Pivot Boutique – Eco Smart Fashion in Chicago
A striking example of eco smart fashion, Pivot Boutique is a perfect balance of selection and great design- you will always find at least one ‘gotta have it’ item. Featuring dresses, sweaters, coats, mens clothing, and accessories (including Simply Wooden Rings), you can shop for and entire outfit, or just that pivotal piece.
Pivot Boutique was opened in the West Loop of Chicago in September of 2007 and is devoted solely to eco-fashion. Jessa Brinkmeyer (the founder and owner of Pivot) tells me that she opened Pivot “…so that people could see all that eco-fashion has to offer and to realize they don’t need to sacrifice anything in terms of style, fashion, personal taste or comfort to have a more conscious wardrobe.” Given the beautiful, stylish garments by over 50 designers with some eco friendly fabrics and materials you have heard of like bamboo, organic cotton, hemp; and some you may have not, such as lenpur, baby alpaca, and lyocel; every garment is special and unique. Sustainable by the clothes they sell, and by the business decisions they make. The boutique reuses fixtures, employs energy efficient lighting, uses minimal packing materials and supports local businesses and the green community.
The Boutique is located in Chicago, but the great news is they have an excellent shopping experience awaiting you online, so you can browse from home. I know i have my eye on the organic cotton and sustainable silk hoody by Turk+Taylor. For events, a list of designers and a blog, check out their website at pivotboutique.com
Cold? Just flip your jacket – Dual Climate Outerwear
A new innovative design in outerwear, The North Face has come up with a jacket that adapts to changes in the weather using baffles to regulate temperature. This isn’t your regular down vest kinda baffle system, the Men’s Reversible Mercurial Jacket uses the orientation of the jacket (inside-out or outside-in) to adjust airflow between the baffles. Not only that, but a metallic reflective layer does double duty by reflecting the suns rays when worn on the outside, and reflects your body heat back in if worn on the inside.
The 23-ounce jacket will retail for $350 and results in a dual purpose jacket for hiking, trecking, backpacking, or a trip to the mall on a cold day.
[via popsci]
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