Sustainable Fashion: How to Build an Eco-Friendly Wardrobe

Fashion is a multi faced industry that isn’t only affecting personal style but also the environment and also the society at large. With the result of growing awareness of that environmental crisis, we’re also seeing a growing awareness that the fashion industry is depleting natural resources and adding to pollution. It’s especially evident when you look at the world of mass production, fast fashion, and a whole lot of waste. Cheap, disposable clothing is the bane of the planet, intervening as a resource drainer and a polluter of its surface. In response to this, the movement toward sustainable fashion has seen building an eco-friendly wardrobe as an essential step. The goal here is to cut down consumption, encourage use again, and support good and ethical fashion production. Embracing sustainable fashion is a proactive act, one that serves to reduce the environmental footprint by becoming observers of ethical labor practices and promoting long lasting value instead of quick fixes. This guide will explore how to build such a wardrobe, and provide practical insights into how we can collectively move toward more sustainable choices in fashion.

The Environmental Impact of Fashion

Let’s start exploring how (and why) we can build a sustainable wardrobe, with the understanding that we live in a highly polluting industry. Fashion, historically, is a very resource intensive sector that helps create several pressing environmental problems. For instance, the Case of the fashion industry is one where it is one of the biggest water consumers in the world. In particular, cotton farming is intensive in terms of its water use requirements for irrigation, and the dyes used to colour garments for garment manufacturing may well involve chemicals that pollute water sources. Producing just one cotton t-shirt requires an average person to drink three years’ worth of water!. Textile waste is also a big issue besides water consumption. Year after year, millions of tons of textiles go to waste, the vast majority of which end up in landfill—where they take hundreds of years to decompose. The majority of nylons and polyesters found in fast fashion release microplastics into the environment as they break down — adding to pollution. Roughly 10 per cent of global carbon emissions come from the fashion industry, which is more than the combined emissions from international flights and maritime shipping. Clothes are manufactured, transported and retailed with considerable energy, which generates these emissions. Not only is there pollution from the use of harmful chemicals in dyeing processes and the heavy application of pesticides in conventional cotton farming, some of which also results in adverse health effects to workers and the communities within which they are employed. With these environmental impacts, there is nothing to it. Building an eco-friendly wardrobe is not a personal choice, in fact, it is a must to contribute to global sustainability.

Principles of Sustainable Fashion

The basic principles of sustainable fashion stem from a few key principles that determine what clothing is made and consumed in a way that respects the planet and its people. The foundations of these principles are environmental responsibility, fair labor policies, and the long term value of clothing.

1. Eco-Friendly Materials:

The use of organic cotton, bamboo, hemp and recycled fabrics are part of sustainable fashion. These materials require fewer resources to produce and have a lower environmental footprint if they are provided these materials are used on its own power plant and are produced with simple resources. For instance, organic cotton is grown without any harmful pesticides or synthetic fertilizers and bamboo is a fast growing, minimal impact sustainable resource. 

2. Slow Fashion:

Slow fashion is about timeless design and quality, while avoiding fashion moves that bring quickness with quantity. The aim is to create garments that are durable and fashionable enough that they don’t need to be replaced as often, and that we don’t have to consume so much.

3. Ethical Production:

Sustainable fashion has also made ethical production of which fair wages, safe working conditions and workers’ rights have been a mission. Sustainable fashion is different from many fast fashion brands that exploit low wage workers in developing countries; it is about greater transparency and accountability in the fashion supply chain.

4. Recycling and Upcycling:

Recycling and upcycling are the main concepts of the sustainable fashion movement. Instead of just trashing the old or worn out clothing, these garments are then recycled and do have a second life in non utilitarian goodsFor example, you can put the worn to death clothes to use and make new beautiful fashion pieces, accessories, etc., or even a home décor.

5. Reducing Waste:

Another key principle designers are trying to incorporate is zero waste design, which is creating garments with very little fabric waste. This approach also encourages consumers to buy fewer things and buy better things, things that last longer than things that are cheap.

Steps to Build an Eco-Friendly Wardrobe

We need to shift from fast consumption to slow consumption to build an eco-friendly wardrobe. So here’s what I give you, step by step, on how to build a sustainable wardrobe that lives up to your values and shrinks your environmental footprint..

1. Assess Your Current Wardrobe

The first step in building a sustainable wardrobe is to examine what you have now. A wardrobe audit is a great place to start if you want to evaluate what you already own and see what pieces you wear the most often and what needs to be replaced.But this could also help declutter items you no longer use and make more space for more sustainable means (dye swap), and help you spot which garments can be repurposed, donated or sold. First off, you categorize your clothes into groups: The ones you wear often, the ones you wear out, and the ones you haven’t touched in months. But don’t forget, some things can be fixed or upcycled rather than put down the drain. The trick is to get rid of unneeded noise and concentrate on being perfect, not about giving so much.

2. Choose Quality Over Quantity

 The first thing you need to do to create a sustainable wardrobe is to invest in good quality garments. Instead of buying say a thousand cheap items, buy less, but better quality items made from lasting materials. Hues that are also biodegradable and come, rather than synthetic fibers, polyester and acrylic that can take decades to rot, are wool, linen, and organic cotton. Make buying clothes your way: opt for timeless styles that aren’t going to be quickly out of fashion. Well fitted jeans, a tailored blazer or a little black dress are more likely to stay in your wardrobe for years, so you don’t need to replace them as often.

 When you are purchasing clothes, purchase styles that will not go out of fashion. Classic pieces such as well-fitted jeans, tailored blazers or a little black dress will be worn for years and you won’t have to replace them so often.

3. Opt for Sustainable Fabrics

•  One of the best ways to create an eco wardrobe is by choosing clothing made from sustainable fabrics. Here are some examples of eco-friendly and stylish materials:
•  •Organic Cotton: In addition to conventionally grown cotton, organic cotton is grown without the use of the harmful pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers.
• Linen: Linen is made from the flax plant, is biodegradable, very durable and uses less water to produce than cotton.

Bamboo: Bamboo fabric is soft, breathable and sustainable because bamboo is a fast renewable resource.

Hemp: Hemp is the most environmentally friendly material that can be grown with little water and pesticides and with mildew and UV ray resistance.

Recycled Fabrics: Recycled polyester and other fabrics made from repurposed materials are great ways to reduce waste and keep your clothes from being as bad for the environment.

4. Support Ethical Brands

Sustainability and ethical practices are arguably one of the most important things you can do to green your wardrobe – choosing to support brands with a focus on these areas. If an organization is ethical, they are more transparent about how the products are made, where they are coming from, fair wages, safe working conditions and respectful workers.

Look for certifications such as:

•  Fair Trade: The Saint Anne’s Communion of Saints garment workers’ program has ensured fair wages and safe working conditions.
• GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard): It certifies that textiles contain at least 70% organic fibers.
• B Corp: In simple terms, it means a company has high standards of social and environmental performance.

There are many eco conscious brands that sell stylish, high quality clothing that doesn’t sacrifice fashion for the sake of sustainability. These companies get support and that helps drive the demand for ethically produced goods and forces change in the industry.

5. Thrift Shopping and Vintage Finds

Buying second hand clothing is one of the most sustainable things you can do. Of course there are thrift stores, consignment shops or vintage boutiques where you can shop around to find a beautiful preloved garment far cheaper than any new one. That not only is secondhand cheaper, but it also decreases demand on having new clothing produced and it decreases the amount of waste going to landfills. Furthermore, vintage clothing typically has the added benefit of often possessing an individual charm and quality, which mass produced items simply cannot compete with, which is perfect for making your garments look a little more original, and at the same time constitutes a wonderful way to partake in a circular economy.

6. Repair and Upcycle

Don’t throw away damaged or outdated clothing, instead repair or upcycle them. Small fixes like sewing on a missing button, mending a small tear or patching worn out areas can really prolong the life of your clothes. The good news is: If you’re not sure you can do the repair yourself, many local tailors or online tutorials can help. Upcycling is where you transform old garments to become something entirely new for them to start a new life. This can mean transforming an old t-shirt into a tote bag or reworking a pair of tired jeans into fresh looking shorts for instance.

7. Care for Your Clothes

In fact, it has everything to do with the way you treat your clothes. Washing clothes in cold water, air drying and avoiding excessive ironing or dry cleaning are all good ways to preserve the fabric and to reduce the amount of ‘wet’ energy used in laundry. But it should be mentioned that if you are washing synthetic fabrics with a microfiber filter or bag then you will be able to capture microplastics that would otherwise end up in the environment.

The storing of your clothes in good condition is of utmost importance. Suits and/or jackets keep on wooden hangers, and delicate fabrics should be stored in breathable, garment bags to prevent damage to them.

8. Adopt a ‘Less Is More’ Mentality

A minimalist mindset is one of the easiest and most effective ways to build a sustainable wardrobe. Think twice before you go shopping and in the “less is more” philosophy you should consider buying something that is functional, high quality and versatile instead of being the best of this and that. This means you can build a wardrobe of fewer things, but a lot at once, so you can mix and match to create many different outfits from a handful of selected items..

Conclusion

The process of building an eco-friendly wardrobe is a slow one and involves making more conscious and sustainable fashion choices over time. Change can be implemented at both micro and macro scales – micro when choosing the materials, brands and more generally the lifecycle of clothing and macro when designing regulations to shape the fashion industry as a whole. Wearing eco friendly fashion means less waste, less resource consumption, and a fashion system that values longevity over fast consumption. By mindful purchasing, wearing and caring for clothes, anyone can build a wardrobe that expresses their values, while helping to protect the planet for future generations.