Are Your Clothes Bad For The Environment?

The Fall season is fast approaching, but let’s not take those summer clothes and toss them in the trash! Before discarding those lived-in shorts and tank tops, think about recycling them. Every year, millions of pounds of textiles are tossed into US landfills. Instead, donate your duds to USAgain.

Now, don’t get the wrong idea. We’re not saying that wearing clothes is bad for the environment! The problem lies in the fabrics that are being used to make our modern day clothes. These fabrics tend to be far from eco-friendly.

Quick facts…

Cotton: The production of (non-organic) cotton destroys farmland and pollutes waterways. The production of a simple T-shirt requires two pounds of pesticide!

Dyes: Most common dyes that are used in fabrics contain heavy metals that can be harmful to animals, the natural environment, and ourselves.

Synthetic polyesters and nylons: These are made from petrochemicals via a process of refining crude oil, which creates horrible pollution.

Silk: Commercial silk is made by boiling the silkworms’ cocoons, then unwinding the single silk strand onto reels. This results in the silkworms being boiled to death in their cocoons.

What’s more, many fabrics cause further environmental problems when they’re dumped in landfill. Fabrics can typically take hundreds of years (or more) to break down in landfill.

But there is hope. Many major clothing companies are recognizing the environmental problems caused by traditional fabrics, and they’re starting to do something about it. These companies are now producing clothes that are made from eco-friendly fabrics.

Unfortunately, eco-friendly clothes still tend to be the exception rather than the norm. That’s why it’s so important for us, as consumers, to start searching for clothes made from environmentally friendly fabrics. The more of us that do this, the more commercially viable it will be for companies to use eco-friendly fabrics in their clothing lines.

So remember… don’t toss it, recycle it!