Eco Fabrics

Have you ever wondered about where your clothes and their materials come from, or the manufacturing techniques involved in producing them? If you want to find out more about today’s trend and their relevance to the planet, read on.

 Why is the environment relevant to fashion?  

With fast fashion and the ever-changing trends within the fashion industry these days, we really owe it to the environment to stop every now and then to consider exactly what the impacts of our consumerist culture are for our planet. It’s easy to say that we need to reduce waste, encourage recycling, and promote these various other methods to ‘save’ the planet, but where do we really start?

 The truth is, change comes from all the small changes we make in our lives, whether they’re something as simple as turning on the light when it’s not needed, or making more informed decisions about the clothes we choose, based on their ethics as well as their style and place in fashion at the current time.

 When clothes are made, they obviously go through various different processes in order to reach the state they are when we see them in a shop or order them from a website online. Another element involved in the production of clothing is the materials themselves – how sustainable are they? Many manufacturing processes and materials used for producing different items of clothing can all have impacts on the environment of varying severities. The best way to change this is by educating yourself and others about these impacts and effects and finding alternatives where you get the best product for you and the environment.

How can we do good for the environment?

Identifying and recognising the problems that fast fashion causes is one step to the solution but putting this information into practical use is the real target.

Luckily, it is possible to find ways in which you and the environment can benefit from your clothing purchases, and there are many environmentally friendly materials available, as listed below:

• Organic cotton: although you may see cotton used in clothing very often, finding products sourced from organic cotton can be a little trickier. In terms of the materials themselves, there’s not really any difference between the two, but organic cotton is grown without any harmful chemicals, such as pesticides, during the process, while cotton generally is. Making the switch from regular cotton to organic cotton is so simple but can make a big difference.
• Linen: if you own linen clothes, you’ll know how luxurious they feel, keeping you warm in winter and cool in the summer. Linen comes from the flax plant, which doesn’t require much water or energy to be grown, making it good for the planet.
• Lyocell (TENCEL): perhaps a slightly less well-known, or widely used fabric, lyocell is made from the cellulose fibre from the dissolved pulp of a gum tree. Although this does seem a bit specific, it is a genuine fabric which is considered very eco-friendly as 99% of the ingredients used to create it are re-used or recycled.
• Hemp: if you haven’t come across hemp when being used in clothing before, you may have seen it in beauty products, such as moisturisers. One of the eco-friendliest fabrics in the world, hemp material is made from the cannabis sativa plant and has a similar texture to cotton, only hemp has an incredibly high yield, and one much higher than cotton.
• SeaCell: a new, innovative material, SeaCell is produced by smartfiber AG, and it is made from seaweed and eucalyptus. This unique material has a very soft, silky texture and is supposed to give your body and skin a sense of warmth and cosiness, just by wearing clothes made from it.
• Bamboo: yes, clothing can even be made out of bamboo, and it is considered an eco-friendly material to use as it requires little resources and care which affect the environment, needing little fertilisers, pesticides or other similar things. Not to mention, it grows very fast compared to other plants, making it a sustainable option for continuous future use.

 If you’re interested in finding a manufacturer who is extremely committed to producing eco-fabrics using sustainably-sourced materials, you can see Always Trendin for more details and information!