Sustainable Choices with Outdoor Clothing
“If you want 100% sustainable outdoor clothes while not completely changing your life, i.e. moving to a yurt and becoming a reindeer herder, I’m sorry, that is just not possible”
By: Tara Geraghty-Moats, GRP biathlete
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP):
One pair of jeans takes 3,781 liters of water to make. That equates to the emission of around 33.4 kilograms of carbon equivalent.
The fashion industry is responsible for 10 % of annual global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. At this pace, the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions will surge more than 50 % by 2030.
If demographic and lifestyle patterns continue as they are now, global consumption of apparel will rise from 62 million metric tons in 2019 to 102 million tons in 10 years.
Pretty daunting huh? Short of moving to a tropical island, and wearing handmade grass kilts or similarly extreme solutions, there are no perfect solutions when it comes to getting clothes. If you want 100% sustainable outdoor clothes while not completely changing your life, i.e. moving to a yurt and becoming a reindeer herder, I’m sorry, that is just not possible. What is very possible to do is make more sustainable choices, within our modern life. Keep in mind that all choices will have down-sides so you should make the choice you feel best about. Here are three better choices to start with.
Thrift Store shopping
Thrift store shopping is one of the best ways to reduce your CO2 emissions when getting clothes. While there was a pretty large carbon footprint print in making the piece of clothing you will get at a thrift store, there will be almost no additional footprint by you purchasing it the second time around.
The challenge with thrift store shopping is it takes time, you have to be flexible about what you get, and whether or not there are good choices for outdoor clothes really depends on the area you live in. I will say getting high quality summer outdoor clothing in a thrift store is often very doable.
One development in thrifting is online thrift stores. These have a slightly larger carbon footprint because clothing is usually shipped to a distribution center, and then shipped again to the customer. Still, no new clothes were made for you to purchase an item and that is a start in the right direction.
Eco-Conscious Companies
There are a lot of companies that claim to be green. One thing to be aware of is a common behavior called “greenwashing”. This means a company is marketing itself as much more eco-conscious than they actually are. When shopping for clothes, look for companies with independent sustainability certifications that are transparent about their supply chain process. It is important to acknowledge that there are not perfect answers to environmental problems. Companies that are willing to engage honestly about environmental issues and make decisions based on more than just pure profit margins are worth supporting. For an example of what this can look like, I highly recommend the book Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Patagonia founder, Yvon Chouinard.
Buy less
Maybe you don’t have time or finances to do either of the first two options. There is one simple option for you, which is arguably the best: don’t get as many clothes.
Not so very long ago in human history we had only a few items in our wardrobe. Today many people are overwhelmed with the amount of textiles in the closet.
To alleviate this problem choose clothes that are multi-purpose. For example, invest in a nice sweater made from renewable fabrics that you can ski in, garden in, and wear to a nice dinner.
Before you buy anything ask yourself a few questions:
How long do I want this to last?
What will I use this for?
Do I already have something I could wear instead of getting this new item?
Aim to have a few pieces of high-quality clothing over many pieces of low-quality clothing. The overall cost to you as the consumer turns out to be less and the environment will thank you.
In this article, I have barely touched on a massive and complex issue. One major issue I didn’t even get into is micro plastics from the textile industry polluting our water. There is much more we have to learn. Please be thoughtful of what you buy this holiday season. Sometimes the best present is just to be present.