Sustainable, green, ethical fashion – the buzzwords of the 2020s. Fashion brands, designers and clothing stores are more aware than ever of environmentally conscious consumers. Not only do most companies and brands want to tap into that market and make profit, many people who work for them have genuine interest in helping people and the planet.

Everyone has different values and opinions on what is the best and it can be overwhelming, frustrating and annoying trying to navigate what labels and claims to sustainability truly mean. So how can you be more sustainable? And what is sustainable fashion?

It can mean different things to different people so there’s not really an easy answer to this, but essentially, it’s clothing that is environmentally friendly and ethical. Here’s a breakdown of the different types of sustainable fashion so we can move forward to make thoughtful decisions about what we buy:

Recycled clothes

Recycled clothing and fashion is a huge topic. It generally means reusing and repurposing clothing or ‘waste’. Recycled fashion overlaps with various other terms in the sustainable fashion scene for example upcycled clothes, circular fashion and vintage or resold/thrifted items. These types of garments are being reused and reworn; given a new use and so they are recycled.

The other meaning for recycled clothes or fashion involves recycled materials. This is when garments are made from old ‘waste’ materials, for example using plastic bottles to make leggings or shoes, or shredding old clothes and pulling them apart to create new fabrics to make clothes.

It’s important to note that most fast fashion clothes can’t be properly recycled because materials aren’t made with circularity in mind. Moreover they’re produced with polyester and synthetic blends which are cheaper but harder to reuse. These clothes or scraps usually end up being melted down or sent to a landfill. Clothing made from materials like cotton and linen, which is natural, can be stripped and cleaned to reuse for lots of different things or biodegrade.

Upcycled clothes

This is where unwanted clothes or junk materials are given new life; it’s essentially creative reuse and often differs from recycled clothes since garments aren’t kept in their original form and materials don’t need to be broken down.

An upcycled garment can be made by materials which are off cuts from clothing that’s produced in a factory, or just general worn down old clothing. For example, a company using excess materials from jeans to create a shirt are upcycling. On an individual level, upcycling clothes is when you turn your old shirt that’s damaged, unwanted or out of style, for example, into something else that you can wear.

Upcycling clothes and materials helps reduce waste significantly thus contributing to a more circular economy where items are used for as long as possible, restored and repurposed. Upcycled clothes are often labelled as recycled clothes but they tend to be enhanced or made into something better, hence ‘up’ cycled.

Ethical clothing and vegan fashion

Ethical clothing takes into consideration the social good, this is human rights and animal welfare. Vegan and ethical clothing are used interchangeably but this isn’t always accurate. Supply chain transparency is vital to showcase if clothing is being made ethically. Animals are not harmed or used in anyway to create the clothes and the workers are treated with dignity and a liveable wage.

Vegan clothing and fashion tends to focus on the animal cruelty free aspect so isn’t necessarily concerned with the environmental impact, and ethical fashion tends to focus on worker welfare so may still include animal skins or plastic fused materials.

The welfare of the people goes beyond the employees working directly for a fashion brand, e.g. the designers, marketing team and the on floor sales staff. It looks all the way down the supply chain to the farmers who farm the fabrics to the workers who stitch the clothes together. The factory conditions should be good and labourers paid fairly for their workmanship whether by machine or hand. This isn’t always the case in the fashion industry, regardless of the price tag.

Some materials use and harm animals. The most obvious are fur, leather and wool but others are also unethical, such as organic silk, cashmere, down (feathers) and mohair. Animals are raised for slaughter and often suffer brutal treatment, including being skinned or shredded alive. Many companies that use animals for fabrics say the animals are treated well but is this good enough? Very few leather good are made from cows that were slaughtered for beef or crocodiles who died of natural causes if at all.

The non organic alternative, PU or PVC material, can be devastating for the environment as it’s usually plastic that won’t biodegrade and sheds microplastics.

Ethical clothes should harm no one on the planet and are often referred to under an umbrella term of vegan fashion because of this.

Circular clothes or zero waste fashion

These terms are often tied together and they’re almost the same as upcycling and recycling. Reusing and reducing waste that goes to a landfill is a foundation of circularity and zero waste fashion. Either clothes can go back into use, or they leave nothing behind when they’re disposed.

The end of life of the garment is thought about at the beginning of the garment making process. The designer/company considers what options consumers or they as sellers have to reuse it when the garment is no longer wanted, tears or gets damaged. Can they take back old, damaged garments or can the clothes be recycled into new materials? If so, that’s circular. And is the material natural that will biodegrade safely if it can’t be reused? If so, that’s zero waste.

Textiles and material waste from the fashion industry must be eliminated before and after customers have used it for clothes to be circular and zero waste. This means that clothing is made from existing or reclaimed materials. It also means that there is no leftover scrap fabric – everything is used for something.

Creating a zero waste and circular wardrobe isn’t just an organisation’s problem. It starts with us and can be achieved by thrifting, swapping and wearing what you already have. Recycling or upcycling your clothes is another great way to start your journey in circular or zero waste fashion.

Eco-friendly fashion

Eco-friendly is often used interchangeably with sustainability however eco-friendly is primarily focused on earth friendly. It’s still a tricky term to decipher like many of the sustainability terms as they link in with one another.

Eco-friendly materials are better for the environment. This includes reused fabric, organic fabric and fabric that prevents waste like plastic bottles. It also often tends to look down the entire supply chain where new fabrics are made, e.g. are the farmers using eco-friendly practises to grow the materials to create the fabric? It also considers the end of life and what effect disposal or recycling of the clothing would have.

Eco-friendly materials that are biodegradable and natural include cotton, lyocell, silk and linen. Organic materials, like cotton and lyocell use less water and few to no harmful chemicals unlike polyester and blended fabrics. But it’s important to note that this all falls down to supply chain too – it isn’t necessarily ethical. Eco-friendly clothes and materials may only refer to one part of the garment; it’s important to ask and find out the source.

Another point to share is that whilst reducing plastic waste is vital, turning it into clothes that leak microplastics into the oceans when you use a washing machine isn’t. But ineffective plastic bottle recycling or dumping will also leak microplastics into the ocean so many argue that materials made from plastic waste are better.

Like most things that are sustainable, eco-friendly clothes are essentially clothes that don’t harm the earth.

Handmade clothes

This one pretty much speaks for itself – it’s clothing that isn’t made in a factory with machines, but is made by people by hand. This can be using any materials, eco-friendly, recycled/old or newly made.

The materials aren’t necessarily ‘green’ or eco friendly, but the people are the forefront of the work and usually getting the right pay and the right working conditions. The clothes are also usually made to order so are also considered slow fashion (below).

Vintage, thrifted and second hand clothes

Purchasing clothes from charity shops, reselling apps and thrift stores is a form of clothes recycling and contributes to sustainable fashion in the easiest way.

Garments which are taken care of and passed on to others to wear are some of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable out there. If you remember to take care of your clothing, you’ll be on your way to a more sustainable lifestyle.

Slow fashion

Slow fashion is the opposite to high street fashion and trends. And it isn’t just about time, but quality – garments are made to order and are usually (but not always) of higher quality materials that will stand the test of time and wear. Brands who follow the slow fashion method have limited collections and generally don’t keep stock, opting instead to make garments as ordered meaning an item may not reach you for four to six weeks.

Vintage is part of the slow fashion movement, so is handmade. Essentially, it is clothing that’s made to last and takes time to make. Slow fashion is about enduring style that won’t end up in a landfill and designers encourage customers to purchase less and create a minimalist, timeless wardrobe.

What do you look for?

Take some time to figure out what’s important to you as the first step. To some of us, the priority is animal welfare; to others it’s the oceans. And it’s not fair to argue one environmental issue is worse than another. Most important to almost all of us is transparency and helping the planet however we can.

We can’t ask for everything because major companies are businesses, profits mean more to them and generally people don’t want to pay a lot of money for clothes so a balancing act to support customers and employees (even fourth level employees down the supply chain) isn’t an easy task.

Why not start with one thing you’ll try to do and focus on that for the next few months. It’ll help you understand what you can and can’t manage, and the important thing is making a thoughtful decision.

_{Photo by Alyssa Strohmann on Unsplash}

_{References: the good trade, peta, compareethics}