The Clothing Conundrum

Did you buy a new sweater this week? How about a winter coat? A new suit? Or maybe just another pair of blue jeans? If you didn’t buy any clothing this week, then you’re probably in the minority. Tens of millions of Americans bought some or several pieces of clothing this week, just like they do every week. They may not be buying it just for themselves but, for someone else in the family, or maybe a friend. And if you are one of those shoppers it means you’re probably holding up your portion of the textile purchasing mania that is sweeping the country. The average American consumer buys 75 or more articles of new clothing each year. Of course a lot of that spending comes during the holiday season, but, if you bought something for someone else, you better watch out: according to a recent Consumers Reports poll, though clothing is the number one holiday gift, it’s also the one that most people are least eager to get. SO, what keeps everyone buying? What’s the biggest appeal of new apparel? In a word: It’s cheap! At least, it appears to be; that doesn’t mean it has no hidden costs. And, by the way, like oil, a lot of clothing is imported. In fact, it’s our #1 import from India and our #2 from China, right after computers.

Clothing overall is less expensive now (prices are down 25% in the last 15 years), and more abundant now than at any other time in history. You can bedeck yourself in togs not even royalty could imagine a couple of hundred years ago without even thinking about hocking your tiara. Clothing ranks 2nd only to food in consumer spending thus making apparel as much of an impulse buying item as candy or snacks. The result, Americans have gone on a deck the halls shopping frenzy. We spend nearly $285 BILLION on clothing each year, according to figures from the U. S. Census bureau, and those figures are from 2002!

Our appetite for clothing is like our appetite for fast and processed food. And just as our unhealthy eating habits have made our bodies obese, an overabundance of cheap apparel is fattening up our houses. Having enough closet space to stuff all this stuff has led to builders not only to make more closets in new homes but to make them a whole lot bigger as well. In some cases the closets in many new homes are almost as large and elaborate as the bedrooms.

While most of our new clothing purchases end up on closet shelves, mountains of textiles are tossed out each year; you know, like all those ugly ties, or those weird colored sweaters and those sequined jeans. On average, 68 pounds of textile products per person are thrown away each year, with most of them ending up in landfills. This alpine range of unwanted waste wearables weighs in at more than 10 million TONS. In case you were wondering, that would equal, pound for pound, about 5 million automobiles.

The real environmental impact of all of this excessive clothing does not come from the disposal or even shipping of the fabrics however; it comes from the manufacturing process. And it doesn’t matter too much whether you are buying an organic cotton yoga outfit or a nylon windbreaker, the production of ALL clothing inflicts severe damage to the natural environment and severely harms human health. Cotton and wool production and processing is only marginally less harmful than that of synthetic fibers.

A nasty truth is that although most ‘synthetic fibers’ come primarily, and some even directly, from petroleum, all textiles are petroleum by-products to some extent. Even ‘natural’ fibers are heavily dependent on oil at various points in their production and manufacturing cycles. And it isn’t only oil that’s the culprit in inflicting environmental damage, all textile fiber processing, from that used in wool and cotton, to nylon and polyester, use corrosive and toxic chemicals in exorbitant amounts.

Even King Cotton is a culprit. Even though synthetic fibers now dominate the clothing market and cotton accounts for only one-third of the U.S. demand for textiles, let’s take a quick look at ordinary, non-organically-grown cotton from growing it to wearing it. Consider the following: [1] one in every four pounds of pesticides used annually in the US is sprayed on cotton; that’s about 22 BILLION pounds of weed killers. This massive dosing occurs even though cotton is grown on less than 2% of our cropland. 2- Toxic defoliants are routinely applied to cotton plants to make harvesting easier. 3- Caustic chemicals such as sodium hydroxide are used to remove naturally occurring waxes in the cotton fiber prior to spinning it into thread. 4- Some, though not all, cotton is bleached, adding additional dangerous chemicals, like chlorine, to the mix. 5- Processing cotton requires vast amounts of water. For example, 15 gallons of water are required to clean and bleach the cotton used in a single shirt. And where do you think that water goes? 6- Want color instead? Dyeing is the most environmentally destructive part of the process. Currently more than 10,000 different dyes and pigments are in use around the world. Many of these colorizing chemicals contain heavy metals, like cadmium and mercury, or salts. And how are these chemical flushed away? By using even more water, which almost invariably carries them into the drinking water system. Many of the factories around the world have little or no treatment facilities for this effluent; and even when they do, some of the dyes can pass right through such facilities without being touched by any treatment process.

What about organic cotton? Is it any better? Marginally to quite a lot. The principal advantage gained by organic cotton is in the production or growing phase of the process. Organically grown cotton doesn’t involve artificial fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides, so the working conditions for those involved in its production are almost always safer. But growing cotton still requires massive amounts of water, and since the yield from an acre of organically grown cotton is lower, more acreage is required to produce an equal amount of cotton. Already, more than half of the irrigated agricultural land in the entire world is sporting a crop of cotton. More cotton=less food. More cotton=less water available for other uses, like adequate and clean and safe drinking supplies.

The irony is that having all of this information, whether it is disturbing or not, probably won’t lead to a significant change in America’s clothing buying binge. Clever, sexy, and savvy marketing almost always trumps appeals to common sense and restraint. Nonetheless it can’t hurt to make such appeals.

When you do go out to buy clothing here are some general suggestions that might help you in making the greenest choices available.

1- Try limiting your clothing purchases. Don’t buy more items than you actually need or are really going to use.
2- Try to avoid buying on impulse. ( Hint: Apply this idea not just to apparel products but to everything you buy.) This may take some conscious effort.

3- Inform yourself.
a- Buy only products that you know are going to last for a long time. Buy apparel that will stand up well not only against the winds of fashion as much as possible, but also the wear of use.
b- Try to be aware of the possible short-term and long-terms issues of disposal of the clothing you purchase. E.g., will it decompose in a reasonable amount of time?
c- Read the labels and take the time to consider what you are reading. For all articles of clothing and shoes, try to become as informed as possible about the origins of the materials they use, the working conditions of the people who are involved in making them, and their effects of production and processing on the environment. If you can afford them, and if you can find them, opt for organically grown cotton, or wool or other animal-born fibers from organically-raised animals. Organic products usually come from environments that are safer for the workers involved as well. By the way, more and more hemp fiber products a reaching the market. Hemp isn’t just a fiber worn by hippies; it’s a highly versatile, highly durable and wholly renewal resource that is being used to make everything from clothing to handbags and shoes.

4- Recycle ALL of your un-wanted clothing if possible. Share items with family and friends, or donate them to some agency that will put them to good use.

All of our lifestyle decisions have an impact that extends beyond the sticker cost, beyond the immediate effect on our bank account or pocketbook. Clothing is one of the basic needs of life. Moreover, what we wear is an important and legitimate means of self-expression and self-care. Living green means living more thoughtfully; it does not mean living less fully; informed and conscious choices usually tend to enrich your life. Choose well.