What you are wearing came from something else and it is important to know what that is. It is so crucial to check clothing tags and know what kind of fabric you are buying because that’s a huge part of the environmental impact of your clothing.

The importance of fibers

If we go all the way back to the fibers, your clothing most likely came from a plant, tree, animal, and oil or a combination. While clothing used to be made only from natural fiber, it`s now petroleum-derived synthetics which seem to be the most popular.

We have been learning more and more what a huge problem synthetic is, not just because they`re essentially plastic and non-biodegradable, but because they release tiny plastic microfibers through washing and wear which are polluting our ocean, foods and water systems. Microfibers have even been found in over 80 percent of the world`s tap water. In many countries were completely removed from the clothing production process.

So, we often have no idea and don’t put any thought into how our clothes were made or what they were made from but at least we can get some of that information by checking clothing tags. Transparency is a huge issue in fashion but we`re lucky because the fabric content is one of the few things about our clothes that brands actually tell us. This is an area where it`s easier to make better decisions and choose more sustainable materials.

Some fabrics to keep an eye out for our organic which greatly reduces pesticide use or recycled cotton.

If you are looking at animal materials, look for responsibly sourced or recycled fabrics and fibers. If you are wanting synthetics and sometimes for things like activewear they`re pretty useful. Always look for recycled synthetics, so at least existing resources are being used instead of creating new synthetic materials.

We have also been seeing a lot of man-made cellulose fibers on the market which are naturally derived often from wood but put through a chemical process to turn into fibers.

And with these, you want to look for tensile lyocell or tensile modal. The reason tensile trademarked fibers are important versus other cellulose fibers like viscose, rayon, or generic lyocell or modal is that they only use sustainably farmed trees and manufacture in a closed-loop system. They reuse the water and solvents. This is very different than other cellulose fiber production where some companies have actually been found to be cutting down the old-growth forests and dumping their wastewater into rivers.

Tencel fibers are also certified biodegradable, so definitely look for the word tensile when it comes to the cellulose fabrics, we`re also seeing more and more recycled fibers and the technology around textile recycling continues to improve. This is really amazing because using existing materials saves a lot of resources. For example, cotton requires a lot of water to grow, but if we recycle it, we reuse those cotton fibers to save that water and potentially save a garment from going to the landfill.

Another good thing to check clothing tags is the percentage of fiber. It`s generally better to stick to a hundred percent of the same fiber versus blended fabrics as this can make it easier to recycle. Although a little bit of spandex can be okay depending on the recycling system.

The fabric your clothes are made from is a big part of their environmental impact.  How much energy and water were used to make it, what kind of resources? Are they renewable? What will happen to it after you stopped wearing it? Will it biodegrade or sit in a landfill?

Check your clothing tags to reduce water footprint

You can greatly reduce the impact of your clothes and wardrobe by shopping consciously, so only buy things that you know you`ll actually wear, shop second hand, care for and mend your clothes, donate or recycle your clothes instead of throwing them away and choose more sustainable materials.

Do you always check your clothing tags or is this something that you`ll start doing now? Let us know in the comments.