ECO-FRIENDLY FABRICS
By choosing eco-friendly fabrics alone, you’re taking a huge step toward a more sustainable wardrobe.
WHAT ARE ECO-FRIENDLY FABRICS?
Fabrics that are made from natural or recycled materials, aiming to reduce harm through the production process, fiber properties, or overall environmental impact.
Natural fibers, hemp, linen, and organic cotton are not made straight from fossil fuels. Other semi-synthetic upcycled fabrics use some fossil fuels during production, but are made by deconstructing used items such as water bottles & old clothes. They repurpose their parts to create fibers.
Below are 3 eco-friendly fabrics you should consider switching to, especially for everyday basics:
🌱 ORGANIC HEMP
One of the most eco-friendly natural fabrics around. It’s high-yielding, not water or chemical intensive, and provides phytoremediation benefits to soil (restores soil nutrients and cleans impurities like heavy metals and other toxins).
🌱 ORGANIC COTTON
It’s grown without pesticides and synthetic fertilizers and processed with no chemicals. Overall using 62% less energy and 88% less water. Look for USDA-Certified Organic, GOTS, OCS, BCI on a clothing tag.
🌱 ORGANIC LINEN
Organic linen is derived from the flax plant, whose growth requires little to no fertilizer, pesticide, and irrigation inputs. Unlike hemp it isn’t as high-yielding and grows in specific climates (mainly Europe).
Other examples of sustainable textiles include bamboo linen, cork, recycled cotton, recycled polyester, econyl.
Fabrics to avoid cotton (inorganic), polyester, nylon, acrylic. leather, viscose, acetate, wool (inorganic).
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Cheap fabrics that are fast to produce (polyester, nylon, acrylic) take decades or more to biodegrade.
Textiles make up 7.7 % of municipal solid waste in landfills.
The production process of synthetic fabrics like polyester starts with petroleum undergoing an industrial process that transforms it into fabric fiber, releasing greenhouse gas emissions.
These fabrics pollute air, water, and cause major environmental issues.
Plus every time you wash a synthetic material it releases little bits of micro plastics into the water.
For more info follow @sagebyhrnkova on IG/TikTok.
Michaela xo
