Just over two years ago, we were displaced from our home in a fire. We lost most of our personal belongings, including a lot of furniture and clothing. While some were salvaged, most were damaged beyond donation or repair. Off to the landfill they went.
Stripped of clothing that wasn’t fire-damaged to wear, we hit up our favorite big-name athleisure store just to put something on our backs. We didn’t put much thought into what we were buying – we just needed a few staples that didn’t smell like smoke.
For weeks, we lived in these clothes, which were highly functional, comfortable and even stylish. We didn’t care how the clothes were made or if the fabrics and dyes had any effects on our health or wellbeing. When you’ve lost almost everything, those details don’t really matter.
The sad reality was that long before this sudden and unexpected need for clothing, we had never given much thought to the textiles that filled our closets, choosing styles and labels over personal health and social wellbeing.
Elevating Awareness
Months passed before we emerged from the literal ashes of our life and began to think seriously about the life we wanted to rebuild and how our prior choices around clothing and home goods affected realities other than our own personal comfort.
With tens of thousands of dollars in non-reimbursable fire losses of those same goods, we awoke to the need for a more critical and sustainable material reality. It was then that I decided to commit to fully sustainable, organic and ethically-made clothing.
Initially, this decision had nothing to do with personal health and wellbeing. We had filled our local landfill with around two dozen extra large waste bags full of clothing, shoes, scarves and handbags that – in addition to being full of toxic dyes and chemicals – also were saturated in smoke and soot. The decision was one of social responsibility.
Social Responsibility
I always felt like I was chasing the latest fashion trends, supporting big-name brands that made things easy but took few corporate social responsibility measures when it came to the environment and global wellbeing.
Humans are discarding their clothing at a higher rate than ever before, mostly likely fueled by brands that offer “fast fashion” made under ethically-questionable conditions with little regard for sustainability or environmental impact.
Of the 100 billion garments produced each year, 92 million tonnes end up in landfills – the equivalent of a garbage truck full of clothes every second.
In addition to drying up water sources and polluting rivers and streams, fashion production overall makes up 10% of carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Absent critical industry change, this statistic is projected to rise to 26% by 2050.
Our personal contribution to these statistics increased exponentially that year and I felt extremely guilty. Even if the fire itself wasn’t our fault, every material good choice we had made prior to that moment would translate somewhere down the line to more waste for Mother Earth to either reabsorb or perish from.
The fire gave us the physical, mental and spiritual awareness to make a socially conscious change and to do something fundamentally different.
Personal Wellbeing
Mentally, I grew tired of walking into that same athleisure store and feeling like I was walking into a factory of mass production, cookie-cutter quality and toxic dyes.
What’s worse, this big-name brand with its comfy, trendy styles reaps soaring profits despite consistently receiving low sustainability ratings by the Fashion Revolution’s Fashion Transparency Index, which reviews 250 of the world’s largest fashion brands and retailers based on their public disclosure of human rights and environmental policies, practices and impacts.
I was compromising my personal values in favor of trendsetting.
Physically, I also started listening to what my body was telling me. Whenever I walked into this and other big-name brand stores, my eyes would water and my nose would run while I admired brightly colored tank tops and sleek stretch pants. But, I often blinked back the tears and wiped away the snot in favor of cute crops and snazzy zip-ups.
Even as my respiratory system begged for something better, my mind kept defaulting toward fancy logos and wavy lines.
I decided it was time to get smart.
The Reality
After researching the effects of certain types of fabrics, dyes, and materials used in clothing production, I was absolutely floored by some of the clothing materials sold on the market today that actually are harmful to your health.
Clothing can contain any combination of 8,000 different chemicals. While not all of these chemicals are necessarily harmful, there are quite a few that can be considered toxic and are commonly used by clothing manufacturers: flame retardants, polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), lead & chromium, phthalates, chlorine bleach, AZO dyes, and volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) such as formaldehyde.
Yes, formaldehyde, the stuff dead bodies are preserved in.
- In small amounts, formaldehyde can cause irritation of the skin, eyes, nose and throat – no wonder I couldn’t walk around those stores without a pack of tissues! High levels of exposure may cause some types of cancers, airway irritation, bronchospasm and pulmonary edema.
- Flame retardant materials are found in many children’s clothing. Their bioaccumulate effects have been linked to infertility, neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption and cancer.
- PFAS are often used to make clothing waterproof and stain-proof but are carcinogenic.
- Lead and chromium are heavy metals that stabilize color dyes and can cause cancer and contact dermatitis.
- Chlorine bleach is often used to prepare cottons, such as denim, for dying but can cause severe respiratory problems.
- AZO dyes are a fabric colorant that release aromatic amines, which cause skin allergies, dermatitis and possibly cancer.
- VOCs – including formaldehyde (see above) – allow for “easy care” products such as wrinkle-free garments that can cause developmental and reproductive system damage, skin and eye irritation as well as liver and respiratory problems.
The Transition
I started my journey into organic, sustainable and ethically-made clothing with the intention of being a better global citizen. Now, I know I’m also being a better steward of my own health.
Providing information for our community around environmental toxins, food toxins and clothing toxins is not meant to instill fear but rather to spark greater conscious awareness. The information we are sharing isn’t necessarily news – but it may be as new to you now as it was to me then.
After two years of making my commitment to sustainable clothing and actually transitioning my wardrobe, I am now at about 50% sustainable. While I haven’t thrown away everything in my closet that carries a big-name-brand label or may be considered “toxic”, I have phased out certain aspects of my wardrobe, replacing it with reputable smaller-name brands committed to organic materials, sustainability and ethical production standards.
The old stuff? Donated to charities or to recycling partnerships.
The good news is that it is actually very easy to do AND I have saved A TON of money in the process. Shopping sustainable, organic and ethically-sourced brands doesn’t have to break your bank. And, you will feel better in mind, body and spirit with every small step you take.
Clean Up Your Closet
Here are a few tips to help you clean up your closet:
- Seek materials, fabrics and dyes that are considered natural (cotton, wool, silk) rather than synthetic.
- While the fashion industry still hasn’t established perfect labeling standards for sustainability and ethically-produced clothing, you can check for third-party certification standards such as the Oeko-Tex Standard 100, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), the EU Ecolabel, or the bluesign® certification. Here is another resource for eco-friendly labeling.
- Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.
- Brands with a Climate Neutral label measure and offset all of the emissions to run their business, products or services, and deliver them to customers.
- Until industry catches up, you need to do your own research. I found a lot of very affordable, high-quality brands that work for my lifestyle and fashion needs. Unfortunately, not all of the sustainable brands on the market are high-quality and some are exorbitantly expensive.
- You may have to do a bit of trial-and-error but, once you find a sustainable brand that works for you, stick with it. Most sustainable brands aren’t reaping profits like the big box stores so they need your support.
- Earthday.org offers a checklist for those looking for other sustainable clothing ideas.
I have spent decades studying, researching and helping to change my own and others’ health and wellbeing on the inside. In the process, I neglected what was happening on the outside.
For those of us in the health and wellbeing industry, or for anybody on a path toward improving their own health, ignoring these external factors is like turning a blind eye to toxic food sources. If you care about what you’re putting into your body, you should care about what you’re putting onto it.
Article authored by Kirsten Ahern, founder of Path Wellbeing, Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist, ERYT, Marma Therapist and Wellbeing Advocate.
The information contained within this article is for educational purposes only and should not replace the direct advice of a qualified healthcare professional. Always consult a medical or other professional healthcare provider when considering a new health regime.
REFERENCES:
The Environmental Cost of Fashion – https://www.genevaenvironmentnetwork.org/resources/updates/sustainable-fashion/#
Toxic Textiles – The Chemicals in Our Clothing – https://www.earthday.org/toxic-textiles-the-chemicals-in-our-clothing/
10 Statistics About Fast Fashion Waste – https://earth.org/statistics-about-fast-fashion-waste/
What is Fast Fashion Anyway? – https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/what-is-fast-fashion/
2ReWear – https://2rewear.com/
Tentree – https://www.tentree.com/pages/about
Labels and Norms – https://www.publiceye.ch/en/topics/fashion/labels-and-norms
Environmental Protection Agency – Textiles – Material-Specific Data – https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/textiles-material-specific-data
