You might not realize it, but the fashion industry accounts for over 2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year. That’s the same as the global economies of Germany, the United Kingdom, and France combined.
As a clothing consumer, you have the opportunity to make an impact on the environment simply by what clothing you choose. You can purposefully buy clothes from companies that focus on making sustainable clothes in Canada.
Wondering where to buy sustainable clothing, or why your dollars matter? Let’s take a deeper look.
Sustainability in fashion can be hard to define, but in general, the focus is on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating ethical supply chains so that clothing is created without the use of human rights abuses.
This might include local sourcing, more transparency in the supply chain, tracing raw materials, and creating clothing in ways that use environmentally-friendly materials alongside living wages and safe working conditions.
Why should you choose to buy from a clothing store focused on providing ethical fashion? Here are 5 reasons your choice matters.
Fast fashion can have a terrible impact on the environment. In fact, globally there’s a full garbage truck of textile waste dumped or burned every second. Fast fashion focuses on creating cheap, low-quality clothing that will be worn a few times and discarded.
This might save you money in the short term, but in the long run you won’t get to enjoy your clothing for very long. Instead, choose sustainable clothing in Toronto. You’ll get high-quality products made from materials that will stand the test of time.
If you decide a clothing item doesn’t suit you anymore, you can safely donate it to someone else and know that they are getting a timeless piece that they can wear and enjoy for a long time to come.
Best of all, you won’t end up with clothing pieces that are in fashion this week and out of fashion next week!
Magazines sell because they have new fashions to showcase every season. However, keeping up with all of these new styles has a serious cost. Not only does it hurt the environment, it also hurts your wallet!
You might not notice, because you’re spending a smaller amount when you shop for clothes, but you’re also doing it more often. Over time, it adds up to far more than you’d spend on getting long-lasting classics that fit your personal style.
Ditch the trends and be yourself. You can express yourself, instead of the most recent fad, when you wear clothing that you’ve cultivated to showcase your true personality.
Style is timeless, and you’ll save a lot of money by investing in high-quality pieces that you can keep for years. Most importantly, you’ll feel good knowing that your investment benefited both the planet and the workers who made your clothes.
Many of us don’t really think about how it is that we’re able to buy a shirt for $5 at the store. We’re happy with the deal and take it home. If we gave it another moment’s thought, though, we’d realize that there’s no way that a $5 shirt is profitable unless it’s made in terrible conditions.
Even with today’s technology, there are no machines that can make entire garments without worker participation. Instead, fast fashion companies employ people in developing countries and often take advantage of them by paying a very low wage.
Worse, these clothing factories generally have very unsafe conditions and poor sanitation. Workers spend long hours creating clothing for very little pay simply because it’s the only work available, and many times these factories take advantage of child labour as well.
Canadian ethical clothing providers, however, focus on a supply chain that only includes businesses that pay a fair wage and maintain safe conditions for workers.
You might not think about it living in a major city, but there are many areas of the Earth where clean water is in short supply. Unfortunately, many of these areas are developing countries, where a lot of our fabrics come from.
When you choose sustainable fabric, you’re making a difference not just for renewability but for the water supply around the world as well. For example, organic cotton uses 91% less water than traditional cotton. Hemp and bamboo also require very little water to grow.
On the other hand, a fast-fashion t-shirt requires 2,700 litres of water. That’s a huge amount, especially in areas where water is already a scarce resource. There’s no reason to take water away from a needy populace when there are better alternatives.
When you use your hard-earned money to choose sustainable fashion, you’re making an investment in the future of people you may never meet. When the demand for organic cotton and other fabric alternatives increases, more fields will be used for these sustainable, low-water crops.
Most cheap fashion is made of fabrics based on petroleum, such as polyester, acrylic, or nylon. These fabrics require a lot of CO2 gasses to create and the manufacturing process damages our air and water.
The fabrics we use at Cassandra Elizabeth are different. For example, we use bamboo-based fabric. Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants on the planet, making it very renewable. You don’t have to use pesticides or chemicals to grow it, and irrigation is not required.
Bamboo clothing is breathable but warm, chemical-free, and hypoallergenic. It’s also moisture absorbent and dries quickly. Best of all, bamboo fabric has many antibacterial properties, making it perfect for avoiding illness and embarrassing odours.
We also use fabrics made from wood pulp, organic cotton, and hemp. When you’re done with a clothing piece, you can contact us to recycle it and receive credit on your next purchase. We make it easy to live a sustainable lifestyle!
Now that you know the benefits of sustainable clothing, it’s time to put your knowledge into action. Don’t worry, sustainable fashion is just as beautiful as anything you’ll find on a store shelf — in fact, often more so.
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