Your Earth Friendly Closet
I bet most of us haven’t put a lot of thought into whether our closets are helping or hurting Mother Earth. You’ve heard terms such as sustainability and slow-fashion vs fast-fashion, but how can we as fashionistas make an impact without compromising style? As individuals it would be difficult to make systemic changes, but as a collective we can affect the trajectory of fast fashion. There are many small things such as how we shop and care for our clothing that can add up to reduce our carbon footprint and protect our planet.
How to Sustainably Shop for Your Clothes
Shop Quality Over Quantity
Carefully choose quality made clothing items that you can mix and match to create different looks. 'Slow-fashion' that you love and will wear for years to come. Brands such as Frank & Eileen, Marc Cain and Summum work towards sustainability, fair wages and are transparent across their entire supply chain.
Stats That Make You Go Hmmm: Fast fashion results in a tremendous amount of waste, about 87% or 40 million tons end up in landfills EVERY YEAR.
Invest in Clothes You Really Like and Need
We’ve all done it. We buy that piece of clothing we sort of like because the price is right, but the fit isn’t. How did that work out? Sophia Lustig can help connect you with your own style and what you want to communicate. We employ expert seamstresses that can make sure your clothing fits as if it were custom-made. You won’t go home with anything that doesn’t fit your body type perfectly.
Stats That Make You Go Hmmm: Only 1% of discarded clothing is actually recycled. Clothing recycling is still in its infancy, so while the technology is in place it is not to the scale that could handle billions of garments a year.
Repurpose or Recycle
Not wearing something in your closet, but still love it? Before you throw it away, bring it into Sophia Lustig and let us help you re-work it and make an outfit out of the piece you will wear. Remember you can always give your clothing a new home. Pass along to a friend or family member. Host a clothing swap with friends or donate items to a charity such as Rocket Style Career Center
Stats That Make You Go Hmmm: The average person today buys 60 percent more items of clothing than they did 15 years ago, but keep them for only half as long. The average garment may be worn as few as ten times before disposal.
Care for your Clothes Properly
Learning to care for your clothes properly will allow them to last longer. Get to know the fabrics you wear and read those labels. Somebody hand me my readers!
Tips:- Not every garment has to be washed or dry cleaned every time you wear it, even though my kids think that is the case. Each washing or dry cleaning shortens the life of the garment because the fibers break down a little or become weaker.
- Hang clothes properly - Hang on wooden or fabric-padded hangers to avoid misshapen shoulders
- Wash clothing, especially jeans inside out to keep color from fading. Using cold water on shorter cycles will also save energy.
- Store properly - At the end of the season, store clean clothes in a cool, dry environment to avoid bacteria and mold. Make sure to give proper aeration and provide adequate space between hangers to keep clothes fresh. Fold heavy sweaters on a shelf to keep from stretching. When storing clothes, make sure to avoid direct sunlight to prevent fading. Clothes can also be stored in vacuum sealed bags for space efficiency, or garment-storage bags that can protect clothes but allow the fabric to breathe.