What Does Natural, Organic and Sustainable Mean in Clothing?
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Sustainability is a hot topic these days and what’s exciting is that more brands are taking steps to incorporate sustainability into their production practices. But what does that really mean?
The Problem
The good deal of clothes produced today are made with cheap, 100% synthetic fibers. This allows clothing retailers to make a lot of clothes quickly and for a low price but this method of apparel production has significant drawbacks.
The main one is that clothing made of cheap synthetic fabrics simply don’t last as long as clothes made of natural fibers. You can find clothing made over 100 years ago that can still be worn today.
This is not the case with your average fast fashion item that has a shelf life of one to two years. Sustainable products not only last longer than synthetically mass produced ones, they also cut down on environmental pollution and waste.
When your clothes fall apart less often you buy fewer of them and this leads to an overall healthier relationship between the fashion industry and our environment.
The Solutions
Look for clothing made of recycled fibers, man-made or natural. What’s great about apparel made of recycled fibers is it’s a great way of taking existing materials, repurposing them, and giving them a longer life cycle.
Believe it or not years ago all clothing was made exclusively of natural fibers, like wool, linen, and cotton.
These items lasted longer and when they did wear out they would biodegrade. They didn't contain harmful microplastics that would leach into the soil once discarded.
The beauty of apparel made of natural fibers is that they are made solely of that ONE thing, and not a host of chemical treatments and additives.
Natural fibers do naturally what synthetic clothing needs to be treated for. Natural fibers do not have to be treated with harmful chemicals to make them water repellent or warm.
Wool clothing naturally repels water as well or even better than most synthetic clothing…that’s why it was used in cold societies to make cloaks and regular day wear for thousands of years.
Clothing made of natural fibers also has the benefit of being more durable than synthetic clothing. Synthetic clothing is mass produced using weaker materials that often need to be treated for strength and durability.
Fast fashions, mass produced from these inferior fabrics is meant to be worn only a few times and then discarded, clothing made of natural fibers is meant to last the wearer for years so consider your options when purchasing something new.
At Biita we are a part of this sustainable journey, and we offer an assortment of styles made of natural and eco-friendly fibers to help you make the switch to a more sustainable wardrobe.