I have been reading the Yvon Choinard book on how he and others set up patagonia to make as environmentally friendly clothing as they can.

I found it really interesting and started wondering how many other brands are doing this, plus do people actually see this as a major positive and something important when they are buying clothes?

Some brands I have seen other than patagonia are picture organic and finisterre.

Any thoughts?

Emperor’s New Clothes Clothing Co. make the most eco clothes going

Being serious I think if you can afford the premium for something that is genuinely made in an environmentally friendly a way as practicably  possible then why not?

do people actually see this as a major positive and something important when they are buying clothes?

It’s one factor but you can make any garment less damaging to the planet by washing it less and wearing it until it no longer works, rather than following each new season’s trend sold to you on the basis of nebulous performance gains which are usually bullshit.

all we need is local trousers for local people and everything’ll be OK 😉

actually, probably trueish.  Making eco-friendly gear and freighting it around the world isn’t sensible

Reduce reuse recycle in this order.

I am generally quite environment thoughtful but I I do find clothing a challenge. Even wools a animal products Vs manmade vrrom oil but longer lasting? Which is better? A significant amount of my clothing is second hand.

What johnnerz said

Totally agree with johnners.

That’s why I have some stuff in my wardrobe that still fits and is fine from about 15 years ago.

Was more a question out of interest as I didn’t realise just how much water was needed to make one cotton tshirt. Was surprised.

I’m wearing organic jeans and a bamboo T-shirt. My belt was my dad’s before I got it.

all we need is local trousers for local people and everything’ll be OK

actually, probably trueish.  Making eco-friendly gear and freighting it around the world isn’t sensible

How does the cotton for the locally made trousers get here?

+N jonners. If you throw it out after many years’ use because it’s worn out beyond reasonable use, it was probably reasonably eco-friendly. If it sits in your cupboard unused until your beneficiary takes it to the tip it probably wasn’t. (though even then if it goes to charity it might stand a chance).

If you want an honest answer ..it doesn’t factor into my thinking at all when buying new ..I do however wear everything to death ..

you can make any garment less damaging to the planet by washing it less and wearing it until it no longer works, rather than following each new season’s trend sold to you on the basis of nebulous performance gains which are usually bullshit.

Yvon Chuinard argues as much in the book the OP mentioned.

I happened to read the same book a couple of months ago, and what with the recent publicity about plastic waste, it has made me think a lot more about it.

Part of the problem is that, until you do start to really think about it, you don’t really think of clothing as “plastic”. You know polyester (for example) is a plastic, but throwing away an old polyester t-shirt just doesn’t feel as wrong as a more “obviously” plastic item.

I don’t know what the solution is though. Cotton is grown in monocultures and uses huge amounts of water in places where there isn’t much to spare. Bamboo has been promoted as eco-friendly, but there are questions about that. Wool is completely “natural” and biodegradable – but has ethical issues and large scale animal husbandry isn’t that great for the environment.

So, yeah, this:

wear everything to death

Eco concious clothing if they last fine, otherwise they are just hype.

I am still wearing my polo shirt my sister bought me in 1988. The material is the best I have seen and now it looks exactly like those trendy rip off polo shirt you buy from departmental store for £60 per shirt.  You know those polo shirt with very thin materials that only last for 2 years max.

My German army surplus shirt is still being worn everyday when cooking and that one I bought in Coventry for £3.00 in 1989.

Also my checked shirt is also back in trend now and I bought that too in 1988.

The worst un-eco friendly clothing I have is the underwear hipster trunk …. damn thing worn out in a year and I have to constantly buy them.  What! £20 for 3 hipster trunk !!! They see me coming …

Just bought 3 two days ago from TK Maxx (£9.99) and the damn thing is wrong size and so tight I feel someone is strangling my budgie.  Had to buy another 3 from M&S and luckily they have those £7.50 for 3 available but this time the size is slightly large but fine.

Oh ya … those “plastic” shirt (polyester) is unpractical in hot climate as they stick to the body like glue.  Better 100% cotton.

😀

Totally agree on the lasting a long time.

The book just made me think about purchases and being able to spend slightly more to get longer lasting stuff and more eco friendly just seems to make sense.

Just need to find some jeans that don’t wear so quickly now

I guess you also piss in the shower and don’t wash your legs 😀

Only when I am busting and it means dragging water all the way to the toilet.

No wet room here

Only when I am busting and it means dragging water all the way to the toilet.

Make a point of peeing in the shower and save a flush!

I’m wearing organic jeans and a bamboo T-shirt

In respect to the OP… it might be interesting to read why Patagonia don’t make anything from (so called) bamboo.

Just need to find some jeans that don’t wear so quickly now

I’ve got two pairs of jeans – I bought one pair in 2003 and the others in 2014. Neither are even close to being worn out. Maybe jeans are the wrong garment for whatever you’re doing is they are wearing out too fast.

Even wools a animal products Vs manmade vrrom oil but longer lasting? Which is better?

Most sheep are out in the open most of the time and eat grass in places unsuitable for arable crops, particularly in hill and mountain regions. They’re a more or less infinitely renewable resource of which most parts of the animal can be used. Even the coarser types of wool can be mixed with bioresins to produce furniture and other products. Microfibres from synthetic fleece get washed out and enter the food-chain, and those plastics are made from non-renewable resources. Synthetics don’t get moth holes.

I tend to hold onto clothes and wear stuff for years, I have M&S socks that are six or seven years old, but most have worn through now, I have two pairs of Large Hardware socks with Kevlar reinforcement but one pair has gone through above the heel reinforcing. Got to see if they can be darned. I’ve got two pairs of Levi’s 501’s that are well over thirty years old, which I can, just get into! I’m wearing a Neil Young Mirrorball tour tee shirt from the Reading Festival in 1995, there’s a black one upstairs, and one on eBay is currently up for around £95. I’ve got other tour tee shirts I wear, that are older than that, some from the 80’s. I like to get my money’s worth from things…

Anyone else still have their red SITS t-shirt from 2005? The thing is made of double strength and thickness cotton and will not fall apart.

I’ve got my black cotton SITS t-shirt from 2004, still in great condition.

Afaiaa, the issue with wool is that it requires heavy handed shearing which leaves the animals in a shocking state afterwards. So whilst there might be attempts at making it sound like a sustainable source of material, it is as the expense of the animals producing it.

Sheep are also a major cause of deforestation. Yes, sheep can graze on hillsides etc. But much of these areas would have been covered by trees, and other vegetation.

Afaiaa, the issue with wool is that it requires heavy handed shearing which leaves the animals in a shocking state afterwards.

Eh? How so?

wear everything to death

and beyond

I’ve recently taken to trying to buy organic cotton stuff, fair traded and whatnot. This shop is based here in Bristol and has quite a good range – I find Finisterre stuff doesn’t fit me so well (I’m quite skinny, Finisterre looks better on the broad-chested IME). They also offer information on everything they sell, including what isn’t ideal (ie if it uses oil-based inks or whatever)

https://www.brotherswestand.com/

I understand that organic cotton uses a lot less water (like 80% less?!) but I haven’t yet read up on why that is…

One other thing that I try to consider is where/how the clothes were made – I don’t want to be supporting the next Rana Plaza disaster. But it’s hard to know when the tag just says ‘made in Bangladesh’). The shop above give you info about the factories too which is quite good.

And these guys make everything in the UK and are quite reasonable (ie selvedge jeans for £65) –

https://communityclothing.co.uk/

Anyone bought from Rapa Nui? They seem pretty cheap for ethical clothing…

(incidentally I cycled to work today in my 1996 National MTB Championships T 🙂 )

Thanks Doris5000. bookmarked that place

I would look at being eco elsewhere first. A garment isn’t going to make a difference to say a car to drive to the store. Or a pc to order it online. That’s my opinion anyway

I would look at being eco elsewhere first.

Depends on whether you’re own actions in isolation or the bigger picture. Only the richest humans get to drive cars or debate ethics online. Far more people wear clothes. So a t-shirt doesn’t have a comparable impact to a car – but ‘all clothes’ have quite a significant impact compared to ‘all cars’ just by weight of numbers.

Taking steps that nobody else takes is pretty meaningless. Cycling to work instead of driving might make you feel better about the impact we have on the world but it only has a real impact if everyone else does it too.

Buy a t-shirt from some sun-blushed surf dudes call Josh in Cornwall has a negligible impact compared to convincing George in Asda to get his shitty house in order.

Slightly off topic, but has there been a change in approach at Patagonia in recent years?

I did a case study about them at uni and at the time no one else on my course had heard of them. Now they appear to be another outdoorsy brand adopted by city kids (a la North Face, Berghaus) and can be found in generic high street shops.

Assuming you don’t buy loads of clothes which you wear once and then throw away, they’re probably quite far down the list.

The List (?)

1. Diet – stop eating meat and dairy

2. Transport – walk, bike, public transport instead of car. No flying.

3. Home energy use – change energy provider, insulation, solar panels

4. Single use plastics

5. Clothing

Totally agree with johnners.

That’s why I have some stuff in my wardrobe that still fits and is fine from about 15 years ago.

Another one here 🙂

and

1. Diet – stop eating meat and dairy

2. Transport – walk, bike, public transport instead of car. No flying.

3. Home energy use – change energy provider, insulation, solar panels

4. Single use plastics

5. Clothing

and I’ll add

6. Stop buying food with palm oil in it and boycott companies that are ‘bad’ (Nestle, Kraft, Mars, Pepsi, Coke, etc…). It’s pretty easy to do 😀

Assuming you don’t buy loads of clothes which you wear once and then throw away, they’re probably quite far down the list.

It’s not just the initial purchase. I knew a girl who would wear jeans once then wash them before wearing them again. That’s just insane from any eco standpoint, plus the jeans would get most of their wear from washing rather than wearing so would last a fraction of the time they would have otherwise.

Slightly off topic, but has there been a change in approach at Patagonia in recent years?

https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/patagonias-anti-growth-strategy/amp

Goes someway to explain the increase in popularity.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/09/19/patagonias-philosopher-king/amp

Another article from the New Yorker.

The List

Top of the list should be limit the number of kids you have. Reduced population equals less damage to environment no matter how eco friendly they are

Assuming you don’t buy loads of clothes which you wear once and then throw away,

theres at least one poster on this forum who has stated that he does that with socks 🙂

Second on the list after tpbiker’s suggestion would be no meat-eating pets.

I would look at being eco elsewhere first. A garment isn’t going to make a difference to say a car to drive to the store.

true but alongside the eco factor there’s an ethical one too. Choosing to buy things where the workers are paid/treated fairly does make a difference IMO (and as you say is probably more important than the eco factor in the grand scheme of things).

I seem to remember reading that expenditure on petfood equates to the sum needed to feed the world’s population of humans.

How about no pets?

But… what about how rad I (think I) look on instatwat and snapface with my trail dog Mr Cogswell in the pics? What about me???? Me!!!??!! #prayforthelikes #narcissisticbellendery

that would be a great idea for many reasons, not just eco considerations!