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8 Reasons to Wear Vintage Clothing on Earth Day

Posted by Steven on Apr 22nd 2015

ClothingRecyclingThe care of our environment is so important that we no longer have just Earth Day, it is now Earth Month. Vintage clothing, as well as reusing and re-purposing clothing in general is a great way to do your part for the environment this Earth Day. As we enter April, Earth Month, I thought an article exploring environmentally conscious fashion options, and those establishments in Miami that are doing their part to be environmentally responsible, would be of interest.

Fashion And the Environment

Options could include wearing vintage clothing, clothing made from organically grown fabrics, or clothing made from recycled products. Here are some facts on how fashion damages the environment:

1. The average American throws away about 68 pounds of clothing and textiles per year.

Clothing In Landfill

2. 10% of all agricultural chemicals and 25% of insecticides in the U.S. are used to grow cotton.

3. It takes almost 1/3 of a pound of chemicals (pesticides and fertilizers) to grow enough cotton for just ONE T-shirt

4. Seven of the fifteen pesticides used on cotton are considered “possible”, “likely”, “probable”, or “known” human carcinogens (acephate, dichloropropene, diuron, fluometuron, pendimethalin, tribufos, and trifluralin) according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Cotton Field

5. Some studies have shown that organic farmed soils have a better ability to absorb and retain carbon, which would be beneficial in the fight to reduce global warming.

6. Organically grown crops also use less fossil fuel than conventional crops, another benefit in the fight to reduce global warming.

7. Pesticides are suspected to be responsible the severe drop in honeybees, the increase in frogs with extra legs and eyes, and annual death of 67 million birds.

Fashion Recylcing

8. The U.S. textile “recycling industry” (which actually re-purposes rather than recycles), with some 2,000 companies, removes annually from the solid waste stream 2.5 billion pounds of post consumer textile product waste.

References:
• Charter Recycling: Recycling Facts
• Earth911
• Environmental Health Perspectives: Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry; Luz Claudio; September 2007
• Recycled Clothing Facts, National Geographic

Bonus Resources:

Here are some local establishments that are keeping it Green:

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