10 Tips to Create an Ethical and Sustainable Wardrobe

Today, most of the new clothes
available to us.

come from the fast fashion industry,

which is one of the most destructive

industries currently on earth.

But the good news is

there are great alternatives.

Today, my friend Kamea Chayne

is going to share her top tips for

a sustainable and ethical wardrobe.

So, if you like to dress fashionably,

or if you simply wear clothes at all,

then this video is definitely for you.

Here she is.

Hey, it is Kamea Chayne here.

I am the curator at the directory
consciousfashion.co

and I am also the host of Green
Dreamer Podcast,

which Rob has actually been a
repeat guest on

because he is incredible, as we know,

and I am always learning so much from him.

I am really grateful to have this
opportunity

to take you through 10 of my favorite

sustainable fashion tips.

They do go from what is the

easiest and most accessible,

to what may require

more thought and more research.

You can kind of go through them

and see what stands out to you most

or what resonates most with you

that may work best for you and go
from there.

The first thing that we can do

is to simply make the most use

of everything we already have.

There is this idea that sustainable
fashion is unattainable.

It is too expensive.

It is unaffordable.

Well, we do not have to buy

anything at all from sustainable

fashion brands or eco fashion brands

in order to participate in
sustainable fashion

or to be more eco-conscious with
our wardrobe

because one of the best things we can do

is to just make the most use

of everything that we already have.

For me personally, I have had this
scarf right here,

ever since I was in high school.

So it has been a while now.

Because it has been with me for
quite some time,

I have gone through a lot of different

memories and experiences with this scarf.

So even though it was not actually
that expensive

or there was not anything special

about it when I first got it.

I was not even eco-conscious,

or considered myself a conscious consumer

way back then, but because it has been

with me through so many experiences,

I feel like it has really enriched the
sentimental value

and sense of meaning that I get
from wearing this.

You might be able to relate with things

that you have had for a long time.

It really makes that item more meaningful

and more vauable to you.

That is the first thing.

Check the backs of your wardrobes,

the backs of your drawers,

to see what you already own.

Make the most use of it.

Also, you know, often times we end up

buying new things that look a lot like

things we already have.

Just taking inventory of what we
already own

every so often, can help us to
avoid doing that.

The second thing we can do is to borrow

clothes from our friends and family
members

or to rent clothing.

Of course, if you are so lucky to have

friends and family members

that have a similar clothing and
shoe size as you,

then that is definitely a great option.

Browse through their closets to see

if there is anything that you can borrow

for any events that you have coming up.

The other option is to rent clothing,

especially for things like special
occasion,

or attending friends' weddings and
stuff like that.

These are items of clothing that we might

otherwise only wear once or twice

if we were to buy them,

so it is more affordable

and we would be able to get even more

expressive with our fashion choices by

renting different items for different
special

occasions that we attend.

Also, if you have little ones in your
family

who are growing really quickly

in the stage in their lives,

I believe there are also clothing rental

subscription services now for children

because they grow so quickly

and grow out of their sizes so quickly

that it will ensure that you do not
necessarily

have to ,buy or own these items of
clothing

but it can make sure that these
items of clothing

are being recirculated among
different families,

so that they can be maximized in
their use.

My third tip is to make the most use

of things that are not necessarily

in our closets already,

but already exist out there.

This includes swapping items with
our friends,

or buying used clothing,

or also buying new clothing

that are made with waste fabrics.

There is also this misconception that if

you were to participate in
sustainable fashion,

then you have to be super minimalistic,

and try to wear the same things

every single day or something like that,

and that it can limit your ability to be

super expressive with your fashion
choices.

That is actually not true at all,

especially if you participate in the
used economy,

where you can still have a lot of
different

styles of clothes and still circulate,

or buy and consign, buy and consign.

You can still go through that cycle,

especially if you do it locally,

with local thrift shops.

You can still be super expressive

and have a lot of fun with your
fashion choices

without having it be wasteful,
materials-wise,

and not breaking your bank.

Because of course, shopping
second hand

will definitely be cheaper than if

we were to buy new.

That is the third tip that I have.

It is to shop second hand

to support the circular economy

or swap with your friends,

or buy new clothes that are made

with surplus or waste fabrics.

The fourth thing that we can do is

when we are buying new clothes,

of course, to go for quality over
quantity.

That is kind of a given.

When we are buying new, prioritize

low impact, natural, and
biodegradable fibers.

Once you dive into this, there is really

a lot of nuance that goes into it.

But I would say, to start, you can look

for things like organic cotton, linen,
hemp, tensile, lyocell,

and if you do wear wool, to ensure

you know where it comes from,

to ensure the company behind it

has really ethical practices

and has transparency,

or even some certifications,

which we will go into later.

But those are just some things that
you can look for

when you are just starting out.

The fifth thing is having a wardrobe

of 100% natural fibers is not
always possible,

especially if you do yoga,

or you are a swimmer,

or you are an athlete, or you go skiing,

or you live in a really cold place,

and things like that where you do need

the performance properties of
synthetic fibers.

In these scenarios, definitely
prioritize second hand.

But also, if you are buying new,

you can also look for recycled fibers.

So now a days, there are a lot of
swim suits,

or athletic wear, or yoga wear that

are made of things like nylon,
polyester, and so forth.

But they are actually recycled nylon,

or recycled polyester, or things like
that.

So if you are buying new clothes

that need to have these special
performance properties,

then definitely look for recycled fibers

as opposed to virgin microplastic fibers.

My sixth tip is to look for
certifications.

There are numerous out there.

You can look at what sort of certification

the companies have or the
products have

and then just do a quick search for
what they mean.

Just to give you a quick idea of some

that are more notable in the
fashion space,

I have my notes here so I don't
forget the key ones.

There is the OEKO-TEX 100
standard certification

which denotes non-toxic.

There is the GOTS Organic for
organic cotton.

There is B Corp, which is pretty
well known.

It is more general to certify companies

that are transparent and have eco

and ethical practices in general,

or are conscious about their practices.

There is the ZQ Certification that
certifies ethical wool.

There is Cradle to Cradle

that really looks at minimizing waste.

There is Bluesign Verified which verifies

eco conscious manufacturing practices.

And then, of course, there is
Fair Trade Certification

which denotes ethical labor.

They pay the artisans and garment workers

a fair and living wage.

So yeah, look for certifications
where you can.

My seventh tip is to support artisan made

clothing that really help to preserve

cultural diversity, as well as
traditional craftsmanship.

Once we get into this category of
clothing,

they can tend to be more expensive,

due to the nature of it being handmade,

as opposed to mass produced in a factory

using primarily machines that can

just things out really quickly.

With this, because it is more expensive,

we are likely to not be able to buy things

as quickly, which again, forces us

to slow down our consumption.

At the same time, a lot of artisans

already are using natural materials

that are readily available in their
local region,

which helps us to ensure that we are not

contributing to over-extraction,

because their slower pace of

making these items also means

that they are able to use what is
readily available,

and respect that slower, biological

cycle of the things that are growing
in their region.

My eighth tip...

This is one that I have been

personally getting into these days,

and I am really excited about.

... is not just priortizing clothes

made with organic, natural fibers

that are a low impact,

but also prioritizing natural fibers

that are dyed using natural plant
dyes.

Right now, the majority of our clothes

are being dyed using synthetic dyes.

Some are certified non-toxic
synthetic dyes,

but a lot are also Azo dyes,

which is a whole family of dyes

that include known carcinogenic

or neurotoxic chemicals in them.

Something that we can do to support

the soil to soil circularity, meaning that

our clothes, at the end of their lives,

can return to the soil safely,

without being toxic to the soil
microbiology,

is to ensure that clothes are not treated

with things like formaldehyde

or they are not dyed using

a concoction of chemical dyes.

For example, I have this and

this one right here, this is dyed...

I actually forget what plant it

was dyed using, but this is actually

a fully organic and hemp blend jacket.

It is like a crop top.

I have been loving wearing this.

It is dyed using plant dyes.

I also have these lounge pants that I wear

all the time when I am at home

This is actually colored cotton.

It was not dyed at all because the cotton

that was grown is a variety that
naturally

has a light brown tinge to it.

That is something we forget as well.

We think of cotton as only being white,

when in reality, there used to be,

and there still is, but in small amounts,

cotton of a variety of colors,

like blue, green, I believe even red,

and certainly different shades of
brown as well.

This is all really exciting to look into.

You know, prioritizing color grown fibers,

as well as natural plant dyes.

Number nine is to diversify.

This is one that is more difficult

for us to work on right now,

especially individually

just due to the limited options

that we have out there.

But, I say this because if you think
about how

yes, we know organic cotton, for example

to be a relatively more eco friendly
option,

but imagine if everybody were to

buy only organic cotton clothing.

What that would end up doing is

we would have to convert

a lot of diverse localized eco-regions

and take out the biodiversity there

to plant monocultures of organic cotton

in order to meet the increasing demands

of organic cotton all over the globe.

Diversification is really important

so that we can support biodiversity

in different places.

There are a lot of lesser known fibers

that have not really been mass produced

that a lot of people have not heard of

or do not know a lot about.

Some examples are Ramie.

I do not know if I am saying that
correctly,

but it is spelled R-A-M-I-E.

There is nettle, or there is lotus fiber,

banana fiber, or pineapple leaf fiber,

so there are all of these different sorts

of natural fibers that are localized

to different regions.

We can start to learn about

and support wherever we can.

Usually artisan made clothes might

have more of these options, as opposed

to mainstream, mass produced,

even eco-fashion brands, for example.

So this is something to keep in the
back of our minds,

how we can help to diversify

the fibers that are used within fashion.

Finally, my tenth tip is to support

localized regenerative textile systems.

This is definitely the hardest one,

I would say, out of everything that I
just mentioned,

because of the lack of localized

textile systems that we have right now.

But I really recommend Fibershed,

the nonprofit that is spearheading

this movement in creating localized

textile systems around the globe.

You should definitely go check them out

and learn more directly from them

at fibershed.org.

Basically, what this is about, is
right now,

even a lot of eco fashion brands

have globalized supply chains

where their organic cotton might

come from India and then that

might be sent to another country

to be made and then sent all over

all over the place, so just think about,

in food, we talk about food miles.

It is the same thing with clothes as
well.

There are your fashion miles

of how far all of these raw

materials had to travel back and
forth

in order to then end up at the store,

and then end up with the consumer.

The idea and the goal of localized

and regenerative textile systems

is for us to really regionalize

where our clothes are grown and made,

so that we can minimize those
fashion miles.

Then, on the regenerative side,

if we are able to regenerate

healthy soils through carbon

farming and regenarative practices,

that can actually help us to
sequester carbon.

So ideally, when you combine the two

of localizing and having regenerative

agriculture involved in this process,

we can actually do good by purchasing new,

regeneratively made clothes,

because we would be helping to

sequester more carbon

than was emitted throughout this

production process.

So that is certainly the most difficult

because it is not so widely

available right now,

but something that is being
developed

and spearheaded by Fibershed.

It is super exciting.

Rebecca Burgess is the founder
and director.

She wrote a book on this.

It is called Fiber Shed.

Definitely, I recommend checking

that out as well.

It is very inspiring to see the future

of what could be for fashion

and what that would look like

when we can actually be doing good

with fashion, rather than just trying
to do less bad.

These are my 10 tips on how we

can be more eco friendly

and regenerative with our fashion choices.

I will try to have some additional

resources linked in the description,

so certainly, you can do

more research on your own

and learn more from here on out.

But I hope this has been helpful.

Thank you so much for hearing me out.

I hope that you got a lot out of this
video.

If you did, that you will impliment

some of these tips into your life.

Make sure to subscribe to Kamea's

Green Dreamer Podcast, as well as

subscribe to her here on Youtube,

and follow her on Instagram.

The links are in the description.

Make sure to subscribe to this
channel as well,

for many more great videos to come.

I love you all very much.

I will see you again real soon.