All clothing has some sort of environmental impact but some take great care in the production to reduce their impact.
There are a few ways that clothing companies can make choices to lesson their environmental impact:
- focus on minimizing the water used to grow and produce the garments
- make quality clothing that will last for years
- possibly use recycled materials and make sure the materials used can be recycled at the end of their life
- choose organically grown fabrics (especially in the case of cotton) as they don’t use the same amount of harmful fertilizers and pesticieds
- take care to avoid polluting water ways through the use of dyes
Here is a list of companies that are doing a good job and have been transparent with their environmental impacts.
Patagonia
Levi’s
Columbia
MEC
Prana
TenTree