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Going Green

Eco-Friendly Fashion Options

by Kirsten E. Silven 10 Dec 2010
Eco-Friendly Fashion Options

With the fate of our planet in the hands of the human race, many people are changing their lifestyles. Using less fossil fuels, choosing renewable materials and cutting down on waste products have all become part of modern day living. But there are further ways that you can make a difference and help to protect our environment. A growing trend is searching for eco-friendly fashion and it looks like the options are continuing to expand.

Hemp and organic cotton have been around for a long time, but until recent years they were considered to be mainly a "hippy" concept. It has only been in the last couple of years that high fashion has begun to embrace organic materials. This year the runways saw more clothing items than ever being produced in an ecologically friendly way.

This has been met with positive results, so more and more well known designers are trying to green their labels. Stella McCartney is just one big name that has encouraged the use of organic cotton, after becoming the first to incorporate this material into a lingerie line and also producing a popular range of eco-bags.

Bags are perhaps the easiest way to start using organic materials. They are fashionable and available in many different styles. They are not only made from earth friendly products, the larger versions also encourage cutting down on wasted plastic and paper bags for shopping purposes. This reduces the amount of waste that is produced and clutters the ocean and landfill sites all over the world.

Recycled bags and plastic bottles are also used in the creation of new materials to make clothing and soft furnishings. Warm fleeces are manufactured this way, however they still need to be combined with some synthetic fabrics to achieve a desireable end result.

Organic cotton is farmed without the use of chemicals. There are no chemical dyes used in the coloring process, and cotton is an extremely versatile material that can be used to make a wide variety of clothing items. Another popular environmentally friendly choice is bamboo, which can be woven into a silky feeling fabric.

Many other designers have been playing around with the natural cotton to help create top fashion pieces as well. No longer are green clothing lines large, unfashionable, itchy or bulky. In some cases, the cotton has even been manipulated to create a leather-like material. Also, shoppers can now find sumptuous knits, faux furs and stunning jeans made from organic cotton.

Eco-friendly clothing for men has also been a goal of two Canadian designers who make up the label b-love. This line encourages the use of recycled materials, and has produced a full range of innovative, recycled designs, including denim. So, with the large number of jeans made for both sexes, it is easier than ever to get involved in eco friendly fashion.

Even if you are working with a small budget, you can still make a difference by choosing to buy clothes from vintage stores, second hand clothing outlets, and by encouraging friends and family to pass hand me downs to younger children. This is actually considered to be a big part of recycling, and can be a cheaper alternative to buying expensive brand name fashions.


Trending Eco-Friendly Clothing

Love My Planet Women's Relaxed Fit Hoodie
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Love My Planet Women's Relaxed Fit Hoodie
Love My Planet women's eco-friendly relaxed fit hoodieSize Guide Centimeters 8 10 12 14 16 18 Bust 84 88 92 97 103 108 Waist 66 70 75 80 85 91 Hips 91 95 99 104 109 116 Bust: Measure around the fullest part of...
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Penguins Hate Push-Ups Men's Pullover Hoodie
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Penguins Hate Push-Ups Men's Pullover Hoodie
Penguins Hate Push-Ups men's eco-friendly pullover HoodieSize Guide Centimeters XS S M L XL XXL Height 171 175 179 183 189 195 Chest 86 93 99 104 116 129 Waist 71 76 81 89 99 112 Chest: Measure all round your chest just below...
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Lightning Bolt Kids Long Sleeve T-Shirt
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