Hi lovelies,

Most of us are trying to live a more sustainable lifestyle these days, and that means making a lot of changes to the things that we buy. Cutting out things like plastic is the most obvious change that we need to make to our shopping habits, but have you thought about the plastic in your clothes? People don’t always realize it but a lot of clothes are made using plastics and they are not recyclable, which means a lot of plastic ending up in landfill.

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But it doesn’t have to be that way because there are plenty of eco-friendly alternatives and there is a growing market for sustainable clothing. If you want to reduce your impact on the environment and start making more sustainable clothing purchases, you need to know how to recognize the different eco-friendly fabrics that are available. 

Hemp 
Hemp is one of the best known and most versatile sustainable fabrics there is. It can be used to make all sorts of different items, which you can buy from an online hemp store or eco-friendly clothing retailer. It’s a completely biodegradable, natural fiber that doesn’t require much water to grow. It’s a very durable fabric that is machine washable, so it’s perfect for clothes and bags. The only downside is that it’s not legal to grow hemp in the US, but you can still get it imported. 

Organic Cotton 
A lot of cheaper clothes are a cotton and polyester blend and the polyester isn’t biodegradable. But the cotton is perfectly sustainable, so it’s better to look for 100% cotton clothes instead of a polyester blend. Cotton is a very comfortable, breathable fabric that helps to remove sweat, so it’s perfect for the summer. It’s not quite as sustainable as hemp because it requires a lot of water to grow, but it’s still much better than any plastic based clothing. If you are willing to pay a bit more for organic cotton clothes, you will notice a big difference. 

Lenzing Tencel 
Lenzing Tencel is a brilliant sustainable fabric made from wood pulp, so it’s completely biodegradable. Although some of the chemicals that are used to process the wood into fibers can be harmful to the environment, it is made in a closed loop cycle and all of the chemicals are recycled. It is often blended with cotton to stop it from wrinkling and give it a silk-like feel. 

Silk 
Silk is one of the most sustainable materials there is and it’s incredibly comfortable and luxurious. You can get some beautiful silk clothes and you don’t need to worry about damaging the environment. However, it is the most expensive of the fabrics on this list and it can’t be machine washed, so it’s not ideal for everyday wear. If you are a vegan, you need to double check that the silk is vegan and the worms are not killed during the manufacturing process. 

If you want to make your wardrobe more sustainable, you should look out for these fabrics next time you buy clothes.