Did you know most of the clothes we wear contain some form of plastic in them? Whether it be polyester or nylon, your clothes have a high chance of being made out of plastic. You might be wondering why plastic in your clothes matters. That's a good question, and there are several reasons it matters.
In the throes of winter, my most favorite accessory to don is a scarf. It’s the perfect way to cozy up any outfit with whatever desired degree of style. Whether a sunny and bright winter day, or a heavy, homebody day, there is always a scarf to suit the winter season…and all the other seasons that follow, too!
I once lived on a magical little farm and had a fairy godmother landlord. It was a great place to be an herbalist. But…the house I lived in also housed a small country’s worth of moths. Some of them hitchhiked with me to my new place, as evidenced by the occasional moth fluttering around the bedroom and holes I sometimes find in my shirts.
Every year more than 15 million tons of cloth, fabric, and textiles are wasted, which is a big burden on the Earth’s resources as well as the grounds on which they are dumped. That said, most of us have plenty of clothes in the closest, some that we use to their full extent and others that we don’t. Inevitably some of these clothes will end up being discarded, but the way in which they’re discarded can have an impact.
We’ve heard the term bandied about in ecological circles—but what are microplastics and how can we avoid polluting our planet with them?
With the Internet flooded with images of seahorses hanging on to pieces of straw, and penguins living on floating plastic islands, and whole swathes of plastic mini-seas floating in the high seas, it’s high time we educated ourselves about microplastics. What harm can they do—to our seas and ultimately our blue planet?
The reduce-reuse-recycle philosophy of my youth evoked images of bottles, cans, and paper. My friends and I lamented the poor animals with necks caught in plastic rings from six-packs of cans. To this day, I diligently seek out recycling bins everywhere I go, from restaurants to house parties.
But what to do with my old clothes?
Recently, the New York Times published an article denouncing yoga pants. Titled “Why Yoga Pants Are Bad for Women,” the article detailed all the ways in which the popular, though pricey, black tights contribute to the idea that fitness is an everyday-all-the-day activity.
Plastic and plastic byproducts can take hundreds of years to decompose...IF they ever decompose at all. Toothbrushes, toilet bowl scrubbers, and towel racks are just a few items that are generally made from plastic or a plastic byproduct. I bet there are tons of pounds of those items alone all over the planet. There are always other options!
Have you ever thought about what your clothing is made from? Most clothing these days is made from synthetic materials. Or try entering a local fabric store; it’s rare to find any textile with a label listing actual ingredients. Even more extraordinary is to find a textile that comes from your local community. According to federal regulations, most textile and wool products must have a label listing fiber content, country of origin, and identity of the manufacturer or another business responsible for handling the item.