May 2010 Archives

Today at a Walmart in Northern California I noticed that the price of reusable grocery sacks has dropped to just fifteen cents a piece. Many customers were zoned out and understandably tired (fluorescent lights, huge lines, crying babies), thus not choosing the environmentally friendly option (the checkout guys and gals weren't exactly promoting it) but I think that will change soon. A whole sidewall of precocious Walmart real estate and half of each bag carousel was packed with the bright blue reusable bag option and a huge fifteen cent sign called out to everyone passing through. Fifteen cents is so cheap! Can you name any other item at Walmart that is only fifteen cents?? Not even the candy machines for kids are that cheap.

Now I realize that the Silicon Valley (where I saw the fifteen cent bags) is a clean technology hub in one of the most forward thinking, wealthy and innovative centers of the universe but this is still progress, greenwashing maybe, but progress. Just two weeks ago I was in San Antonio Texas and their Super Walmarts had no such bags or signs of this kind of thinking. Really though, fifteen cents a piece! I believe that sometime in the very near future stores will begin charging for the disposable bags and that will motivate consumers to begin recycling with reusables. Even if they gave the bags away free, I think consumers would begin using them repeatedly because really, who throws away non-disposable items without feeling a little bad? Well, besides my grandparents maybe... and they'll be recycled themselves soon :)

I've got to hand it to Walmart for their card board recycling, advanced energy monitoring systems and the new bag policies being implemented... on the basis of cost savings of course. Whatever motivates it I see us getting closer to the way things were and the way things should be, natural.

Blue light special baby! In the town of Mountain View California and neighboring Palo Alto, styrofoam Jamba Juice cups and plastic grocery sacks are being banned by city lawmakers. Thank you... and really isn't it about time? Will we really think it was all worth it in five years when this is the norm everywhere? I recently suggested reusable bags to an elderly customer in Trader Joe's supermarket (and the staff even chimed in to land the sale) but she was concerned about health issues of reusing a "dirty" bag. For the record, we do have a built in immune system designed to combat "dirt" so I feel like maybe she was a little paranoid. We are all connected to the earth and those crappy disposable bags are unhealthy for all kinds of wildlife that we in turn eat... so actually the unhealthy and "dirty" choice is disposable bags, not reusables.

This conjures up memories of a business case study I did in undergrad about reusable diapers. A company stepped in and started selling disposables in a Latin American country using health as a primary selling point, turns out disposables are way less healthy when you don't have a reliable system of waste management. Oops... let's think full circle here guys. Just like those diapers that killed hundreds of Latin Americans, plastic bags are endangering sea life, birds and ultimately us.

With the growing trend in Eco friendly products, it is not all that surprising that there is a rise in sustainable fashion, or eco fashion. According to Wikipedia, sustainable fashion is part of a trend in sustainable design, "where a product is created and produced with consideration to the environmental and social impact it may have throughout its total life span, including its carbon footprint."

Keeping the idea of sustainability in mind, fashion designers are now introducing environmentally conscious methods of designing and producing their clothing. According to the May 2007 edition of Vouge, this trend in sustainability may prove to be long term, especially if you consider how popular environmentally conscious products are these days.

Earth Pledge, a non-profit organization committed to promoting sustainable development, states that "At least 8,000 chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles and 25% of the world's pesticides are used to grow non-organic cotton. This causes irreversible damage to people and the environment, and still two thirds of a garment's carbon footprint will occur after it is purchased."

If designers are turning to earth friendly clothing, just what are they making it out of? And is it possible to make modern clothing without making them look like what Wikipedia calls "hippy clothing"? The answer is yes, but at a cost. The effort it takes to minimize environmental harm in the growth, production, and shipping of these products is far more expensive than products made conventionally.

Despite the high cost, eco friendly clothing is getting a lot of attention, especially from celebrities such as Stella McCartney, Rogan Gregory, Peter Ingwersen, Ali Hewson, Bono, and Summer Rayne Oakes who have recently drawn attention to eco friendly fashion. Other celebrities that have been associated with eco friendly fashion include Natalie Portman, Cameron Diaz, Alicia Silverstone, Adrian Grenier, Jennifer Aniston, and Salma Hayek. Portland Fashion Week, which has showcased earth friendly fashion since 2005, has gained international attention for its efforts to showcase 100% eco friendly designs.

Cotton, one of the top materials used to make clothing, has a very large carbon footprint due to the way it is cultivated and produced. Organic cotton, on the other hand, is far more sustainable and does not contain destructive toxic pesticides or fertilizers. Some designers have actually begun experimenting with bamboo fiber, which Wikipedia says "absorbs greenhouse gases during its life cycle and grows quickly and plentifully without pesticides". Unfortunately, bamboo fiber causes environmental damage due to the chemicals used to create a soft viscose from the hard bamboo.

So what is the best natural material to use in fabrics? Some people say that hemp is the best choice for eco fabrics because it grows easily. Sadly, it is illegal to grow hemp in some countries. It is arguable that recycled, reclaimed, surplus, and vintage fabrics are the best choice, since the raw materials require no agriculture and no manufacturing to produce.

Wikipedia states that "another alternative to sustainable fashion has emerged that uses synthetic fibers with a process called AirDye technology that eliminates all water from the dyeing and printing process. While critics still point to the chemicals used in making synthetic materials, this method significantly reduces water consumption and pollution, while cotton (organic or not) uses a tremendous amount of water during the growth and dyeing phases."

There is certainly a lot of controversy surrounding the use of eco friendly materials, so it is always a good idea to do a little research if you want to get truly eco friendly clothing. Even so, it is nice to know there are eco friendly alternatives out there.

If you are interested in buying Eco friendly clothing, here are a few websites you can check out: www.thegreenloop.com, www.whiteapricot.com, and www.happyhippie.com. You can also check out American Apparel, REI, Levi Strauss, Jonano, and Rawganique. More information on eco friendly fashion can be found at http://www.modelinia.com/articles/eco-friendly-fashion/5033 and http://environment.about.com/od/earthtalkcolumns/a/ecofashion.htm.