Tracey Martin is a Sustainable Lifestyle Leader and author and has been a certified Transformational Life Coach as well as health, life and wellness advisor for more than 25 years. Tracey’s mission is simple, to protect our natural resources, planet, and our most precious resource: humankind. She is sharing her knowledge with us in this weekly column and this week Tracey builds on defining your “why” by discussing our clothes shopping habits.
Continuing with defining our “why”… so far we have covered our food and workout choices. This week, I am asking some important questions about your consumer habits when it comes to your clothing.
Do you know that it takes 1800 gallons of water to grow the cotton for and to produce 1 pair of jeans? How many do you own?
Do you know that cotton farming, used for the fashion industry, consumes 22.5% of the worlds pesticide and herbicides.
Do you know that the textile dyes used to color your clothing are derived from petroleum? Yes, oil.
Do you know that formaldehyde is sprayed on shirts to make them wrinkle free or wrinkle resistant?
Did you know that our bodies absorb 65% of the chemicals from our clothing?
Believe it or not your closet can influence your health, the environment and other humans. Making more sustainable choices really does matter. I know that it may seem overwhelming. Start with one thing and then move on to something else. Here are a few solutions for your shopping list.
Basics – Wear Pact
Lets tackle the basic tee, socks and underwear. The garments that sit right against your epidermis. The largest organ in your body. A great company doing great things is Pact Organics. They carry tees, underwear, leggings and more. All produced for organic cotton. These items are also available at Whole Foods or Wear Pact online.
Dresses and Fashion Pieces – Reformation
We do love our dresses and fun trendy frocks. I love this company for everything they are doing. Dresses, jackets, pants, skirts and even jumpsuits. Made from beautiful dead stock fabric. Which means that they are diverting fabric that would normally be going into a land fill and creating beautiful fashion pieces. Their website tells you how much water and energy is being saved by your sustainable purchase: thereformation.com.
The Beloved Denim Jean
Jeans have become part of our American wardrobe. However, they are not that “earth friendly.” Think about purchasing them second hand. They have been washed and worn so that means the chemicals have been washed out of them. Nothing new was produced and they fit like a glove. A valley favorite is My Sister’s Closet. They carry higher end designer labels. Another great place for fun denim pieces is Re-Done. Their goal is to keep iconic denim alive and do it sustainably.
You can find a more compressive list of brands like those mentioned above in my book new Sustainable in Stilettos.
Curating a more conscious and sustainable closet will require you to think about “why” you are purchasing something. Do you really need it? Do you have something just like it in your closet? Learn to shop in your own closet. Fall in love with your clothing and be creative when styling. Let us know if we can help!
Sustainably Yours,
Tracey xo
If you have comments or questions you would like to see addressed in this column, please send them to info@fabulousarizona.com.
For a private one on one with Tracey text 602.568.4124.