Eco-Friendly Duds 101!
Hi gang,
I’m Jenny Hwa and I’m a newbie blogger! Now that I have that confession out of the way, I can’t wait to get down to business. After following the Crazy Sexy Life blog for months and reading so many incredible tidbits about meditation, diet tweaking, affirmations and exercise, I realized something critical was missing. Something each of us deals with every day. Its something that can cause even the coolest to throw a tantrum or can transform a wallflower into a star …this sometimes controversial topic is fashion…the clothes you put on your back.
Now, one might wonder how much depth can be extracted from fashion, which can be seen as materialistic, artificial and unnatural. But I see a whole different side of fashion and I am on a mission to bring a sense of meaning to an art form we encounter everyday when faced with the question of: what to wear? My specialty is eco-fashion. And when I say eco-fashion I am not referring to itchy burlap sacks assembled into unflattering silhouettes, but gorgeous and scrumptious styles that make you happy to wake up in the morning.
How can fashion be sustainable you ask? Well, first let’s talk about the numerous toxic elements that go into creating clothes. One of our favorite fabrics, cotton (“the fabric of our lives”!) is reeking havoc on the planet, society and our health. There are many steps to creating a conventional cotton garment, including: growing, milling and dyeing.
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty:
Everything about this crop (that was once naturally harvested) is contaminated. Chemical companies (ahem, Dow and Monsanto?!) have genetically modified cotton seeds to purportedly reduce dependency on pesticides. However this plan has back fired and more pests are attacking the plants requiring further insecticides to keep the plants alive (notice the vicious cycle?).
Growing conventional cotton uses 25% of the world’s insecticides and more than 10% of the pesticides. It takes about 1 pound of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to produce the cotton for one pair of conventional jeans and t-shirt. That is 2 cups of synthetic chemicals for just one outfit!
Milling and dyeing cotton are also chemically intensive processes that include toxic bleach, formaldehyde and heavy metals.
Because the chemicals used to grow, mill and dye conventional cotton remain in the plant and fibers, we end up wearing fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides and known carcinogenic chemicals.
Now that the atrocities of conventional cotton have been covered, let’s review the beauty of farming, milling and dyeing organic cotton.
Organic cotton farming incorporates the following principles:
-Never uses GMO seeds
-Builds strong soil through crop rotation
-Retains water more efficiently due to healthier soil + is often rain-fed + drought-resistant
-Weeds are controlled thru cultivation, hand hoeing + physical weed removal
-Pest control includes: using natural predators, beneficial insects, trap crops and organic matter such as manure, worm compost, herbal pesticides and/or cattle urine
-Harvesting relies on the seasonal freeze or water management, not defoliating with chemicals
Milling and dyeing organic cotton also follows a strict code of conduct:
-Fibers and fabrics are naturally scoured and cleaned without uses toxic chemicals
-Low-impact or natural dyes are used that have a higher absorption rate, contain no heavy metals or other known toxic substances or use plant extracts and natural mineral salts
With all these points covered, you can probably see now that the lovely cotton dress you are pining to purchase at H&M for a measly $29 has many more implications than you thought. That cost is not taking into account the damage that is being done to your health and the environment (or the sweatshop worker who sewed it, but that is another blog all together!)
My vision is that all of us will celebrate nature articulated through style! It is my wish that a whole new level of consciousness can be brought to shopping and your wardrobe. Just as you shudder at the thought of buying non-organic romaine lettuce at the supermarket, I hope you will be horrified at the thought of buying and wearing clothing doused in lethal chemicals.
With this said, I am not here to take the fun out of your morning ritual of getting dressed. Understandably, there is concern over the environment and your health, but that shouldn’t impede your sense of style and fashion savvy! But you don’t have to sacrifice style to dress sustainably.
As the founder and creative director of loyale, my priority is merging style and sustainability. We exclusively use organic cotton and other sustainable materials for the collection, the clothing is produced fair trade in New York City and we donate a percentage of annual sales to the environmental non-profit, Green Corps. The edict of loyale is that you do not have to relinquish your sense of style in order to be a conscious shopper.
In addition to loyale, there are a growing number of eco-clothing companies out there designing beautiful organic cotton clothing that you would be delighted to wear: Delforte denim, John Patrick organic, Stewart+Brown and Loomstate. To get you started on your eco-fashion mission, use coupon code crazysexy09 and get 20% off loyale’s luscious Spring collection with free shipping (valid until April 15)! Loyale’s Online Store
It has been great sharing this information with you and I hope I have added a whole new element to living a healthy and happy life!
Eco-chic peace!
Xoxo, Jenny
Loyale’s Blog
