New York Times on Eco-Clothing
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12.13.07
Ignore the idiotic New York Times headline "A World Consumed by Guilt" that has absolutely no relevance to this excellent article about the ins and outs of so-called green clothing; Writer Eric Wilson notes accurately that "No matter how sincere fashion designers may be in their efforts to embrace the green movement this season, consumers may find themselves perplexed by how to gauge the environmental impact of the many products that claim to be eco-friendly."
He talks to all the right people, including Chris Van Dyke, chief executive of Nau, who discusses the provenance of green clothing: "“When you only look at the raw materials to ask if something is really green, you are like the blind person holding the tail of the elephant. There’s a whole lot of other factors you need to assess.”
He finds also that purchasers are getting a little more savvy and demanding some kind of certification, rather than just calling it green:
More than half of the 2,007 respondents in a shopper survey in September by BBMG, a branding agency, said they were looking for certification seals on green claims to feel confident about their purchases.
“It is no longer O.K. to slap a green label on something and think that is acceptable to consumers,” said Raphael Bemporad, a partner in the agency. “If you just put an eco-friendly phrase on something, you are risking a backlash from more savvy consumers.”
So why such an idiotic headline implying that people only buy eco-clothing out of guilt? Perhaps they buy them because they are nicely designed and it is a healthy, positive thing to care about the environment? Eric Wilson, you need a new headline writer. ::New York Times
I can't believe people who are so 'consumed' by the green issue that they will buy only fashions that are, beyond any reasonable doubt, green. Fashion by its very definition changes, and changes needlessly. Consuming should not be about consuming more green items simply about consuming less.
Most products cannot be green because we live in a world where most products are bought for the wrong reasons - we don't 'need' them, we simply 'want' them. Look at the frenzy in every street in every town and city in the West at the moment. Everyone buying anything and everything to prove they love you. Yeah, right. So buy some Ethiopian farmer a cow or a flock of ducks; a village a well; a school some books - don't buy me some garbage that will spend it's entire life residing in a dark closet and only sees the life of day again when I finally get it around to dumping it in the trash.
The whole point of fashion is that it changes, thereby requiring the follower to invest in more items and discard older ones. Even though something may be made from recycled materials, it's still had to be sourced, designed, processed to turn it into something new, distributed, advertised, and finally sold again - all that uses resources. And how long before that recycled material purse (or whatever) goes out of fashion and is slung in the back of the closet in favour of the latest style recycled material purse?
When are people ever going to realize they are never going to make a difference by buying more of what they deem to be the right things, but only by NOT buying. It really is that simple.
Eco-friendly fashions is a contradiction in terms.
Steve N. Lee
Author of eco-thriller 'What if...?'
and free eco-guide 'An Inconvenient Doofus'
www.BestThrillerEver.com
I can't believe people who are so 'consumed' by the green issue that they will buy only fashions that are, beyond any reasonable doubt, green. Fashion by its very definition changes, and changes needlessly. Consuming should not be about consuming more green items simply about consuming less.
Most products cannot be green because we live in a world where most products are bought for the wrong reasons - we don't 'need' them, we simply 'want' them. Look at the frenzy in every street in every town and city in the West at the moment. Everyone buying anything and everything to prove they love you. Yeah, right. So buy some Ethiopian farmer a cow or a flock of ducks; a village a well; a school some books - don't buy me some garbage that will spend it's entire life residing in a dark closet and only sees the life of day again when I finally get it around to dumping it in the trash.
The whole point of fashion is that it changes, thereby requiring the follower to invest in more items and discard older ones. Even though something may be made from recycled materials, it's still had to be sourced, designed, processed to turn it into something new, distributed, advertised, and finally sold again - all that uses resources. And how long before that recycled material purse (or whatever) goes out of fashion and is slung in the back of the closet in favour of the latest style recycled material purse?
When are people ever going to realize they are never going to make a difference by buying more of what they deem to be the right things, but only by NOT buying. It really is that simple.
Eco-friendly fashions is a contradiction in terms.
Steve N. Lee
Author of eco-thriller 'What if...?'
and free eco-guide 'An Inconvenient Doofus'
www.BestThrillerEver.com
Well put, Steve!
No amount of "greenness" in the manufacture of new clothes comes close to the real green choices of holding onto clothes as long as they last and resiting the temptation to fulfill an imagined "need" for an overflowing closet.
We should all resist the kind of pale green represented in this post by thanking people whom we see cycle through 3 pairs of pants at work, whom we see in the same 7 shirts over and over again (for years). We should all own a few good sets of clothes, a few good pairs of shoes, and take care of them so they last for years.
"green fashion" is indeed oxymoronic.
People do need clothes, though.
Well, I just dropped a grand on nau.com, and I feel like the world is a much better place.
not.
Sorry my friends, changes in how people think happen at a more superficial level first and then filter deeper. Small changes have to fuel the larger change. The more people that buy organic cotton, bamboo and (especially) hemp the more it will be produced. If someone is going to buy a t-shirt and they make the small decision to buy (what they see as) ECO that helps fuel the overall movement the same way that it's helpful to flick off the light when you leave a room.
One of the best quotes that I've heard is "people in the Green community tend to circle the wagons and shoot inward". The little guy doing his best with limited resources is a far easier target than Nike.
I agree with Bob about things taking time to filter, especially from a market forces standpoint. People buying this stuff will fuel the demand and prices for greener products which will help the entire green economy, down to people growing ecologically safe materials and resources. The cost of fossil fuels combined with scientific data on climate change are working in tandem to change attitudes. Sadly for most people, the cost of fossil fuels is likely the more important issue since it hits them in the purse and impacts the economy. One encouraging sign? The teaching of environmentally friendly practices in schools. Generation Green be a great addition.
I agree with Bob about things taking time to filter, especially from a market forces standpoint. People buying this stuff will fuel the demand and prices for greener products which will help the entire green economy, down to people growing ecologically safe materials and resources. The cost of fossil fuels combined with scientific data on climate change are working in tandem to change attitudes. Sadly for most people, the cost of fossil fuels is likely the more important issue since it hits them in the purse and impacts the economy. One encouraging sign? The teaching of environmentally friendly practices in schools. Generation Green be a great addition.
I agree with Bob about things taking time to filter, especially from a market forces standpoint. People buying this stuff will fuel the demand and prices for greener products which will help the entire green economy, down to people growing ecologically safe materials and resources. The cost of fossil fuels combined with scientific data on climate change are working in tandem to change attitudes. Sadly for most people, the cost of fossil fuels is likely the more important issue since it hits them in the purse and impacts the economy. One encouraging sign? The teaching of environmentally friendly practices in schools. Generation Green be a great addition.
I agree with Bob about things taking time to filter, especially from a market forces standpoint. People buying this stuff will fuel the demand and prices for greener products which will help the entire green economy, down to people growing ecologically safe materials and resources. The cost of fossil fuels combined with scientific data on climate change are working in tandem to change attitudes. Sadly for most people, the cost of fossil fuels is likely the more important issue since it hits them in the purse and impacts the economy. One encouraging sign? The teaching of environmentally friendly practices in schools. Generation Green be a great addition.
Yeah, I thought the headline was odd and rude, too--as well as the Times article from a few weeks ago about "crazy" eco-conscious folks who use Christmas to convert their relatives by giving them green gifts. Is George Bush secretly guest editing the Times' Fashion & Style section this month? :)
My apologies for the duel comment. Was getting an error message.
i'm not sure, but the thing on the right looks like an old second hand bag, some bicycle inner tubes, and duct tape. all told, about $0.50 (assuming you had the bag already). sweet.
I'm seeing a lot of people screaming about how we need to stop buying/consuming products. It sounds great and simple and I agree that we do need to cut back but we also need to think about alternative ways of making a living. If we reduce our consumption drastically think of all the people that will be out of work! What are they going to do? Its not just the girl sewing the toe on a sock losing out, it goes all the way up the ladder to those white collar jobs. We need to see more discussion about how we can scale back our consumption habits yet still have jobs. How do we make money to live in the new green economy!???
I think Steve identifies accurately a dilemma. Should we in all good conscience be encouraging people to produce things for our consumer culture, whether or not they are 'ethical', 'fairtrade' or 'green'?
Looking at it the other way around, the producers of these items are often living a hand-to-mouth existence, and so depend on consumers buying the products.
That isn't the way it should be. All those of us who are rich enough to access this website are part of the problem which keeps poor people poor.
But the reality is that unless you are going to access rich international markets, there are few solutions to help the poorest. It is a catch 22.
The only solution, in my opinion, is to hold a healthy scepticism for capitalism, build structures which cannot be bought and sold on the open market (such as a co-operative) sell ethical products and at the same time work for the reduction of living standards.
Joe
www.freedom-clothing.co.uk
Comments like Steve's irritate me. Mainly because you are walking the thin line between being realistic and being unreasonable. As someone who is heavily involved in the environmental movement, there are still some things that I enjoy that are not "eco-friendly" yet. One of these is fashion. Eco fashion IS important, mainly because it is taking an existing excessive system using too many resources and trying to see How we can improve it, How we can allow people to still enjoy what they like but make it less harsh on the environment, How we can be more creative in what materials we use.
So by not buying CDs, clothes, shoes, books, food, electronics, etc., am I being a good consumer? Or am I just avoiding the problem AND not contributing to the economy?
And by the way, someone who buys eco-friendly clothes because they are eco-friendly would most likely donate them after use, not throw them in the trash like you suggest.
Please spare me your rant on NOT buying things - it is important that we have a successful economy, happy consumers AND a healthy environment.
I think its strange that people who understand and see the value in being green-aware as consumers should bicker about being pale-greens or dark-greens. I mean its rare to hear those who consume without thinking, arguing who is the more cavalier consumer! Its a typical case of an overly self-analytical and slightly neurotic minority tearing itself up internally while the majority goes about its merry way without caring less. Anyway, I am a green-aware consumer and what I'll add to this is
1) eco-fashion is not an oxymoron. If enough people buy jeans and cotton t-shirts from reputable factories and are willing to pay decent prices for these, sweatshop labour and harmful harvenst WILL turn around
2) Filter, filter, filter -- no one can change the world but we certainly can do our bit to do the right thing and the spread the word. It will change. even 24 months a go did anyone think no one in London would be able to smoke in a pub. Right, I rest my case.
I think its strange that people who understand and see the value in being green-aware as consumers should bicker about being pale-greens or dark-greens. I mean its rare to hear those who consume without thinking, arguing who is the more cavalier consumer! Its a typical case of an overly self-analytical and slightly neurotic minority tearing itself up internally while the majority goes about its merry way without caring less. Anyway, I am a green-aware consumer and what I'll add to this is
1) eco-fashion is not an oxymoron. If enough people buy jeans and cotton t-shirts from reputable factories and are willing to pay decent prices for these, sweatshop labour and harmful harvenst WILL turn around
2) Filter, filter, filter -- no one can change the world but we certainly can do our bit to do the right thing and the spread the word. It will change. even 24 months a go did anyone think no one in London would be able to smoke in a pub. Right, I rest my case.
I think its strange that people who understand and see the value in being green-aware as consumers should bicker about being pale-greens or dark-greens. I mean its rare to hear those who consume without thinking, arguing who is the more cavalier consumer! Its a typical case of an overly self-analytical and slightly neurotic minority tearing itself up internally while the majority goes about its merry way without caring less. Anyway, I am a green-aware consumer and what I'll add to this is
1) eco-fashion is not an oxymoron. If enough people buy jeans and cotton t-shirts from reputable factories and are willing to pay decent prices for these, sweatshop labour and harmful harvenst WILL turn around
2) Filter, filter, filter -- no one can change the world but we certainly can do our bit to do the right thing and the spread the word. It will change. even 24 months a go did anyone think no one in London would be able to smoke in a pub. Right, I rest my case.
The reality is, we will always need certain things in our lives, clothing is one of them. With that said, I also agree we live in a consumer driven society with the purchasing pedal pressed to the floor boards!
Through our company, www.fashionandearth.com we are actively promoting that people should get off the consumer band wagon with respect to clothing. Hang on to their clothes for as long as possible and if you do become tired with them, hand them along to a friend or a charity - don't put them in the dumpster.
But, there will always come a point when even the most eco-conscious person will need some new duds and that is where companies like Fashion and Earth can provide options to purchase eco friendly clothing that gives the customer the peace of mind that environmental impact has been minimized.