Tips for sustainable clothes shopping

SUSTAINABLE fashion is one of the biggest trends in the industry right now, with brands including H&M and Topshop bringing the ethos mainstream. For help proving your fashion credentials this holiday season, Maxine Bedat, CEO and co-founder of 'slow fashion' retailer Zady.com, has put together some handy tips.

Choose Alpaca over Cashmere "It takes five cashmere goats to make one sweater whereas you can create five sweaters from just one alpaca," says Bedat. The eco-friendly alternative can be just as cosy.

Buy only what you love This one might seem obvious, but it is easy to fall into the trap of panic buying around this time of year. "Americans throw away 65-70 lbs of clothing each year," Bedat cautions. One of the most effective ways to prevent waste is to invest in products you love.

Buy fewer, and better Similarly, it is worth investing in durable garments. Fast fashion might have its appeal, but, as Bedat says: "More than 150 billion garments are produced every year. That's enough to provide more than 20 new articles of clothing to every person on the planet, every year."

Avoid clothing produced in countries with coal-based power grids China and Bangladesh are fashion production powerhouses, but both rely heavily on coal, the fossil fuel for their power supply. "And our fashion factories are not any different," says Bedat. "These factories, are plugged into that coal supplied grid pumping out all that clothing that we end up wearing, on average, only seven times".

Choose natural fibres over synthetics Polyester, a plastic material made of crude oil, is now the most commonly used fibre in our clothing. It takes more than 200 years to decompose, and global production requires nearly 70 million barrels of oil per year. Bedat suggests opting for natural fibers or organic cotton.

Additional advice for sustainable shoppers comes from Greenpeace, which suggests recycling and repurposing old clothes to get a longer shelf-life from them, and searching thrift stores for unique finds. – AFP Relaxnews