Video: EcoGear, The Most Eco Friendly Clothing In The World

When we talk about conservation and eco friendly lifestyles much of the focus is placed on climate change, pollution, water, wildlife, and farming. Of course ALL of these issues are incredibly important to discuss, but sadly one very major issue gets swept under the rug most of the time. I’m talking about the clothing industry.

Here are some quick facts about traditional clothing manufacturing:

* Deforestation causes damage to our lands. Forests are cut down to grow cotton and raise farm animals for their wool. In the case of bamboo fibers, the buzz word of eco friendly clothing at the moment, excessive demand can lead to over-harvesting of bamboo which ultimately leads to loss of habitat for wildlife as well as soil erosion.

* During the actual fabric making process, fibers are gathered and combed to prepare for yarn making. Due to the oily nature of the cotton, it takes copious amounts of drinking water and energy to clean the natural oils off the cotton fibers.

To speed up the process, yarn mills typical add heavy metals. As the process continues, the unbleached and undyed linen, a.k.a. greige, is now ready for dyeing and the yarns/fabrics are bleached to make it white so that “true colors” can be obtained.

Right after the bleaching and rinsing, chemical dyestuffs, and formaldehyde, a common chemical used to promote better colorfastness, is used on the fabrics.

The best mills in the world talk of waste filtration and reusing waste waters in their factories but it seems a better proposition would be to start off with organic or naturally occurring colors and say that the environmental is more important that getting perfect colors.

* The chemical footprint continues with printing on the finished fabrics. The majority of prints are oil based and likely to contain polyvinyl chloride, or

PVC, and pthalates. Both chemicals are well known to have detrimental health effects on people, especially young children. Plastisol inks, which are commonly used on printed tee shirts contain PVC and pthalates in very large amounts.

* Because of all this it has been suggested that all clothing should carry a “Wash before Wear” label. If these chemicals have the potential to cause us that much grief, imagine what happens when we wash it into our lakes and rivers and sources of drinking water and habitat for our ourselves and aquatic wildlife.

* A more worrisome trend is the increasing use of nanotechnology in clothing. Pants and shirts that do not need ironing. That repel water and oil. That is stain resistant. The makers of these chemicals will not release information on the chemicals they use but its likely that these are just as toxic, if not more so, as everything else we’ve seen.

Here are some not-so-pretty facts about many “environmentally friendly” textiles:

Type 1. Organic cottons and other cellulose fiber.

* Organic cotton is all the rage and every possible brand and retailer lays claim to its environmentally friendly status as if this was the answer to curbing all the pollutants emitted by traditional plant based textiles. The truth is these fabrics are no more environmentally friendly than their traditional cousins.

While it is a step in the right direction by not using pesticides or agrochemicals in growing the plants, what happens right after is that the same processes and chemicals are used on the fabrics. For that reason, it has been questioned whether these fabrics should have the right to call themselves “organic”. The fibers might have started off as organically grown, but the end product is anything but.

* Bamboo, soy and the newest greenwash candidate on the market, Cocona, all lay claim to the same eco friendly factors.

The only clear standard for any fabric that claims to be friendly or neutral to the environment should be the one as set out by the international body Ecologo. Ecologo’s standards are set as follows…

“(A) Be manufactured from 100% organically grown cotton; (A certificate from the Organic Crop Improvement Association, or the pertinent Agricultural Minsitry, shall constitute proof.)

(B) not contain any dyes; and

(C) only be manufactured with allowable additive at any point in the manufacturing process (including planting, harvesting, processing of raw cotton, converting to yarn, producing knits, and fabric, and manufacturing clothing.)”

As evident from Parts (B) and (C), those pretty pink colors in so called “ eco friendly fabrics” would not qualify under these international standards.

* A gentler standard would be the one as practiced by the Global Organic Textiles Standards (GOTS) but even here, most of the brands in the market that lay claim to being eco friendly would not qualify.

Type 2. Fabrics from recycled fibers.

* With a growing consumer consciousness of our heavy impact on nature, there has been a growing demand for clothing that uses recycled fibers. Major international brands are adopting the product and it can be seen now in the best suits or mountain climbing gear.

* These are primarily recycled polyesters and while the story starts off well, with recycling and reusing, the finished fabrics still use up too much water, energy and chemical dyestuffs. There are options but the industry will not use eco options unless we, the consumers, can assure them that we will accept the product even if the color is off tone, or the surface a bit grainy as long as it means that no toxic chemicals were washed out into the waters and that only half the energy was needed to create that garment.

So after learning all of this you as a smart green consumer you might be wondering what companies you can support that actually stick to true environmentally friendly, sustainable clothing manufacturing.

Well I have some good news for you…there’s EcoGear. A true environmentally friendly clothing company that’s dedicated to sustainable fashion and environmental progress.

Here’s some quick facts about EcoGear and why you should definitely check out there story and innovative t-shirt making process:

“EcoGear was founded by Robert Hii. A 20 year veteran of the garment industry in Toronto Canada, Robert started researching eco friendly apparel in 2006 at the request of his customers, who are major Canadian retailers.

Using the standards as set out by Ecologo, what confronted him was a wonderful world of beige. Knowing that the mainstream market would insist on a green alternative that was at once truly eco friendly and fashionable at the same time, he ended up looking at recycled fibres. This was and remains a niche supply. Recycled fibres have been around for more than 10 years. Used mostly as carpeting or upholstery, the technology had not been perfected as there simply wasn’t an economical reason to spend R & D dollars in it.

Through persistent nagging and pleading, he was able to convince two yarn makers to try and make a yarn and subsequent fabric that the average consumer would accept as everyday lifestyle apparel.

The results of that year long search is now in EcoGear apparel.

The company now lays claim to being the most earth friendly apparel and justifies its claims with its eco factors.

* least water and energy used in producing the fabric.

* Zero bleach or dyestuffs in producing the fabric( ecogear apparel gets its colors from carefully sorted preconsumer cotton clippings or first life fibres )

* No land use.

* All prints use either organic inks or water based inks that contain no PVC, pthalates or APEOs.

* With its 35% mix of recycled polyester from recycled drinking water bottles, it can be air dried faster than traditional cottons.

* Landfill diversion from the recycling of preconsumer cotton clippings.

In giving back to the earth, EcoGear is committed to working with environmental groups that fight for conservation and restoration of our fragile nature. It supports these groups through the sales of a series of Specialtees, with proceeds dedicated to them and also as a member of 1%fortheplanet.

The immediate concession is that recycled fashion will not be a part of every citizens wardrobe but as the company continues to work with the recycled yarn makers, the short term goal is to create woven fabrics so that the consumer has a wider range of truly eco friendly apparel and home furnishings to choose from.” Read more of the EcoGear story.

You can read more about EcoGear, its manufacturing process, its commitment to environmental groups, and purchase environmentally friendly clothing at their website:

Eco-Gear.ca

They carry t-shirts for women, men, and children in a variety of colors, styles, and fashions. Here’s a peak at their latest organic environmentally friendly clothing line…

Video: EcoGear Fashion Collection ‘08

Thank you EcoGear for providing the world with real eco friendly options and for supporting the causes we all care about so greatly. Thank you for opening up my eyes to the dirty world of traditional clothing manufacturing and for providing me with so much incredible information for readers of this blog. Keep up your fantastic work!