How Sustainable Is Silk? & Its Ethical Alternatives

Silk has been a highly demanded fabric for more than 5,000 years. It is delicate, lustrous and beautiful, and makes the perfect fabric for scarves, blouses and dresses.

A legend says that silk was discovered in 2640 BC by Chinese Empress Xi Ling Shi while drinking a cup of tea under a mulberry tree. A silkworm cocoon fell into her cup and, as it dissolved, the Empress understood that the cocoon was made of beautiful threads that could be used to create fine fabrics.  

Silk has been produced since then, mainly in Asia, but sericulture became popular in the whole world as the centuries passed. Today, silk production accounts for less than 0.2% of the world’s fiber market, but it is a multi-billion dollar industry. ‘

Silk has unique properties, but it raises various ethical and sustainable issues. It’s also one of the most expensive fabrics, and owning silk clothing requires constant dry-cleaning. 

So, should you invest in silk fabrics for your wardrobe? You’ll find out in this article! You’ll also learn about some more ethical and sustainable alternatives to choose instead.

WHAT IS SILK AND HOW IS IT MADE?

What is silk?

Silk is a natural fiber created by certain insects and arachnids to form their cocoons or webs, and it can be used to produce textiles.

In commercial applications, the most common silk is made with the filaments from the cocoons of the larvae of domesticated mulberry silkworms Bombyx mori. The silkworms are reared in captivity to create fabrics: this whole industry is called sericulture.

The production of silk is believed to have started in China during the Neolithic period, and it had played an essential role in the Chinese rural economy for millennia. 

In the 2nd century AD, the practice was established in India, and as centuries passed, sericulture was exported to other parts of the world, especially the Middle East. Thanks to the Silk Road, it quickly reached the Mediterranean, and later, Western Europe where it flourished until the 19th century.

After the Second World War, nylon and other synthetic fabrics became popular and widely produced in the fashion industry, leading to the weakening of the silk industry. But silk did not disappear.

Nowadays, silk is used in various industries, the most common one being fashion. You can buy many clothing pieces made with silk, including blouses, shirts, lingerie, dresses and pajamas. Silk can also be found in home textiles like bedding, duvets, curtains and rugs.

It has many other industrial and commercial applications, and it’s used to make parachutes, bicycle tires and surgical sutures to name a few. 

China is still by far the main silk producer, with around 60% of the world’s production.

How is it made?

Sericulture has existed for thousands of years, but it’s still a very labor-intensive process. 

Silk production almost always involves rearing silkworms in captivity, and we usually use domesticated mulberry silkworms Bombyx mori.  

It is possible to produce wild silk, using silkworms that live in the wild, like the tussah silkmoths. However, this type of production is a lot less predictable and more difficult, because the silk moths that are used cannot be domesticated.

The first step in the production process of conventional silk is to gather thousands of silkworms to harvest their cocoons. Female silk moths have around 300 to 500 eggs at once, and those eggs are incubated in a controlled environment until they become larvae.

Larvae are fed with mulberry leaves, and after six weeks, silkworms start spinning their cocoon by rotating their bodies around 300,000 times.  

A silkworm needs three to eight days to create a single strand of silk that measures about 100 meters long. Around 2,500 silkworms are needed to create one pound of raw silk.

When all the silkworms have finished spinning their cocoons, silk producers place the cocoons in boiling water to dissolve the gum holding the cocoon together, killing the silkworm in the process. Each silk thread is then slowly reeled from the cocoon in individual threads and wound on a reel.

After being washed, degummed, bleached, and dried, silk threads are immersed in a dye bath to soak up a given color. Dyed silk threads are then spun onto a bobbin, and the weaving process can begin.

Two sets of threads are interlaced so that they lock around each other to form a durable fabric. Silk can be woven in various ways, which results in different finishes of the silk.

At this point, a pattern can be printed on the fabric, either using digital printing, or the more traditional screen printing method. 

Finally, the silk fabric needs to be finished, which is usually done by using different chemical treatments that give the fabric specific properties, like crease-proofing and fire resistance. 

The silk fabric can then be sewn and used to create all kinds of new products, including fashion pieces.

SHOULD YOU USE SILK?

How practical is silk clothing?

Silk has unique properties…

This fabric is lightweight and lustrous, and it has a soft feel. Its luminosity and sheen make it look luxurious, and it falls naturally, which is ideal for creating elegant clothing. 

Silk is also a great material that takes well to dyes, meaning that you can usually find all kinds of colors when looking for silk clothing. In addition, it is very strong and doesn’t get damaged easily: one filament of silk is stronger than a comparable filament of steel! 

Silk clothes are great to wear in the summer, as they keep you cool and can absorb a lot of moisture before feeling wet. In the winter, silk helps keep warm air close to the skin, making it a warm material that’s often used for its insulation properties. 

All these great characteristics have made it a very demanded fabric throughout the world.  

But it comes with its disadvantages…

One of the most significant disadvantages of silk is that it is more expensive than most other fabrics. As a result, silk clothes are often seen as a luxury that many people cannot afford. 

It is also more challenging to take proper care of silk fabrics as it is recommended to dry-clean them. You might hand wash them, but you should first test for a color bleed on a small area on the inside. 

Silk clothing shouldn’t go in the washing machine nor the dryer, which is inconvenient for many people. It also needs to be steam-ironed, but only on a low setting, and you shouldn’t put it in direct sunlight as it can fade easily. 

If you aren’t careful with these recommendations, you risk damaging your silk fabrics. 

How eco-friendly is silk?

The main environmental benefit of silk is that it is a durable, natural material, so it doesn’t shed microplastics into the environment while in the wash. 

Untreated silk is also entirely biodegradable, even though chemicals, dyes and blended fabrics may hinder its biodegradability.

However, according to the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Higg Index, silk has a worse environmental impact than synthetic fabrics, and it has a huge global warming potential. 

As a single mulberry tree feeds 100 silkworms, and we need 3,000 cocoons to create one yard of fabric, sericulture involves growing a huge quantity of mulberry trees. Even though fewer chemicals are sprayed on mulberry trees than other crops, like cotton, pesticides and fertilizers are usually used to grow them. 

It contributes to the pollution of groundwaters and may cause serious environmental issues, such as eutrophication. Eutrophication leads to the spread of harmful algae in the environment and usually causes dead zones.

Silk production is also very energy and water-intensive. Boiling the water to cook the cocoons takes enormous amounts of energy and water. Temperature control in silkworm rearing facilities, transportation, dying and processing are other steps in the production process that require large amounts of energy. In addition, the silk is cleaned at different stages, which means that high volumes of water are used.

A lot of toxic chemicals, including dyes, are usually used during silk production, and untreated waters are regularly dumped into waterways.

Owning silk itself can be unsustainable as it requires dry cleaning, and dry cleaning solvents are very harmful to the environment.

How ethical is it? 

One of the main reasons why sericulture is widely criticized is because it raises different ethical issues.

Conventional silk production involves boiling alive and killing the silkworms in their cocoons before they mature into moths. It is estimated that around 1,000 animals are killed to create a single silk shirt. Only a small percentage are allowed to mature, and they are used for reproduction purposes. 

Once silkworms have mated, males are discarded, and females are crushed to death. Female silkworms are then checked under a microscope to make sure they are not sick. If a disease is detected, their eggs are destroyed as well. 

Another ethical issue is that child labor is not uncommon in the silk industry. In 2003, the non-profit organization Human Rights Watch found that hundreds of thousands of children in India were working 12 or more hours per day, six to seven days a week. Some were as young as five years old! 

Those children breathe toxic fumes and smoke daily, regularly have to dip their hands in boiling water, and are in contact with dead worms that can cause infections. They can easily get injured by other activities, cannot go to school, and are often beaten by their employers. There is no evidence that such practices have stopped since 2003.

Workers in the silk industry are also exposed to the chemicals that they are touching and breathing on a daily basis, at multiple stages during the production process. Those chemicals are very harmful to their health: they are linked to various diseases and deaths, and some of them are carcinogens. 

A final point to consider is that almost all workers in the silk industry are located in low-income countries where workers are regularly exploited, paid unfair wages that aren’t enough to live, and offered inhumane working conditions. 

MORE ETHICAL OR SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES TO CONVENTIONAL SILK

Conventional silk production is not ethical nor sustainable. However, there are alternative ways to produce silk that are greener and more ethical and that you might prefer instead of buying conventional silk. 

Peace silk

Peace silk, or Ahimsa silk, is the most common alternative to conventional silk. The main reason why this type of silk is "more ethical" is that moths are allowed to emerge and fly away before their cocoons are boiled safely. It means that no moth is boiled alive during the production process.

While peace silk is better than conventional silk, it still has a significant drawback to be aware of. After thousands of years of selective breeding, domesticated silkworms used in silk production are not "made" to live out of their cocoons. 

They are unable to see and fly properly and cannot protect themselves from predators. As a result, they usually die quickly once they emerge from their cocoons. 

So peace silk production is less cruel than conventional silk production, but it is still not ideal. It is also not much better in terms of environmental footprint.  

Wild silk

Wild silk, or Tussar silk, is made from the cocoons of Tussar silkworms found in open forests. Their cocoons are usually harvested after the moths have emerged, making it a more ethical alternative to conventional silk.   

Wild silkworms eat multiple types of plants, so they produce a less consistent fabric, but it's more durable. Fewer chemicals are also used to make the fabric.

However, some companies that use "wild silk" harvest the cocoons with the larvae still inside. So, while wild silk is supposed to be better for the silkworms, it is difficult to say whether all companies producing wild silk are truly waiting for silkworms to hatch and fly away. 

Oeko-Tex or GOTS-certified organic silk

GOTS-certified organic silk is a more sustainable alternative to conventional silk. It is produced very similarly to conventional silk, but no pesticides or other harmful chemicals are used. 

Everything in the production process is organic, and the silkworms get to eat a more varied diet instead of mulberry leaves alone. 

Oeko-tex certified silk is another more sustainable option. It means that from raw materials to the end product, the silk is free of toxic chemicals, healthy and better for the environment.  

However, whether you choose to buy Oeko-Tex or GOTS-certified silk, the silkworms are still killed before they have the chance to leave their cocoons. So organic silk is more eco-friendly but no more ethical than conventional silk. 

Recycled silk

You cannot go wrong by choosing recycled silk! Used silk fabrics have been reused and recycled into new ones, and it is done without the ethical and sustainable issues of producing virgin silk. No additional silkworm is killed, and recycling a fabric also requires fewer resources to be used. 

Vegan silk alternatives 

If you're not comfortable wearing clothing made from animals, there are some vegan silk-like fabrics you may want to try. 

Lotus silk is one of them: it is made by spinning the long roots of the lotus flower. Lotus plants are grown without pesticides and require very little water. 

Other silk-like fabrics you can find are pineapple silk and banana silk. Both are made as a by-product of the fruit industry, so they're very sustainable fabrics, saving waste and resources. 

Cactus silk is not to be ignored too! It is made using a subspecies of succulents that need very little water and no chemicals to grow. 

The brand Bolt Threads also created "spider" silk. However, it is not made using spiders but by fermenting yeast, water and sugar, and it's very similar to real spider silk.

All these vegan alternatives are great options, and they're a lot more sustainable and ethical than conventional silk!  

CONCLUSION

Thanks to its various characteristics, silk has been a highly demanded fabric for thousands of years.

However, conventional silk is not made ethically as it requires boiling live silkworms while still in their cocoons, and child labor is not uncommon in this industry. 

It's also not sustainable because sericulture is very energy and water-intensive, and a lot of chemicals are added to the fabric. 

Fortunately, there are more ethical or eco-friendly alternatives to conventional silk. They're not all perfect in terms of ethics or sustainability, but they're still better. 

Recycled silk and vegan silk-like alternatives might be the most sustainable and ethical options.

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About the Author:

Eva Astoul is a French freelance writer, specializing in content related to sustainability, simple living, and a growth-focused healthy lifestyle. She runs her own blog, Green With Less, to inspire people to live a more minimalist and sustainable life.

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How to Recycle clothes

No matter how much care we take curating our wardrobes, there inevitably comes a time in the lifecycle of any piece of clothing when it no longer fits us, we simply don’t want it anymore, or it has been so worn and well-loved over the years that it has started to fall apart.

The question for any conscious consumer then becomes: what happens to our old clothes when we recycle them, and what are the most sustainable options for our old and unwanted clothes? 

Our Clothing Waste Problem

In her book A Life Less Throwaway: The Lost Art of Buying For Life, Tara Button shares that the average woman in 1930 owned nine outfits, whereas we now buy an average of 67 items of clothing every year. Research shows that the average modern American discards 81 pounds of clothing a year, and the Environmental Protection Agency reported that US landfills received 11.3 million tons of unwanted textiles (predominantly unwanted clothing) in 2018. 

Yet this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to clothing waste: the large majority of our unwanted clothing is shipped abroad either to used clothing markets or overflowing landfill sites abroad—out of sight, out of mind, for us at least. If we had to keep our own clothing waste, our domestic landfills would be well past crisis point by now.

Fast fashion prioritizes speed and low prices, which means that the quality of our clothing has deteriorated, as well as increasing the amount of clothing that is produced and consumed. As a result, clothing tends to break more easily, and repairing clothing is often perceived to be more effort or expensive than simply buying new; inevitably, more clothing is also thrown away. Synthetic fibers, which release toxic chemicals into the water system when we wash them, as well as into the environment when they’re discarded, can be difficult to recycle, even if we try to avoid sending them directly to landfill.

It’s not all bad news, though: in recent years, we’ve also seen a resurgence in the popularity of second-hand clothing, mending clothing, and the use of recycled (and recyclable) fabrics. Many ethical fashion brands have been evolving to think about not just the ethics of where their clothing comes from, but also where it will end up, striving to close the loop and embrace a circular design model.

It’s important for every conscious consumer to understand what happens to our recycled clothes so that we can make the most sustainable choice with each item of clothing we’re ready to discard. Before we talk about recycling clothing, it’s helpful to think about what happens to donated clothes, as a large proportion of donated clothes end up heading to recycling plants, too. 

What Happens to Donated Clothes? 

The first step for any charity or organization accepting donations is to sort the clothing into wearable or unwearable categories. The wearable donations are classified as “first grade”, and will generally go on to be sold in second-hand clothing shops or even in second-hand clothing markets abroad. 

Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot of transparency in the industry, but estimates of how much donated clothing falls in the first grade (i.e. resellable) category range from around 10-50 percent. Adam Baruchowitz, founder of Wearable Collections, a New York-based non-profit that collects used clothing in the city, says that “For any bag you collect, 50 percent is going to be wearable and 50 percent is going to be used for other purposes.” Meanwhile, Lucy Siegle reported that around 10 percent of the approximately 300,000 tons of donated garments in the UK each year was re-sold in domestic shops in aid of charity. 

Other clothing will be exported and sold in second hand-clothing markets; in fact, research shows that a third of all globally donated clothes are re-sold in Sub-Saharan Africa. While there’s certainly a high demand for Western clothing, the huge influx of used clothing from countries like the USA and the UK is a mixed blessing for locals: Dr. Andrew Brooks, author of Clothing Poverty, shares that between 1975 and 2000, Ghana’s textile and clothing employment fell by 80 percent, while Nigeria’s 200,000-person textile industry has been greatly reduced, too. Kenya’s local textiles industry has been so disabled by the influx of clothing from overseas that their government fought a proposal to ban imported textiles, saying that they wouldn’t be able to clothe their population without second-hand clothing. 

Where clothing lacks any resale value, this lower grade but still usable fabric will be sent to recycling facilities to be turned into new fibers or used for car seat filling and wiping rags for industrial machines. Some will also inevitably end up in landfills, either domestic or (more likely) abroad. 

Ultimately, when we donate our clothes, we hope that our closest purge is also positively impacting someone else’s life. However, we need to be careful that any clothing we donate is of good quality and in good repair because charities need quality, not quantity. People sorting through donated clothing report regularly finding bags of dirty, unwashed clothing—even dirty socks and underwear, which can’t be salvaged easily and so inevitably go straight to landfill. Furthermore, one bag of clothes with mildew can contaminate any other clothing they come into contact with; by donating dirty clothing, not only are you just creating extra unprofitable work for a charity, you’re also potentially making other perfectly good donated clothing unusable, too.

The first and most basic principle of donating used clothing is ensuring everything is clean, in good repair, and generally of  sellable quality. If you have items that meet this description, there are plenty of local options where you can donate your good quality clothing, from community clothing banks to organizations like Goodwill.

Meanwhile, there are several different options for any clothing that’s no longer of a sellable quality; first, we’ll explore the pros and cons of recycling and look into how to recycle sustainably.

What Happens to Recycled Clothes? 

Clothing that is sent to a recycling facility will be sorted by hand for the type of textiles, and then will be shredded, ground, and treated, going through a different process depending on what new life it is destined to have. Some might be turned into recycled fabric and make it back into your wardrobe in the form of a brand new garment. Other lower grade fabric will be used in less glamorous, though still useful, ways, such as insulation, padding, or industrial textiles.

Given that it takes synthetic materials hundreds of years to biodegrade (a minimum of 200 years for a polyester dress), it’s clearly important to keep fabric from heading to landfill. And, another benefit of the recycling industry is that it provides jobs that require skill and can’t be replaced easily by machines, which struggle to identify fabric without the ability to feel it. 

However, recycling is not a straightforward win because many synthetic fabrics are difficult to recycle in an environmentally friendly way. Serge Lazarev, founder of Green Tree Textile Recycling in New York City, says that materials like Spandex and Lycra are problematic: “When elastic and rubber mixed in with the textile material, we don’t have a way to separate it.”

If you decide to send your clothing to a local recycling plant rather than reusing it in your own home, there are a couple of best practices to bear in mind. Firstly, check out the info provided by your local municipality to find out what options they offer, and make sure you pay attention to the information they share about what to send and how to prepare and sort it. 

Avoid buying new synthetic fabrics wherever possible, but if you do have a synthetic item to recycle, try to find a specific recycling program for synthetic fabrics to make sure they have the expertise to do it properly; one way to do this is to get in touch with circular fashion brands who use recycled fabric and ask them for advice about which companies they use to source their upcycled fabrics so that you can donate your clothing directly. Supporting brands that use recycled and sustainable materials is a great way to vote with your wallet and support the recycled fabric industry; Patagonia, Thought, and many other ethical fashion brands use things like recycled polyester and plastic bottles in their fabrics.

Some brands run specific recycling programs themselves; Madewell accepts old jeans to use as insulation in houses built in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity (and they’ll give you a discount on your next pair of Madewell jeans in exchange).  

What Can We Do Instead of Recycling and Donating Old Clothes?

So, if we should only donate high-quality clothing, and if recycling should only be done with care or as a last resort, what are our other options for old or unwanted clothes?

Ania Grzeszek is a textile artist and a big advocate of visible mending. As she explains, “recycling or donating [clothing] is simply shifting the responsibility to someone else, but is not the most sustainable solution. The easiest way to reduce the ecological impact of our clothing is to simply wear it longer (and also wash it less!). By extending the life of the garment, you literally help save the planet and opt-out from the fast-fashion cycle.” Ania encourages people to embrace their creativity and to normalize mending clothing. “This is one of the biggest shifts I noticed in the past years,” she says, “from patches and mends being frowned upon, to fixed clothes being now a way to express your views, and also personal style… You don't have to be good at it from the start, just experiment with it and see where your creativity takes you.”

Photo credit: Kaliko

Fashion Revolution co-founder Orsola de Castro also celebrates the rise of the mending trend, but her new book Loved Clothes Last also explores the need for a diverse range of options for all budgets when it comes to ethical fashion. She points out that mending clothing and wearing hand-me-downs or second-hand clothing used to be a sign of low income and low social status, and that as this becomes more socially acceptable, even celebrated, we must avoid making fast fashion simply the latest way we stigmatize the less affluent. 

The fact that more people are embracing used clothing, and that the stigma of keeping and mending and passing down clothes is fading, is all great news—as long as it doesn’t mean that the re-sale price of secondhand clothing rises, pricing out people who used to rely on used clothing stores to dress themselves and their families.

Use the guidance below to help you decide on the best way to recycle or upcycle your clothing; you and your wardrobe are unique, and so the answer will look a little different for everyone.  

How to Recycle or Upcycle Clothing That’s Still In Good Condition

1. Clothing Swaps

Host a clothes swapping party with your friends (covid-permitting, of course), or share photos of items you think might suit a friend or family member, telling them you thought of them and wondered if they’d like the item you’re ready to part with. Many brands like tonlé host clothes swaps on their own platforms now, too.

2. Re-selling

Why not earn some money from the clothing and accessories you no longer want, and ensure they go directly to a good home rather than to landfill? There are so many different re-selling apps to choose from; you’re spoilt for choice.

Image: Basic Revolution

3. Investing in clothes from circular fashion brands

Supporting brands like that use recycled materials, or better yet, use recycled materials and also give their customers the ability to send their clothing directly back to be recycled by the company, is a powerful way to ensure the future is circular and waste-free.

Basic Revolution is a great example of a company doing this. Finding a resource that can truly recycle old clothing (especially things like hole-y socks!) is incredibly difficult since they'll likely just get thrown away.

Basic Revolution, however, is helping to fill that void and provide sustainably and ethically made basics that include clothing recycling for your worn-out basics. So when you purchase a pack of socks, for example, you can send your old items to them to be broken down and turned into insulation them or (if still in good condition) to be sorted by their recycler and then given to charities to be reused.

4. Donating good quality items

Donating good quality clothing to clothing banks or charitable organizations is a good option too, as long as you make sure you’re not just using them as dumping grounds. A good rule of thumb is to do a gut check and if you don’t think you’d be able to sell a piece on a re-selling app, it might not be re-sellable for a charity, either.

Image: Basic Revolution (who can help you recycle your old socks!)

How to Recycle or Upcycle Clothing That’s Damaged or Worn

1. Teach yourself some basic mending skills.

Whether you go for invisible or visible mending, there’s a lot to be gained from taking the time to sew on buttons, darn holes, and patch fraying places in your clothing. You can keep things simple or get creative and experimental—it’s totally up to you and what works for your style.  

2. Outsource your mending.

Not handy with a needle and thread, or short on time? There are plenty of professionals out there who can help you if you don’t have the time or inclination to learn yourself. The repair economy is a growing sector, and it’s great to encourage this if you can.

3. Upcycle your old clothes at home.

If you’re a crafty type (or know someone who is), there are plenty of fun ways you can re-use old fabric in your home. We’ve shared a few ideas to get you started below, but really the options are limitless.

4. Recycle responsibly.

If all else fails, recycling should be our last resort, instead of just throwing fabric in the trash. Just make sure you’ve taken the time to look into the best local recycling options for the type of fabric you’d like to recycle. 

8 Inspiring Upcycled Fabric Projects For Your Home

Once you’re ready to embrace a little in-house recycling, it’s a great idea to invest in your very own rag basket where you can keep any discarded clothing that’s beyond repair and can now be used for household cleaning and craft projects. It can help to have a sewing machine, but you can do a lot with a simple needle and thread.

1. Patching

Sometimes, using a contrasting fabric to patch a piece of fraying clothing can be a fun style statement. If your style is more minimalist, you can always try this on kids’ clothing first, as their clothing is usually more colorful, and it might feel like the stakes are a little lower, too.

2. Alternative window dressings or framed art.

I was really inspired by the creativity of my neighbor when I saw that she’d created lace stained-glass-style window panels with old pieces of lace she’d saved over the years; they make a beautiful alternative to privacy blinds or lace curtains. Even if you don’t have the skills or inclination to try something like this yourself, you could consider commissioning something similar from a local artist.

Image credit: Sophie Caldecott

3. Quilts

Quilting may be a rather complex art, but it’s also a lovely way to reuse old clothes with sentimental value. If you’re a beginner to quilt-making, keep things simple with simple squares of fabric, and go from there.

4. Rag rugs

Rag rugs, also called Toothbrush or Amish style rugs, are a classic way to recycle old clothes at home. It may look intimidating at first, but with the help of this handy video tutorial from Barri-Jayne Makes, you’ll soon be hooked.

5. Cushion covers

Atia Azmi of The Bright Blooms makes a lot of her own clothing from scratch, but points out that you don’t have to be as ambitious as she is to create something new for your home from old or unwanted clothes. Save sweaters you accidentally shrank in the wash (we all do it) and turn them into cushion covers, cardigans, or mittens.

6. Wrapped clothes hangers

Take inspiration from Kristen, founder of Upcycle My Stuff, and give your ugly plastic clothes hangers a pretty makeover by wrapping strips of fabric tightly around them, securing them with glue—no sewing needed.

Image credit: Upcycle My Stuff

7. Hair scrunchies

While scrunchies are back in style, why not use some old fabric scraps to make yourself or your kids a brand new hair accessory? All you need is a small amount of attractive fabric and some elastic for one of the simplest sewing projects out there.

8. Bunting

Fabric bunting is one of the easiest craft projects to try with old fabric, and if you like the results, you can keep it after every celebration and re-use it again and again. This tassel bunting from Upcycle My Stuff is no-sew, so you won’t even have to get a needle and thread out.

Image credit: Upcycle My Stuff

As crafter Barrina Mills of Barri-Jayne Makes says, “Using your old textiles to create something brand new is such a beautiful thing to do. You can start small and go as big as you like. You might even amaze yourself with what you can create. Then when someone admires your work, you can say with pride, ‘I made that!’.” 

Whether you’re a crafty type or more into swapping, re-selling, or recycling with intention, there’s a sustainable option for your old and unwanted clothing out there for you. Let’s strive for a future in which we consume less new clothing and virgin textiles, make what we already have in our wardrobes last longer, and ultimately make sure any unwanted clothing doesn’t end up in a landfill. 

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About the Author

Sophie Caldecott is a freelance writer living in a cottage on the edge of the moor in the South-West of England. She writes about grief, empathy, ethical fashion, and the things that connect us and make us human. You’ll most likely find her cozied up by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate and a good book.

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A Guide to Carbon Emissions & Carbon Offsets

Within my own sustainability journey, it’s felt as if I “level up” every so often as I educate myself, keep an open mind, and listen to the voices of so many leaders within this movement.

One of those level-ups was learning about carbon emissions, and in turn, carbon offsets.

Sometimes it can feel as if you’re just getting the hang of being more eco-conscious - remembering your reusable bags when grocery shopping, purchasing from small businesses when you can, making sure your household doesn’t have food waste - and then you learn about a new way you can be doing “better”. And that can be overwhelming.

But let’s get something straight: imperfect sustainability practiced by many is better than perfect sustainability practiced by few.

It’s a popular phrase within the sustainability community, but that doesn’t make it any less important. It’s important to remember that while one person’s actions can make a difference, there are still massive corporations that need to change, too. It’s not all on your shoulders. As a community, we’re here to support one another through each level-up moment and to continue to build momentum until our communal actions and demands shift the tide, with corporations taking responsibility for their actions. 

But I digress. Kinda.

So let’s dive into carbon emissions. 

What are carbon emissions?

Carbon emissions go by another name you may recognize: Greenhouse Gases.

Basically, “Greenhouse Gases” is the umbrella term, encompassing carbon as well as methane and other gases. The term “carbon emissions” is just specific to carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. But carbon is by far the most polluting gas.

According to the EPA, carbon emissions account for 79% of all GHG. Methane is in second place at 11%, nitrous oxide in third at 7%, and fluorinated gases in fourth at 3%. So, obviously, carbon is the big hitter here.

So where does carbon come from? Fossil fuels, specifically when they are burned. Burning coal and oil puts a ton of carbon into the atmosphere, but burning almost anything else does too. You’d think that burning wood wouldn’t be a big deal, but trees and organic matter store carbon, and when they’re burned, those gases are released. This is why deforestation is such a major problem, on top of decimating local ecosystems. 

According to the EPA, “Human activities are responsible for almost all of the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the last 150 years.” Yikes. But not super surprising, right?

Wondering what we’re doing about it yet? Let me tell you.

What are carbon offsets?

You know that viral video where someone is showering, rinsing the shampoo out of their hair, and each time they go to rinse it out someone else pops over and puts more shampoo in their hair?

In a weird way, carbon offsets are kinda like that.

The basic idea of carbon offsetting is to take action to remove carbon from the atmosphere that you/your company has caused. So, when you shop online and it takes a plane, a train, and a car to get delivered to you, think about the carbon that creates. It needs to be offset.

Carbon offsetting is a great solution right now because, as a society, we are still tremendously reliant on fossil fuels, and therefore we continue to create carbon emissions.

We’re going under the showerhead to rinse out that shampoo, to offset our carbon emissions, but then major corporations (read: the fossil fuel industry) add more shampoo, and we rinse and repeat. (See what I did there? Ha!)

The obvious solution is to just get rid of the person continuously adding shampoo to our hair, but we’re simply not there yet.

So are carbon offsets even worth it?

Yes.

Working continuously to offset our emissions is still a vital task in order to combat the climate crisis. It is necessary. Without it, the climate crisis will only get worse. Which yes, is still possible.

How can you offset emissions?

There are a handful of different ways you as an individual can offset your personal carbon emissions. Let me give you a few tips

1. Taking a flight? Offset with Chooose.

   When Chooose first got started, they focused solely on offsetting your plane rides. This was the first carbon offsetting program I discovered, which I found super helpful. As a college kid going to school in Chicago, with my whole family back in California, I took a lot of flights. Now, Chooose has three different tiers: ChoooseClimate for companies, WeChooose for organizations, and MyChooose for individuals. 

   2. Put your money where your mouth is with Aspiration

   This is a two-fold awesome way to offset your carbon. First and foremost, when you switch to Aspiration, you’re divesting from the fossil fuel industry and massive corporations, like Chase. Secondly, with each purchase, Aspiration plants a tree. You can track your progress toward net-zero carbon, and they’ve even incentivized it; if you hit carbon zero that month, you get 1% cash back on all purchases.

   3. Shop locally whenever you can

   Buy your produce from a farmer’s market. Get your pet food from the local pet supplies shop. Bike to your local target for your skincare refills instead of ordering online. Take public transportation downtown to run your errands. The point is: the less the product has to travel to get to you, the fewer carbon emissions it creates.

   4. Don’t forget about the electricity!

   “Over 40% of energy-related CO2 emissions are due to the burning of fossil fuels for electricity generation.” So switch those lights off when you’re not home, or when natural light is good enough. And don’t let that sneaky phantom power get you! Unplug (yes, like from the wall) any devices that aren’t in use. I’m looking at you, the toaster, phone charger, guest bedroom lamp, etc.!

   5. You can also shop from Certified Carbon Neutral companies

   Shopping locally is great, but sometimes it’s simply not an option. When you need to get your shop on, look into the ethics of where you shop. Do they have a page outlining their sustainability efforts? Are they using recycled materials? Are they working with 1% For the Planet, or are they Certified Carbon Neutral? These are questions we as consumers can ask and demand of companies, and by doing so put pressure on other companies to put in the work to do better - for our people and our planet.

   You can find a list of all 301 (as of right now) companies here! 

   Here are just a few more ways to take action to get you started 

So hopefully you understand carbon emissions and carbon offsets just a little bit more, and feel confident going about your next “level up” in your sustainability journey :)

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About the Author:

Paige Annelayne is a freelance writer and digital media specialist currently based in Alabama, who loves to cook, learn about intersectional sustainability, and read a lot of books. Her cat, Gnocchi, her plants, and a good cup of matcha bring her joy. You can connect with Paige on Instagram @vitality.blog and at www.vtltyblog.com

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image from Beckett Simonon

Eco-Friendly & Sustainable Men’s Shoes

In 2019, over 24.3 billion pairs of shoes were produced worldwide. This number is mind-boggling because there are just under 8 billion people on the planet. Not to mention that a large percentage of the world’s population can barely afford a single pair of shoes. 

The scarier part is that the footwear industry poses serious threats to our environment. During the manufacturing process, toxic chemicals are released into nature, and large quantities of carbon dioxide are emitted, contributing to climate change. And what about the impact of the millions of pairs of shoes that are disposed of each year?! 

 Just like fast fashion, the shoe industry is very harmful to the environment and factory workers, and we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to it. Whether you are looking for boots, sandals, sneakers, or dress shoes, try to support eco-friendly footwear brands that do not harm people and the planet.  

Shoes are made from different materials, and as you want them to be durable, these materials aren’t always perfect in terms of sustainability.

Fortunately, there are more and more sustainable footwear brands to choose from! Here is a list of 14 men’s shoe brands your feet and the planet will love! 

WHAT MAKES YOUR SHOES SUSTAINABLE?  

One of the most important things is that sustainable shoes are always high-quality, well-made and durable. They are shoes that you can wear for years without them falling apart. Also, remember to always buy comfortable shoes, so that you’ll actually wear them.  

The shoe brand needs to be transparent about who makes them, how and where. If the brand doesn’t disclose any information, it’s probably trying to hide its shady practices. Eco-friendly shoes are also made with more sustainable materials, like natural or recycled ones.  

WHAT ECO-FRIENDLY MATERIALS SHOULD YOU SEARCH FOR? 

Sustainable shoes are often made from recycled water bottles, organic cotton, wool, jute, or recycled rubber. Some brands are even using innovative techniques and make their soles with algae or sugarcane! 

Leather shoes are tricky, because the leather industry is very wasteful and polluting. But leather shoes generally last for years, are durable, and can often be repaired. So if you want to buy leather shoes, opt for more sustainable options, like chrome-free or vegetable-tanned leathers.  

You can also find leathers that are Gold certified by the Leather Working Group, which is an organization that audits tanneries and promotes more sustainable practices within the industry. 

 It’s difficult to find shoes that are 100% made from sustainable materials. But check out the following brands! They are making men’s shoes that are more eco-friendly and that your feet will love! 

 NOW, OUR TOP PICKS FOR SUSTAINABLE & COMFY MEN’S SHOES:

1) Nisolo

Category: Sneakers, Dress Shoes, Sandals, Boots, Daily Wear

Price: $110-260

Materials: Leather

Made In: Peru, Mexico

Nisolo creates stylish footwear staples and accessories for women & men.

Its pieces are all versatile and effortless to style. 

The brand sells men’s shoes of all kinds: sneakers, sandals, slip-ons, boots, as well as dressier shoes like derbies & oxfords.

They’re all made of leather that originates from Leather Working Group certified tanneries, which meet the highest standards of environmental responsibility in the industry. Some models even have vegetable-tanned leather outsoles. 

Nisolo is a certified B corporation. Entirely carbon neutral, it offsets its carbon footprint by investing in forest conservation projects in the Peruvian Amazon. 

In 2020, the company also collected more than 5,000 shoes and sent them to Soles4Souls to divert them from ending up in landfills.

use code SUSTAINABLYCHIC20 for 20% off

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2) Poppy Barley

Category: Boots, Dress Shoes

Price: $233-355

Materials: Veggie-Tanned Leather

Made In: Mexico

Poppy Barley is a Canadian brand and B-Corporation founded by two sisters in Edmonton, AB. Their company is committed to rethinking every step to create sustainably made, fairly-priced products designed to be worn on repeat. They make insanely comfortable footwear and well-designed accessories with inclusive sizing 6-13 and in medium, somewhat wide, and wide widths.

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3) Veja

Category: Sneakers, Daily Wear 

Price: $120-180

Materials: Leather, Recycled Water Bottles, Organic Cotton

Made In: Brazil

Veja is a footwear brand for the whole family with a mission to design sneakers that will stand the test of time. If you’re looking for men’s sneakers, the brand has different styles and colors to choose from. Most of them are made of high-quality leather that comes from tanneries certified Gold by the Leather Working Group, which promotes more sustainable ways of producing leather. 

The lining of Veja shoes is made of organic cotton and recycled polyester. The brand also uses other sustainable materials, like recycled water bottles, sugar cane, and chrome-free leather. 

I love that Veja is very transparent about its carbon footprint, where it comes from, and it even discloses the individual carbon footprint of its shoe models. It also follows fair trade principles and works directly with small producers.

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4) Cariuma

Categories: Sneakers, Skate Shoes

Price: $79-169

Materials: Cotton Canvas, Cork Vegan Insoles, Recycled Plastic Laces, Bamboo, Sugarcane, Mamona Oil, Rubber

Made In: China

A classic look to stay with you for many years, Cariuma uses only ethical manufacturing, recycled packaging & carbon neutral shipping. Their shoes have a lot of fantastic reviews.

Cariuma is a Certified B-Corp Brand, and every shoe is made in an ethical factory in China. These factories have strict codes of conduct & fair wages.

Plus, for every pair purchased, they plant two trees!

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5) Kane

Category: Molded Sneaker

Price: $75

Materials: Sugarcane

Made In: Brazil

Kane Footwear's Revive is the perfect workout recovery, travel, or everyday shoe that you can feel good wearing and purchasing. The shoe is built with a renewable, plant-based EVA foam alternative that's made from over 75% sugarcane byproduct.

Their signature dual-density foam actually retains CO2 sequestered during the sugarcane's growth cycle, making it a carbon-negative material. In addition, the dual-density foam is 100% waterproof and easy to clean with a quick rinse – perfect for any adventure. Best of all, it's a shoe designed for recovery and supports your feet for day-long wear. The Revive, created in collaboration with sports podiatrist Dr. Dan Geller, maximizes muscle recovery and comfort. Its 10mm heel-to-toe drop reduces strain on the achilles, raised nodes on the sole stimulate feet, and a spacious fit allows for expansion of the foot. Plus, Kane Footwear is a certified B Corp and 1% of their gross sales are committed directly to environmental non-profits through 1% For the Planet.

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6) Beckett Simonon

Category: Dress Shoes, Boots, Sneakers

Price: $159-239

Materials: Leather 

Made In: Colombia

Beckett Simonon creates handmade men’s shoes and accessories, using traditional techniques. Its made-to-order system eliminates the risk of having unsold inventory, which means resources are used only as they’re needed. 

The brand sells a large variety of dress shoes, including derbies, loafers, oxfords and monk straps.

You can also find the perfect boots and sneakers! 

All Beckett Simonon’s shoes are made of high-quality leather that was sourced from a Gold-rated tannery in Italy. It means that the manufacturer meets the most stringent criteria, and is committed to mitigating its environmental impact. 

The brand uses 100% natural waxes, water-based solvents and dyes. Each pair of shoes is also easy to resole when the soles get worn-out.

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8) Rothy’s

Category: Daily Wear, Dress Shoes, Sneakers

Price: $175-185

Materials: Recycled Plastic Bottles

Made In: China 

Rothy’s makes footwear from recycled plastic bottles for the whole family, combining 3D knitting technology and handcrafted assembly. The brand sells men’s sneakers and loafers, available in different colors.

They’re all super easy to dress up and dress down, which makes them a great wardrobe staple for everyday wear! 

To make its shoes, Rothy’s diverts plastic bottles from landfills and turns them into its signature thread. The brand then uses it to knit sturdy, comfortable and machine-washable shoes. It harvests harmful algae from waterways to transform them into the footbeds of some of its models, which helps our marine ecosystems. 

Its upper production has a 75% lower carbon footprint compared to the industry average. Rothy’s also collects ocean plastic and uses it to create sustainable bags. 

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9) Vivobarefoot

Category: Daily Wear, Work-Out Shoes, Hiking Boots, Sneakers, Sandals 

Price: $115-240

Materials: Recycled Plastic, Leather, Merino Wool

Made In: Vietnam, Portugal, Ethiopia, China 

Vivobarefoot is a minimalist footwear brand for the whole family.

Its shoes mimic the natural shape & movement of the foot, giving the impression we are walking barefoot. 

The brand’s shoes are flexible, wide, and thin, promoting the foot’s natural strength and allowing us to feel the ground. 

Vivobarefoot sells different kinds of men’s shoes, including sneakers, hiking boots, sandals, and other outdoor footwear that is made with recycled, natural, or biosynthetic materials.

Its leather shoes are naturally scarred and made from free-roaming cattle raised in small-scale farms. Some Vivobarefoot shoes are made of Merino wool that is Woolmark certified, which provides the highest standard quality and sourcing assurance. 

The company is a B corporation, and it created ReVivo, an online marketplace for refurbished barefoot shoes.

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10) Saola

Category: Daily Wear, Sneakers 

Price: $82-130

Materials: Recycled PET, Algae, Cork 

Made In: Vietnam 

SAOLA is a French footwear brand that makes its shoes out of recycled water bottles. 

Its men’s shoes are all sneakers that are 100% vegan, comfortable and ultra-light.

Each pair is made with several recycled water bottles, diverting them from going to landfill. Their laces are all made of organic cotton. 

The soles are created using cork, algae and EVA (rubber-like material). SAOLA has partnered with Bloom Foam who cleans lakes where there are harmful algae, and turns them into a powder that is used in the manufacturing process. Doing this contributes to cleaning 100 liters of water for each pair of soles made. 

The brand is a member of 1% For The Planet, meaning that it donates 1% of its profits to organizations aiming to protect our environment.

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11) Kingdom of Wow 

Category: Espadrilles

Price: $69

Materials: Cotton, Jute

Made In: Cambodia

Kingdom of Wow sells espadrilles and wool slippers that are ethically handmade by small artisans. The brand offers 3 classic models of espadrilles for men, each in a neutral color to make it easier to style with your clothes. They are all 100% biodegradable and vegan.

I love the versatility and flexibility of this timeless Mediterranean-style footwear! 

Kingdom of Wow’s footwear is made from naturally cooling jute soles with breathable cotton uppers. This combination of natural materials makes them perfect to wear in warm weather, as they help keep your feet cool and breezy.

The brand offsets its carbon footprint by supporting the conservation of natural rainforests in Cambodia, where its production workshop is located.

use code SUSTAINABLYCHIC for $20 off your first order of $150+ at Made Trade

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12) Sole Rebels 

Category: Sandals, Boots, Sneakers, Slip-Ons, Daily Wear

Price: $90-140

Materials: Organic Cotton, Recycled Tires, Leather 

Made In: Ethiopia

Sole Rebels was founded to blend creative artisan talents with the traditional Ethiopian shoe made with recycled tires. If you’re looking for colorful men’s shoes, this brand is for you!

It offers a wide range of models, styles, patterns and colors. You can choose between a variety of sneakers, boots, sandals, and other shoes that are great for everyday wear. 

All Sole Rebels’ shoes are handcrafted by Ethiopian artisans, and made with sustainable materials such as organic cotton, jute, or koba plant fiber. Soles are made from recycled car tires, and the brand’s sustainable leather comes from raising free-range animals on a small scale.

The company also commits to paying its artisans 3 times the industry average in the country.

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13) Baabuk

Category: Daily Wear, Sneakers, Slip-Ons, Slippers 

Price: $95-135

Materials: Wool

Made In: Portugal

Baabuk is a Swiss brand that started making traditional wool slippers, but quickly expanded by launching its comfortable and cozy shoe collection. The brand sells men’s footwear, including different models of sneakers and slip-ons that are great for everyday wear.

You can even choose to customize your own pair! 

Baabuk’s shoes are made of 100% Portuguese mulesing-free sheep wool that’s responsibly harvested and processed. The soles are made using natural latex or rubber. These shoes are coming to life thanks to local shepherds and artisans who use centuries-old techniques and knowledge. 

The brand became a certified B corporation in 2016. In 2020, it also developed a program aiming to protect 6 endangered breeds of sheep that are native to Switzerland.

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About the Author

Eva Astoul is a French freelance writer, specializing in content related to sustainability, simple living, and a growth-focused healthy lifestyle. She runs her own blog, Green With Less, to inspire people to live a more minimalist and sustainable life.

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Sustainable Clothing Brands With Payment Plans

Supporting sustainable brands and investing in high-quality wardrobe staples inevitably costs money. Yet sometimes we don’t always have room in the budget when it’s time to buy a necessary item of clothing. Payment plans, or “Buy now, Pay Later,” are a wonderful solution to this. Today, numerous sustainable brands accept buy now, pay later providers like Afterpay, making sustainable clothing more accessible. 

In this article, we cover some of our favorite sustainable clothing brands that offer payment plans so you can shop sustainably without breaking the bank. 

What is Buy Now, Pay Later? 

The option to “buy now, pay Later,” is a relatively new feature that is now widely available. When you go to check out, you can choose to pay using the available buy now, pay later provider. This allows you to split up the full price of your order into interest-free payments at no additional cost. 

You’ll be directed to pay through the third party and you can pick the payment installment that works best for you. Most buy now, pay later apps offer four fixed installments every two weeks for free. 

However, if that frame doesn’t work for you, you can choose to pay smaller amounts over a longer timeframe with additional interest. The smaller the amount and the longer the time frame, the more interest they will charge, but it will be considerably less than the interest most credit cards charge. 

Some common buy now, pay later companies your favorite brands may partner with are: 

• Afterpay

• Klarna 

• Affirm

• Sezzle

• Four

• Zip

• Shop Pay

Why Are Payment Installments Important?

There are numerous reasons why it’s great for sustainable brands to offer the option to buy now and pay later. 

Sustainable fashion can be more expensive than fast fashion and for a good reason. Fast fashion is only cheap because it involves both exploitative labor and environmentally exploitative business practices. 

Sustainably made items cost more because workers are paid a fair, living wage, and the materials used are of higher quality. Plus, sustainable brands often use eco-friendly business practices and packaging, which also adds to the total cost. 

Sustainable products are more expensive to make and in turn cost us more to buy. You can read more about the true cost of sustainable manufacturing here. 

Having the option to pay in installments makes sustainable clothing more accessible. It makes it possible to invest in sustainably made, high-quality items even if you’re on a budget.

It’s important to note that we don’t encourage using payment plans as an excuse to buy more. It’s not sustainable to go into debt to purchase new clothing or to buy things that aren’t necessary. Paying through installments will hopefully prevent you from going into debt and allow you to support sustainable brands that may not be affordable upfront.  

Our Top 15 Sustainable Brands that Accept Payment Plans:

1) Pact

Price Range: $-$$

Categories: Intimates, Clothing, Activewear, Home

Buy Now, Pay Later Option: Afterpay

Pact is most known for their sustainable underwear made from GOTS-certified organic cotton. However, they now have a wide selection of sustainably made apparel for all genders. At Pact you can find most wardrobe staples from athleisure, intimates, and apparel basics including skirts and outerwear.

They even have options for kids and babies. 

Pact is a carbon-neutral company and they produce their clothing in Fair Trade-certified factories.

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2) tentree

Price Range: $-$$

Categories: Clothing, Activewear, Intimates, Accessories

Buy Now, Pay Later Option: Klarna

tentree is a wonderful brand to find sustainably made apparel basics and accessories for all genders.

tentree is a B Corp and climate-neutral company that gets its name from their pledge to plant ten trees for every purchase. 

They make their clothing from sustainable natural and recycled materials like hemp and Tencel. Many of their products are affordably priced, but you can also use Klarna to purchase with a payment plan. 

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3) Made Trade

Price Range: $-$$$

Categories: Home, Clothing, Accessories, Furniture, Shoes

Buy Now, Pay Later Option: Shop Pay

If you’re looking for a wide variety of apparel and products, look no further than Made Trade. This family-run, woman-owned sustainable marketplace makes it easy to support eco-friendly brands both small and large. At Made Trade you’ll find inclusive sizing and you can even shop by the values that are most important to you such as vegan, BIPOC-Owned or handcrafted.

Every brand available on Made Trade meets their sustainable standards such as fair-wage employment, sustainable materials, and eco-friendly production methods. 

use code SUSTAINABLYCHIC for $20 off your first order of $150+

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4) Nisolo

Price Range: $$-$$$

Categories: Shoes, Accessories

Buy Now, Pay Later Option: Shop Pay

Leather is one of the oldest natural materials used to produce clothing but it’s since become a largely unsustainable material that often involves animal abuse. Nisolo works to combat this, creating ethically made leather shoes and accessories like purses from materials that would’ve ended up in landfills.

Not only does this B Corp produce some of the cutest boots and shoes, designed to last a lifetime, but they are also incredibly transparent. 

Nisolo is passionate about fair wage employment and sustainable production. Each product has its own “Sustainability Facts” label so consumers can easily understand the impact of their purchase. 

use code SUSTAINABLYCHIC20 for 20% off your purchase

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5) Able

Price Range: $$-$$$

Categories: Clothing, Accessories, Shoes

Buy Now, Pay Later Option: Afterpay

ABLE is a wonderful women’s sustainable clothing brand that produces high-quality, investment pieces meant to last a lifetime. What’s unique about ABLE is that they partner with female artisans throughout the world to design ethically made clothing. They are passionate about ending female exploitation in the fashion industry. 

ABLE uses a variety of sustainable, natural materials and has a lifetime guarantee on their products so you can purchase with confidence. 

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6) Girlfriend Collective

Price Range: $-$$

Categories: Activewear, Clothing, Swimwear, Intimates, Accessories

Buy Now, Pay Later Option: Afterpay

Girlfriend Collective is a fantastic one-stop shop for your wardrobe basics. They are most known for their sustainable activewear, inclusive sizing, and sustainability efforts. Girlfriend Collective uses recycled plastic bottles to produce their clothing and lists exactly how many bottles were used to make each item.

Their sustainability report also lists how much water was saved and the carbon emissions prevented by your purchase. 

Girlfriend Collective has sustainable clothing options for all genders at an affordable price, even more so thanks to the option to use Afterpay.

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7) Poppy Barley

Price Range: $$-$$$

Categories: Shoes, Handbags, Accessories

Buy Now, Pay Later Option: Affirm

Poppy Barley is a Canadian brand and B-Corporation founded by two sisters in Edmonton, AB. Their company is committed to rethinking every step to create sustainably made, fairly-priced products designed to be worn on repeat. They make insanely comfortable footwear and well-designed accessories with inclusive sizing 5-12 and in medium and wide widths.

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8) Boody

Price Range: $-$$

Categories: Intimates, Clothing, Activewear, Accessories

Buy Now, Pay Later Option: Afterpay

Boody produces some of the softest sustainable intimates around, available for all genders. They use primarily organic bamboo fabric that’s sustainably produced in a closed-loop system.

Here you’ll find a large selection of underwear, bras, and socks.

Boody also offers babywear as well as a small collection of loungewear, basic apparel, and accessories like scarves. 

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9) Earthhero

Price Range: $-$$

Categories: Home, Beauty, Accessories 

Buy Now, Pay Later Option: Shop Pay

Another wonderful ethical online marketplace is Earthhero.

Similar to Made Trade, you can shop by your value to easily find products and brands that meet your standards.

Earthhero is a certified B Corp, Climate-neutral, and a 1% for the planet partner. 

Here you’ll find most things you could need such as home goods, apparel, beauty products, travel necessities, tech accessories, and even sustainable items for your pet. 

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10) Kotn

Price Range: $$-$$$

Categories: Intimates, Clothing, Accessories, Home

Buy Now, Pay Later Option: Sezzle

Kotn designs stylish, minimalist apparel and accessories that make it easy to build an entire wardrobe. Kotn primarily uses sustainably sourced Egyptian cotton as well as a variety of natural and recycled materials. 

At Kotn, you’ll find numerous apparel options for all genders as well as sustainably made home goods, primarily bedding and bath items.

Everything is made on family-run, fair-paying farms. 

use code KOTNCHIC10 for 10% off your purchase

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12) Dazey LA

Price Range: $$-$$$

Categories: Clothing, Swimwear, Activewear, Accessories, Home

Buy Now, Pay Later Option: Afterpay, Zip

Dazey LA is one of the best sustainable clothing brands for dopamine dressing. From funky accessories to graphic tees and printed swimwear, Dazey LA has what you need to spice up your wardrobe.

Everything is designed by the founder, Dani Dazey, and made to order locally in LA. 

Dazey LA releases four sustainably made collections a year and offers inclusive sizing and unisex options. Dazey LA also has a new, wonderful selection of sustainable home decor. Afterpay and Zip make their items more accessible, as do their yearly sales. 

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13) Outland Denim

Price Range: $$$

Categories: Clothing

Buy Now, Pay Later Option: Klarna, Afterpay

One of our favorite brands for sustainable denim is Outland Denim.

They offer denim options for all genders and a small collection of other apparel basics like shirts and dresses.

Everything is vegan and made from organic cotton. 

Outland is transparent about their supply chain and produces their apparel in a fair-paying factory in Cambodia. They primarily employ women to help provide ethical, fair-wage jobs to empower women. 

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14) B. Yellowtail

Price Range: $$-$$$

Categories: Clothing, Accessories

Buy Now, Pay Later Option: Shop Pay

If you’re looking for gorgeous accessories like timeless jewelry and statement pieces, B. Yellowtail is a fantastic sustainable clothing brand. B.Yellowtail is Indigenous owned and led and features artisan-made accessories and apparel made by Indigenous creators including the founding designer.

They have a great range of options for all genders with inclusive sizing available. 

B.Yellowtail releases small collections made from natural materials several times a year. They don’t offer discounts on the majority of their products, so Shop Pay is a great option to support them even if you’re on a budget. 

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15) United by Blue

Price Range: $-$$$

Categories: Clothing, Accessories, Shoes, Activewear, Home

Buy Now, Pay Later Option: Shop Pay

United by Blue has a large variety of outdoor apparel for all genders as well as travel gear and basic kitchen and living ware. Whether you’re looking for travel-friendly reusables, a denim jacket, or a sustainably made duffel bag, chances are United by Blue will have it. 

They use various sustainable materials but what makes them great is their commitment to the environment. United by Blue removes a pound of trash for every item purchased and regularly hosts trash cleanups. They are also climate-neutral and B Corp certified. 

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About the Author

Alicia Briggs is a writer & editor specializing in slow travel & sustainable living. She has been a full-time traveler since 2018 and runs her own blog, Learning the Local Way, where she covers responsible travel tips and guides.

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WANT MORE SUSTAINABLE BRANDS? VISIT OUR BRAND DIRECTORY!

Our Brand Directory is home to hundreds of sustainable brands, from makeup to cleaning supplies, from underwear to shoes. We have broken everything down by category for easy shopping, along with discount codes unique to Sustainably Chic viewers.

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