Earth-friendly Fabrics

It’s almost officially fall, and that means one thing: fall fashion! As the weather begins to turn chilly, it’s time to think about the best ways to bundle up. Since we all know the cruelty inherent in wool and cashmere, and the environmental havoc wreaked by conventionally grown cotton, finding alternative fabrics is more important than ever. Here are our favorite animal- and earth-friendly threads, any of which will keep you warm, stylish, and ethical through the fall and winter months.

Bamboo
Comparable to cotton and silk, bamboo gets an “A” for its list of benefits: organic, sustainable, biodegradable, and extremely comfortable. Even better, the world’s fastest growing plant doesn’t require fertilizers or pesticides.

PET
Made from recycled plastic soda bottles, this polyester finds new life as warm fleece hoodies. After the bottles are separated at recycling plants, they’re chopped, melted, and stirred. The resulting liquid is thick and yields polyester strands, which are stretched to make threads.

Recyclable polyester
Recycled second-quality fabrics are used to make clothing out of clothing. Some companies even have garment recycling programs where used clothes are reborn good-as-new.

Hemp
This fabric’s been around for a long time, but is experiencing a revival in environmental circles because it requires no pesticides and yields two to three times as much fiber as cotton.

Soy fabric
A renewable natural resource and byproduct of food production, soy wear is easy to clean and is close to wool in its heat retention. First made into a snazzy suit for Henry Ford in the 1940s, the demand for soy is on the rise thanks to conscious consumers.

Organic cotton
This choice, quickly gaining popularity, is poised to eclipse traditional cotton, which accounts for half of all pesticide use in the US and a quarter of that used throughout the world.