Before you start dreaming of spring shopping, read these tips to help
green your wardrobe. No dumpster diving required.

1. Shop vintage if you don’t already! Buying second hand guarantees
you’ll have one of-a-kind threads that no one else has, and will also
make mix and matching super fun especially when you’re feeling 
creative with your wardrobe. There’s something about vintage clothing
that looks like it has an interesting story to tell. When you wear it,
you look like you do too.

2. Search for reworked clothing, or do it yourself. Toronto is a
bubbling cauldron of indie designers who make records into purses,
board game pieces into jewellery, tea towels into aprons, the list
goes on! ETSY is a great site where designers showcase
their stuff. Re-worked fashions are also cropping up in more popular
places too; Urban Outfitters has a line called Urban Renewal, crafty
creations involving preloved materials, and all made in the USA! We’re
also all over H&M’s new spring collection using organic and recycled
materials.

3. Take good care of your stuff. Learn how to sew buttons back on,
find a good tailor, buy some proper hangers and don’t throw your stuff
all over the floor. This way you save money, and don’t burn through
clothes at warp speed.

4. Mind your washing decorum. Only do laundry when you have a full
load, choose phosphate free and biodegradable detergents, and line dry
as much as possible. Yeah, its winter and you live in a store front
apartment, but splurge on an indoor laundry hanger and your room will
smell like fresh laundry. Also, be wary of dry cleaners. An
astonishing amount of dry cleaners use an industrial solvent called
perchlorethylene, a suspected carcinogen that is associated with birth
defects, skin irritation, and respiratory failure. Even small amounts
of this stuff can pose a huge threat to human and the environment. If
you must dry clean, search for ones that are branded as
environmentally friendly, they likely use alternatives to perc such as
liquid carbon dioxide, silicone solvents or wet cleaning.

5. Wouldn’t it be a dream if everything you owned could be organic
cotton? In a perfect world. Conventional cotton manufacturing can
involve a ton of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and use dyes
that can also be full of heavy metals. All this is absorbed into your
pores when you wear it. Consider adding a few organic pieces to your
wardrobe, and reduce your risk of rashes and irritation. Pure Blankz
is a Canadian brand of 100% organic and ethically made clothing, using
minimal, metal-free dyes. Their clothes are also totally affordable.

Check out http://www.pureblankz.com/

6. Host a clothing swap! Get your most stylish friends together and
swap your old threads. One persons junk is another person’s treasure,
right? Then go for pints to celebrate the ton of cash you just saved!

7. Get creative with the stuff you already have. The greenest clothes
are the ones hanging out in your closet right now. No more resources
are required to get them to you, no cost, and no material extraction
or energy. How about that! Mix and match old and new, learn how to
make skirts out of jeans, a crazy patchwork quilt, or pillow covers.
For a ton of great craft ideas for old clothes, check out
http://recycledcrafts.craftgossip.com/category/recycled-clothing/.

~Kait Fowlie