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| licl:clothes [2026/03/12 14:17] – Dave Darby | licl:clothes [2026/03/26 18:33] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1 |
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| # Low-impact clothes | This topic is part of [[gt:crafts|Crafts & making]] and [[gt:wellbeing|Wellbeing, home & relationships]]. |
| | ====== Low-impact clothes ====== |
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| ## What are low-impact clothes? | ===== What are low-impact clothes? ===== |
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| It's difficult to define low-impact clothes in the same way as topics such as knitting, sewing or weaving, as there are so many aspects to consider. For convenience, we can categorise them in two ways: | It's difficult to define low-impact clothes in the same way as topics such as knitting, sewing or weaving, as there are so many aspects to consider. For convenience, we can categorise them in two ways: |
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| ## What are the benefits of low-impact clothes? | ===== What are the benefits of low-impact clothes? ===== |
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| The benefits of low-impact clothes are best illustrated by highlighting the problems of the current high-impact clothes industry. | The benefits of low-impact clothes are best illustrated by highlighting the problems of the current high-impact clothes industry. |
| ### Materials | ==== Materials ==== |
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| The introduction of petroleum-based, synthetic textiles made care of clothes much easier, but your skin breathes through your clothes, and as synthetics are non-breathable, they make you and your clothes smell, which means they have to be washed more often, which requires more energy, water and detergent. On the other hand, recycled plastics can be made into fibres to make clothes. This isn't a good basis for a clothes industry though - the manufacture of plastics involves a lot of pollution, which causes environmental damage and health problems for people who work in the industry. It's also impossible to dye synthetic clothes with natural dyes, and there are lots of synthetic textiles rotting in places we can't see them, slowly emitting toxins. | The introduction of petroleum-based, synthetic textiles made care of clothes much easier, but your skin breathes through your clothes, and as synthetics are non-breathable, they make you and your clothes smell, which means they have to be washed more often, which requires more energy, water and detergent. On the other hand, recycled plastics can be made into fibres to make clothes. This isn't a good basis for a clothes industry though - the manufacture of plastics involves a lot of pollution, which causes environmental damage and health problems for people who work in the industry. It's also impossible to dye synthetic clothes with natural dyes, and there are lots of synthetic textiles rotting in places we can't see them, slowly emitting toxins. |
| </figure> | </figure> |
| </WRAP> | </WRAP> |
| ### Provenance | ==== Provenance ==== |
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| The scale of manufacturing is important. If clothes are made on a huge scale, short cuts are taken to maximise returns to shareholders, resulting in not only shoddy goods, but also huge, exploitative sweatshops that are famous for paying workers a tiny fraction of the retail price of the clothes they produce; plus with large-scale manufacturing, pollutants are concentrated, causing problems that nature could cope with and neutralise much more easily in a more dispersed industry of small-scale producers (and especially if they were producing naturally and for a local market). | The scale of manufacturing is important. If clothes are made on a huge scale, short cuts are taken to maximise returns to shareholders, resulting in not only shoddy goods, but also huge, exploitative sweatshops that are famous for paying workers a tiny fraction of the retail price of the clothes they produce; plus with large-scale manufacturing, pollutants are concentrated, causing problems that nature could cope with and neutralise much more easily in a more dispersed industry of small-scale producers (and especially if they were producing naturally and for a local market). |
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| ## What can I do? | ===== What can I do? ===== |
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| ### Buying clothes | ==== Buying clothes ==== |
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| Possibly the most important thing when buying low-impact clothes clothes is to ignore the fashion industry. That doesn't mean not being creative - it just means not allowing other people to tell you how to dress. It also means avoiding corporate brands, who often try to turn you into walking advertisements for them, especially when it comes to sportswear. The raison d'être of the corporate fashion industry is to build obsolescence into our clothes, and to persuade us to buy more than we need. Over 50% of clothing sold in the UK eventually ends up in landfill. Even in charity shops a huge amount of clothing remains unsold and is baled up and sent to Africa. Although intended to be helpful, this actually destroys the local clothing industry, because you can't compete with goods that are free. | Possibly the most important thing when buying low-impact clothes clothes is to ignore the fashion industry. That doesn't mean not being creative - it just means not allowing other people to tell you how to dress. It also means avoiding corporate brands, who often try to turn you into walking advertisements for them, especially when it comes to sportswear. The raison d'être of the corporate fashion industry is to build obsolescence into our clothes, and to persuade us to buy more than we need. Over 50% of clothing sold in the UK eventually ends up in landfill. Even in charity shops a huge amount of clothing remains unsold and is baled up and sent to Africa. Although intended to be helpful, this actually destroys the local clothing industry, because you can't compete with goods that are free. |
| </WRAP> | </WRAP> |
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| ### Making clothes | ==== Making clothes ==== |
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| If you're going to make your own low-impact clothes, you're going to need one or more of these skills: | If you're going to make your own low-impact clothes, you're going to need one or more of these skills: |
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| And of course it's good to repair things - darning socks and patching clothes are becoming more common. Ultimately, if low-impact clothes made from natural materials can't be repaired any more, they can be composted or used for insulation. | And of course it's good to repair things - darning socks and patching clothes are becoming more common. Ultimately, if low-impact clothes made from natural materials can't be repaired any more, they can be composted or used for insulation. |
| | ===== Forum ===== |
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| ## Further resources | This topic belongs to the section [[gt:crafts|Crafts & making]]. You can ask questions or add information on the corresponding [Forum section](https://forum.growingthecommons.org/t/crafts). |
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| | It is also in the section [[gt:wellbeing|Wellbeing, home & relationships]] (Forum: [Wellbeing, home & relationships](https://forum.growingthecommons.org/t/wellbeing)). |
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| | ===== Further resources ===== |
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| - [SW England Fibreshed](https://southwestenglandfibreshed.co.uk/) | - [SW England Fibreshed](https://southwestenglandfibreshed.co.uk/) |
| - [Fibershed](https://fibershed.org/) - US | - [Fibershed](https://fibershed.org/) - US |
| - [Centre for Sustainable Fashion](https://www.sustainable-fashion.com/) | - [Centre for Sustainable Fashion](https://www.sustainable-fashion.com/) |
| - [600+ clothes upcycling projects](https://jembellish.blogspot.com/p/clothes-upcycling-projects.html) | - [600+ clothes upcycling projects](https://jembellish.blogspot.com/p/clothes-upcycling-projects.html) |
| - [Textile Recycling Association](https://www.textilerecyclingassociation.org/) | - [Textile Recycling Association](https://www.textilerecyclingassociation.org/) |
| - [How to mend clothes](https://lifestyle.howstuffworks.com/crafts/wearable/how-to-mend-clothes1.htm) | - [How to mend clothes](https://lifestyle.howstuffworks.com/crafts/wearable/how-to-mend-clothes1.htm) |
| - [How to start a clothes shop](https://startups.co.uk/guides/how-to-start-a-clothes-shop/) | - [How to start a clothes shop](https://startups.co.uk/guides/how-to-start-a-clothes-shop/) |
| - [FairWear Foundation](https://www.fairwear.org/) | - [FairWear Foundation](https://www.fairwear.org/) |
| - [No Sweat](https://nosweat.org.uk/) - fighting sweat shops | - [No Sweat](https://nosweat.org.uk/) - fighting sweat shops |
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| ## Related topics | ===== Related topics ===== |
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| - [Craft production](https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/craf/craft) | - [Craft production](craf:craft) |
| - [Felt making](https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/felt/felt_making) | - [Felt making](felt:felt_making) |
| - [Jewellery making](https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/jewl/jewellery) | - [Jewellery making](jewl:jewellery) |
| - [Knitting & crochet](https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/knit/knitting) | - [Knitting & crochet](knit:knitting) |
| - [Leatherwork](https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/leat/leatherwork) | - [Leatherwork](leat:leatherwork) |
| - [Natural dyes](https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/ntdy/natural_dyes) | - [Natural dyes](ntdy:natural_dyes) |
| - [Plant fibres](https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/pltf/plant_fibres) | - [Plant fibres](pltf:plant_fibres) |
| - [Sewing](https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/sewi/sewing) | - [Sewing](sewi:sewing) |
| - [Weaving](https://knowledge.growingthecommons.org/doku.php/weav/weaving) | - [Weaving](weav:weaving) |
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| ## Specialist curators of this topic | ===== Specialist curators of this topic ===== |
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