Why You Should Wear Sustainable (and Safe) Clothing
Concerned about the current state of our environment, environmentalists far and near are urging us to consume less.
No sensible individual would dispute the wisdom of their recommendation. But we must bear this in mind: Less consumption does not mean zero consumption. In order to live and function effectively in society, we have to consume. How do we fulfil the two opposite demands? How can we help build “a future in which [both] people and nature thrive”? By making smart and sustainable choices.
Making the right choices is critically important, especially now. We must come to the realization that everything we do impacts the environment in one way or another. For this reason, every single act of ours counts.
We can begin our journey towards sustainability by reflecting upon what we consume. Clothing is one area that is worthy of our reflection. Why? Because clothing can be environmentally damaging. This is a fact many of us aren’t aware of. To understand it better, let’s consider the case of cotton.
We’ve chosen to explore cotton for two reasons. Firstly, we’re guessing that many people love wearing cotton. This isn’t a far-fetched assumption. Cotton is by far the most popular clothing material in the world and it’s not hard to see why. It’s soft, breathes well, and is low-maintenance. Secondly, we have a choice when buying cotton clothing: we can choose conventionally grown cotton or organic cotton. What should we go for? The option that’s less environmentally damaging, of course. Which is it? To answer this question, let’s take a quick look at cotton-related environmental damage. This sort of damage can occur in several ways. We’ll consider two here, toxicity and water use, and we begin with the former.
Conventionally grown cotton consumes approximately 25% of the insecticides and more than 10% of the pesticides used in the world. These synthetic, petroleum-based chemicals are toxic and persistent. In all likelihood, some will pollute the environment and cause harm to wildlife, some will end up in our food chain. In contrast, organic farmers do not depend on synthetic chemicals to manage pests. Instead, they plant so-called “trap crops” to lure pests away from their cotton and to provide a habitat for the pests’ natural predators.
When it comes to water use, conventionally grown cotton requires intensive irrigation. Organic cotton, on the other hand, requires less water to grow. Around 3,000 cubic meters per acre less, to be precise. How is this remarkable outcome possible? Utilizing environmentally friendly practices such as crop rotation and composting, organic farmers have managed to increase the amount of organic matter in the soil, helping the soil to retain more water.
We’ve so far touched on two facts about cotton. There are in fact more. We could go on, but the analysis would invariably lead to the same conclusion—organic cotton is much less environmentally damaging than conventionally grown cotton.
Hence, the smart and sustainable thing to do is to wear organic cotton clothing. But is it readily available in the market?
The answer’s yes. And Nukleus is one brand that helps you go green without breaking the bank.
A partner and supporter of WWF-Malaysia, Nukleus specializes in sustainable, fashionable and affordable underwear and basics for men, and in the near future, for women. Organic cotton happens to be one of Nukleus’ main materials. To give its customers the very best, Nukleus uses only organic cotton yarn from GOTS certified suppliers. GOTS, or Global Organic Textile Standard, is the world’s leading textile processing standard for organic fibres.
Nukleus products are also hypoallergenic and won’t cause skin irritation. That’s because all Nukleus core components—the parts that make up a piece of underwear or basic—are certified Oeko-Tex Standard 100, the world’s highest standard for human ecological safety. The Standard 100 achieves this outcome by strictly prohibiting or severely limiting the use of a long list of chemicals that are detrimental to health and to the environment. In other words, manufacturing the Oeko-Tex way is healthful and sustainable.
In conclusion, if we want “a future in which people and nature thrive”, we can all contribute towards it by wearing sustainable (and safe) clothing.
Nukleus is available at Parkson 1 Utama, Parkson KLCC, Parkson Pavilion, Parkson 1st Avenue (Penang), and Robinsons. It is also available at Just Life organic shops and online at www.nukleusshop.com. Come join us in our conversation about sustainable clothing and living at www.facebook.com/nukleuswear.
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