Dress to impress the planet

Here's how you chooose climate-conscious clothes.

Your carbon footprint is affected by the choices you make. Choices regarding what to eat, where to go, what to wear, and so on. The introduction of fast fashion and rapidly shifting trends means that each garment is worn less. Knowing that the textile industry is amongst the most polluting, we’ve gathered five tips on ways to reduce the carbon footprint of your clothes.

1. Extend the lifecycle

We recently learned by our friends at F5 Concept Store, that to dress environmentally friendly, you need to care for the lifetime of your outfits. "Extending the life cycle of the clothes is the best thing for the environment", they said. That means purchasing fewer, but high-quality items, in addition to fixing and tailoring when needed.

2. Repair

Extending the life cycle of your clothes also means repairing when needed. If you have your own sewing machine, that’s great. If not, you can use services such as Repairable, which allows you to drop off your item at a chosen spot, and it will be fixed within a two-week time frame.

3. Rent

Since we already rent cars, services, movies, apartments, why not rent clothes too? Fjong and Rent the Runway aim to redefine the way we consume fashion, and offers consumers to both rent and lend out their clothes. It could be for business, weddings or going out - whatever occasion and clothes that fit your needs. Tuckify is another innovator in this area, letting you stream kids clothes.

4. Buy second-hand

Just like we recycle plastic, clothes can be recycled too. Patagonia is well known for its recycled polyester fleece. So, the message is: Don’t throw away your clothes, someone else might appreciate them instead or new ones can be made. Donate what you don’t use anymore to your local thrift shop or sell them online. In Norway, services such as Finn.no and Tise allows you to trade used goods.

5. Transparent production

Chooose brands that have transparent production processes and a clear sustainability strategy, on everything from the choice of a factory to the type of fabric, such as Organic Basics or Reformation. They state: “Being naked is the #1 most sustainable option. Reformation is #2.” Avoid clothing with Per- and Polyfluorinated chemicals (PFAS), choose certified clothing that meets the set standards of water usage, chemicals, and so on, such as The Swan Ecolabel. Some brands have compensated their clothing lines through CHOOOSE, such asHSVP x CHOOOSE, Organics Basics &Designers Remix.