Eco Clothing

[geomannie]

I am a fan of Alpkit merino jerseys. They are not the highest quality but for the money they are extremely good value. They resist odour and are easy to machine wash at 30degrees. They stretch a bit so if inbetween sizes I would suggest sizing down. Being quite soft the the rear pockets tend to stretch if you load them so I try to avoid doing so.

Also mulesing-free.

[iandusud]

+1 I was thinking this as I read all the above posts. It needs a full cost benefit analysis to support or blow the concept.

I am always sceptical when I see the 'eco' tag on anything. In the tourist world it has become a standard add on - eco tour; eco hotel; eco etc. They rarely are.

I am a fan of the charity shop. We have a lot round our way and no full price men's shops (only need to travel 5 miles for larger town centre if needed). I am a smallish medium and find lots of stuff in good condition that fits me, some of it appears new. I suspect a lot of believed mediums buy and then find they are large.

Interestingly, I just read that 10% of the micro plastics in the sea are from 'rubber' tyres - let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

I too try and buy second hand as much as possible as a good way of reducing carbon emissions from manufacture and land fill.

I would imagine that the micro plastics from tyres is largely from cars and lorries, and that bicycles contribute little, whilst the use of a bike instead of a motorised vehicle has huge positive effects on the environment.

I also think that your scepticism re things "eco" is not without basis, however the fact of the matter is that we are destroying the ecosystem within which we live and as a society we have to change our habits as consumers. Whilst wool and cotton more so are not without their environmental issues I don't imagine that they have anything like the impact of synthetics in terms of their manufacture. They also don't require such frequent washing, which in turn has an environmental cost. I can wear a merino base layer several times before it needs a wash whereas a synthetic one I can only wear once before it needs washing.

None of the options for choice of transport, clothing, food etc is without its environmental impact but some are clearly better than others. I'm not here to tell anyone else what they should choose but I'm hoping to learn from the experience of others so that I can make informed choices of my own.

[Oldjohnw]

Forget whether or not the word “eco” or “green” are used. Simply avoid things based on the petrochemical industry or processed foods. I speak for myself here.

EVs also have tyres. They are heavy vehicles and still harm plenty, although glad they don’t have the same emissions.

[iandusud]

Forget whether or not the word “eco” or “green” are used. Simply avoid things based on the petrochemical industry or processed foods. I speak for myself here.

EVs also have tyres. They are heavy vehicles and still harm plenty, although glad they don’t have the same emissions.

+1 to both of the above comments.

[Oldjohnw]

Forget whether or not the word “eco” or “green” are used. Simply avoid things based on the petrochemical industry or processed foods. I speak for myself here.

EVs also have tyres. They are heavy vehicles and still harm plenty, although glad they don’t have the same emissions.

+1 to both of the above comments.

A relative, a couple of years ago, made two round the world eco tours. They were ‘eco’ because somewhere a swim with dolphins was included and a couple of nights were in a tent.

[roberts8]

Interesting post as I was thinking of moving to natural fibres. I did have had a couple of merino jumpers and socks which were munched by moth. Do you keep merino in the freezer or use plastic bags and moth balls?
Also, is bamboo another option?

[Oldjohnw]

Interesting post as I was thinking of moving to natural fibres. I did have had a couple of merino jumpers and socks which were munched by moth. Do you keep merino in the freezer or use plastic bags and moth balls?
Also, is bamboo another option?

I keep my clothing in normal drawers with cedar balls.

AFAIU, like with most things, you have to be careful. Bamboo, like cotton or even wool, can use unimaginable amounts of water. I find it all a difficult area: I do my best, keep things a long time and often get second hand. I had a friend who claimed he was “too poor to buy cheap. Buy cheap and buy twice.”

Of course, I can’t condemn the person who buys new: if they didn’t I would get the item used,

[NUKe]

Surely the best Eco cycling clothing is recycling anything anything you have, and only buying what you need.

ECO is liberally splashed about term if ever there was one. Someone bought me a bamboo Coffee mug. its essentially a bamboo bulking agent in plastic and will take the same 2000 years to rot away that a plastic one would if its not incinerated the annoying thing is it has stained as I suspect the coffee has seeped into the Bamboo and no amount of dish washing will clean it. if you compare this to my "Rats have rights mug" give to me in 1985, still in use today. which do think is the most eco friendly.

[Paulatic]

Another with Cedar off cuts in drawers.
I find the care of woollens very easy washing everything in the machine with 30C wool cycle and liquid soap. A Border Leicester wool jumper, knitted in the Scottish Borders, I bought 12 months ago has been washed twice yet worn most winter days.
Surely that’s very ECO? The wool can’t have travelled more 80 miles it’s supported local farmers and knitters and it’s very easy care and will save no end of detergents during its life time. At the end of its life for me it’s fibre can be reused.
Compare that to your plastic fleece
Merino base layers can be worn at least 7 days. A lot longer if you put them on a hanger overnight.

[PH]

I like the idea and read and read till my head was spinning, if there was one conclusion I came to it was that buying cheap is rarely the right option (unless you include secondhand.) Buying less and buying to last seems to come out on top regardless of the material. If your primary concern is about microfibres, you could consider a filter.

[elPedro666]

Agree wholeheartedly with the idea buying less and intending it to last, ideally second hand - it seems like the one variable we can at least be pretty certain of controlling.

But mostly I just wanted to say thanks for the cedar tip; hadn't heard that before and I have plenty of holes in my merino collection already [emoji19] Have recently been trying little chunks of soap to keep the critters away (must've read that somewhere) but will add some cedar too - be no space for the clothes soon! [emoji38]

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my VOG-L09 using hovercraft full of eels.

[Paulatic]

Re filters a study found

a sizeable proportion of the microfibres were still eluding the filtration systems, the team found.

I'd have thought any filter capable of catching anything with 'micro' in its name will give you an increased chance of a flooded utility room floor.

[PH]

Re filters a study found

a sizeable proportion of the microfibres were still eluding the filtration systems, the team found.

I'd have thought any filter capable of catching anything with 'micro' in its name will give you an increased chance of a flooded utility room floor.

That's a shame, they're something that has been recommended to me, they showed me theirs and the plastics caught by it, so it was certainly doing some good, they didn't mention any flooding!
The other obvious thing is to wash less, I'm not offering anyone hygiene advice, though know plenty who seem to wash clothing long before I'd consider it was required.

[Oldjohnw]

We use these for what man made stuff we have:

https://andkeep.com/products/earthkind- ... aundry-bag

[Paulatic]

they didn't mention any flooding!

That’s it though The current filter has to allow water through fairly freely as whilst it’s not under pressure it is a significant delivery.
A filter that would stop all sure would also be restrictive to water flow. Maybe more could be done at the the sewage farm?