From Eric Wilson at the New York Times, April 10, 2008:
Where That Suit Has Been
THE typical life of a garment, before it ever ends up on a hanger, is really quite glamorous. It might have been designed in New York from technically marvelous fabrics that were developed in Japan and then sewn together in Europe. Or, more likely, a jacket or sweatshirt might have visited several countries in Asia along the way to its ho-hum existence on the rack of some department store.
To environmentally conscious consumers, the prepurchase itinerary of clothes has become as important a consideration as the organic nature of the materials used to make them. Every well-traveled suit leaves a carbon footprint, but unlike its fabric content, that footprint is pretty much a mystery to consumers.
Now some clothing companies, in a bid to make their manufacturing processes more transparent, are beginning to provide that information.
Patagonia, for example, offers such details for five of its designs on its Web site. It traces the path of a $190 rain jacket from its design in Ventura, Calif., to the fabric production in Matsuyama, Japan, to the sewing…Read More.
At least for some suit labels, one large factor related to an item’s net envirohuman impact, its carbon footprint, is now being featured. Customers are undoubtedly increasingly interested to know such a number, despite not necessarily having a great understanding of what that means.
While this is a great positive step, it’s not the entire picture, as fair-trade, farming of the fabric (from wool sources or, for many garments, cotton and recycled content) chemical dyes, and other facets of the manufacturing process are not yet being put onto the labels.
Hopefully, we will see more and more products show an even greater amount of information regarding the relative amount of environmental damage related to production and transportation processes.
EHI There! Sound off and share your thoughts on this story. What can be done to give consumers more information for making more envirohuman purchases?
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