EGO-CLOTHES
Take a look at the clothes you are wearing. Are they made from natural fabrics such as cotton, linen or silk, or synthetic fabrics, like nylon or polyester? Which type of fabric do you think is more environmentally friendly? The answer may surprise you.
Most people believe that natural fabrics are better for the environment than synthetic ones, but this isn't always true. For example, while it only takes a pound of cotton to make one T-shirt, it takes a third of a pound of pesticides to grow the cotton in the first place! To change the colour, factories use all kinds of chemicals. Unfortunately all of these chemicals end up as waste, which contaminates our rivers and soil.
So what is the best thing to do? Well, when it comes to buying new clothes these days you don't have to worry, as you can simply choose to buy organic! This means buying clothes produced in a way that causes as little harm to the environment as possible. Here are some of the different options on offer.
• Linen grows more quickly than cotton and doesn't need too many chemicals to produce it.
• Eco-fleece is a kind of polyester from recycled plastic bottles. At the recycling centre, people wash the plastic, chop it and turn it into flakes. Then they make fibres and weave them into comfortable cosy pullovers.
• Bamboo clothing is as soft as cashmere and allows your skin to breathe. It also keeps you cool enough in hot weather and warm enough in cold weather. It doesn't take such a lot of effort to be naturally fashionable, so why not give it a try!
