Sustainable Denim: A Hem's Worth
In our last blog post, we wrote about Sustainable sex products. This week, we’re all about keeping our pants on. Denim, to be specific. Owning an amazing pair of jeans is a lot like having a best friend: they’re reliable, they last forever, and they always notice when you’ve lost a little weight. They are worth investing in, and they don’t go out of style. Unfortunately, fast fashion has had a high rise in popularity. This means that millions of items are being made cheaply and thrown away quickly, with little regard for you or for the environment. Fast fashion is really just like the fake friend from high school that you don’t talk to anymore.
Here’s the skinny. Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world. Over 85% of clothes that could be reused or recycled end up in landfills, which then take decades if not centuries to biodegrade. One pair of jeans alone requires approximately 1500 gallons of water to produce. Not only that, but factories also often dump dyes and chemicals into bodies of water post denim production. Even certain styles of jeans can be subjected to a potentially harmful chemical-intensive wash. But don’t be distressed. There are sustainable fashion companies making top-quality ethical clothing, all while reducing the amount of energy and water used in production.
We searched far and wide for the best sustainable jeans around and we found 7 eco-friendly clothing brands that are checking all the boxes. So sit back, relax, and check out our favorite sustainable clothing brands that really are as good as they seam.
Reformation:
A Leg Up
You don’t need a zero waist to be zero waste. Reformation, our top sustainable fashion company this week, has an incredible range of denim styles and colors, from petite to extended sizes. Their jeans are super comfortable, and since skirt and jort season is already here, we think their sleek summer staples are definitely worth checking out. There isn’t enough room here to explain why we love Reformation’s business approach (their 11-page sustainability mission is a good start), but most of all we appreciate their transparency. Reformation lets you know on each product page how much carbon dioxide, water, and waste you will save by purchasing each item, as well as where the item was made. They’ve also been carbon neutral since 2015. The materials they use are carefully selected, with water conservation at the forefront of every decision. Oh, and the clothes just happen to look really, really good on the bod. Affordable ethical clothing, with most styles starting in the double digits.
Nobody Denim
Rachel, our East Coast Check Your Eco contributor, has worn her Nobody Denim’s black Cult Skinny Ankle jeans regularly for years and has been quoted to say, “bury me in these jeans.” If that’s not a ringing endorsement for a favorite, long-lasting pair, then who knows what is. Nobody Denim was founded 20 years ago in Melbourne, Australia, and that’s where all of their items are made to this day. They prioritize ethically sourced materials, local manufacturing, employee wellbeing, and overall waste reduction. Like Reformation, they are transparent with their plan to improve sustainability practices even more in the next several years (when you will probably still be wearing the same Nobody jeans that you’re wearing this year).
Outerknown
We’re putting quite the outfit together. We featured Outerknown in our Eco Sweaters post, so it’s only fitting that we get matchy with a stylish pair of jeans. You’ll have tons of fun looking through all of the colors and styles for both men and women. We loved their S.E.A. jeans (Social Environmental Accountability) for being cool, modern, and comfy. The S.E.A. jeans are sewn, cut, and washed at the cleanest sustainable denim factory in the world. They are also guaranteed for life (free repairs=sustainability + savings). If you are ever ready to retire them, Outerknown will upcycle them for you so your old threads can live on as something new and exciting like housing insulation. We also want to mention their partnership with Fair Trade USA, where every Fair Trade clothing purchase will pay an additional premium back to the workers who made the items.
DL 1961
Remember when we said that the average pair of jeans uses 1500 gallons of water to make? DL jeans only use 8 gallons. That’s a difference of 1492. You may remember that year in history, there were sails and the ocean was blue. Today, there are sales and the ocean is full of trash. DL1961 is changing the way denim is made to make sure that doesn’t keep happening. A premium denim company based in New York, DL1961 knows how to conserve water. They also know how to make a great product that will be with you for a very long time. They use no chemicals for your favorite denim effects, their premium cotton is ethically sourced, and their botanic fibers are water-efficient and known for their biodegradability. The list goes on. But we need to stop talking about water for a minute to say that these jeans are fire. Hot. They look and feel so good. They’re on the pricier side of our selections here, but still worth trying on for size.
Levi’s
There’s nothing more classic Americana than rocking the original blue jean by Levi Strauss & Co. Half of the sustainable fashion companies we’re featuring today were born in the 21st century, but Levi’s stems back to the late 1800s. Blue jeans were created to be stronger pants for working men. But, as the country evolved, Levi’s refused to be left in the dust. For example, they came out with Lady Levi’s in 1934. Decades later, as we face a climate crisis, they’re implementing several processes and projects to reduce water and energy usage. Since 2011, Levi’s has saved more than 3 billion liters and recycled more than 2 billion liters of water. By the end of 2020, they will use 100% sustainably sourced cotton. By the end of 2025, they will use 100% renewable energy in all of their owned and operated facilities. Recently, they built a partnership with RE/DONE, a brand that remasters vintage Levi’s and other classic clothing items. This way, you can find a one-of-a-kind pair of jeans while cutting back on the environmental impact. Done and done.
Everlane
We gushed over Everlane’s sustainable cashmere in our Eco Sweaters post. This time for our denim research, we couldn’t get enough of their 90’s Cheeky Straight Jeans. They’re really hip. Super fly. Ethical factories, organic cotton, and reduced water consumption are pretty rad, too. Speaking of, Everlane’s “Radical Transparency” allows us to plainly see their cost of production for an item, followed by their markup of an item. At first it’s a little offputting until they show you the absurd traditional retail markup on a similar item. Everlane also insists that their styles won’t succumb to the demands of a quick fad, but instead align more with timeless classics that will stay in fashion long term. In other words, they aren’t following trends. They are the trend.
AG
We’ve known for years that AG was a top-of-the-line denim company. We’ve owned their jeans since the early 2000’s and they simply do not wear out. They actually get better with age. Until now, we honestly didn’t realize how well this company has been AG-ing, too. They are super sustainable and fully committed to conserving H20. Just in the last year, AG installed state-of-the-art water filtration systems that save 100,000 gallons of water a day. They re-purpose 1,400lbs of extra material a week which then becomes insulation for homes or cars. Those long lasting premium fabrics you’re wearing come from sustainably sourced, natural, biodegradable fibers. AG has also teamed up with charitable organizations like Water for People, Boxed Water, and Heal the Bay, to make the world a happier, more hydrated place. We’ll drink to that.