Published by Vanessa Brunner under Clothing

We’re all aware of why it’s important to make the transition to a green lifestyle, i.e: an organic, natural, chemical free life in every possible way. But, as many of us have had to learn the hard way, it’s a lifestyle that can leave you with empty pockets. This is a problem that green producers and consumers have had to face: what makes green fashion so expensive? Is there a way to reduce the price without increasing the carbon footprint?

EcoLuxury.com is an example of how green living has been equated with high end goods

I think most people (including myself), want to be able to purchase green clothing, but find it to be far outside a reasonable price range. I did some research, and what I found made total sense:

When you break down the process of making and manufacturing clothing, it becomes pretty clear why sustainable lines are more spendy than many retailers. Consider the step by step process, and the amount of work that goes into creating a piece of clothing: nurturing and growing the plant needed for the material; harvesting and spinning it into yarn; weaving the yarn into fabric; dying and finishing the fabric dyed; sending the fabric to a designer, a manufacturer, stores, etc. You get the picture.

So when you look at the differences between manufacturing green and manufacturing mass goods, you can see how many opportunities there are for a change in price point.

For one, time is money. Even though it would seem like cutting out the use of chemicals and pesticides would decrease the price of the overall product, it actually increases the amount of labor involved. Organic cotton is more labor intensive than other materials, because it is processed without the use of chemical defoliation aids. Cutting out these chemicals means cutting out the shortcuts that allow many farmers to keep their prices low.

Economics of scale plays an important role as well. The green clothing movement is still relatively small. The amount of goods produced is microscopic compared to what is mass manufactured by retail giants. As more organic companies grow into existence, demand and supply will grow, reducing prices. As of now, these companies are still not subsidized by the government, which also has an impact on price point.

Many eco friendly clothing labels are now made in the United States, or use a factory overseas that pays and treats its workers well. When you take this into consideration, it’s hard to expect something to be cheap when substantial time and effort is going into its creation.  Huge chains such as Old Navy or Forever 21 produce their clothes quickly and cheaply because of the nature of their factories and the quality of their materials. In other words: You get what you pay for.

Because of this, sustainable products tend to have a longer life span than mass produced products. Many eco-designers want to create pieces that are timeless; things that you will never have to throw away because of their quality and style.

On that same point, that isn’t to say that affordable green fashion doesn’t exist (see: Eco Luxe without the Price Tag). It may not be of the same quality as more expensive brands, but these products are often at a more reasonable price point, fashion savvy, and work hard to reduce their carbon footprint, and that of their customers.

Lastly, I’d like to leave you with this thought from Elizabeth Olsen, founder of Vegan shoe line Olsenhaus (c/o an interview on Ecosalon.com): “The Green movement is not only about the impact of activities on the environment, but also a change in priorities of wants and needs. Materialism and consumerism is the path we have been on and it just isn’t sustainable on a  physical or emotional level. Less is more, and eco friendly is better for everyone.”

Resources:

Eco-Salon

Treehugger.com

Fibre2Fashion

Newsweek