I live in clothes from these casual and sustainable clothing brands. I mean, first and foremost, I need everything I wear to be super comfortable. I work from home and spend my afternoons playing with the kids. So I have no desire to wear anything too tight or restrictive. But I also want everything I wear to reflect my commitment to sustainable living. These causal circular fashion brands let me stay cozy and true to my values. So if you’re committed to sustainability and circular fashion, these are the brands for you.
TeeMill: Circular fashion T-shirts
The Teemill is a circular fashion T-shirt company that creates clothing made using circular economy principles for on-demand sales and printing. Here’s how they make their T-shirts circular:
Organic cotton – The Tee Mill begins with organic cotton. Traditional cotton requires a lot of pesticides and water. The Tee Mill uses cotton grown in Northern India where monsoons provide almost all the water necessary.
The waste becomes food and profit – The cotton seeds are squished and pressed to become vegetable oil and cow feed. Nothing is wasted.
Clean wastewater – The pollution from fabric dyes has been a source of pollution and embarrassment for the fashion industry for decades. TeeMill wastewater, on the other hand, recirculates and recovers about 95% of the fabric dye water according to the company.
“At the end, the water coming out of the filters and going back round to be reused again is crystal clear, literally clean enough to drink. Once it has been cleaned it is then used at the input for the next batch. It is a closed loop system.”
TeeMill.com
Renewable energy is used to power their factories. The factory is GOTS and SA8000 certified to prove workers are treated fairly. Even the shipping envelopes use paper and waste materials instead of plastic.
Closing the loop – After you are finished wearing your TeeMill shirts and sweaters, send them back to be remanufactured. The company will use the clothes you send back to make something new for someone else. That’s why it’s considered a circular product. The company closes the loop even after the product has left the factory.
thredUP: used circular fashion
thredUP* is by far my first choice for casual circular fashion. thredUP sells used clothes from well-known brands like Banana Republic, Crew, and Patagonia at a fraction of the price of retail. If you want to shop more sustainability, the best choice is to buy used. The added benefit to thredUP is that you also get to choose your favorite brands without the guilt or price tag.
For fashion to thrive in the future, we must join forces and design a circular economy for clothes.”
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Recover Brands: Recycled plastic into t-shirts
Recover Brands* makes my husband’s favorite T-Shirt. He’s a hard worker. He wants T-Shirts that are durable and made to last. These T-Shirts are not as soft and cozy as the shirts from Marine Layer, but they are perfect for a day working in the yard or remodeling. They are made to last from recycled plastic bottles.
Recover Brands also sells their recycled plastic shirts wholesale, and they even have a kids line. My husband and kids absolutely need clothes made for working and playing hard, and Recover Brands is the perfect brand for them.
Patagonia circular fashion with Worn Wear
Worn Wear* by Patagonia not only makes me love them more, but it also makes me believe every single brand can be a circular fashion brand. I mean, why not? If a major clothing brand like Patagonia can take back their branded clothes, repair, re-make, and re-sell them, then why can’t every major retail brand do exactly the same thing?
I’ve always loved Patagonia’s clothes and mission. But to be honest, their price tags scare me a little. So Worn Wear is perfect for me and my family. High quality, sustainably-made clothes at a discount. I’m so in!
The Reformation
Reformation claims to be the most sustainable clothing company. I don’t know if that’s true, but even if it’s not you have to love their slogan. They’ve absolutely made sustainability and circularity a big part of their brand’s story.
Being naked is the #1 most sustainable option. We’re #2″
The Reformation
Materials include recycled and organic cotton as well as upcycled textiles from Recovertex. Recoveretex turns textile waste into new yarns that can be used over and over again. Other materials include regenerated nylon and recycled cashmere.
Several materials are made of various types of Tencel by Lenzing. Tencel is made of cellulose from fast-growing Eucalyptus trees. Although Tencel is made of trees, they grow on low-quality land in contrast to cotton which needs higher quality farmland. The manufacturing process is closed-loop and if the fabric eventually ends up in the landfill it will biodegrade according to Lenzing.
To close the loop Reformation* asks you to send your used and unwanted Reformations to ThredUP to be re-sold and re-purposed.