4 tips for a sustainable and water-friendly wardrobe

1. Aim for a minimalist wardrobe

A water-efficient wardrobe is, above all, one that suits your real needs. A study lead by Movinga in 2018 estimated that French people do not wear 68% of the clothes they own! Considering the impact of these clothes on our water footprint (and carbon footprint), this is a massive environmental waste.

T-shirts are particularly emblematic of this culture of abundance: promotional gifts, sports events… how many times have we said, "Oh well, it’ll make a good pajama!"?

Now that it is possible to buy a t-shirt for less than €5, it’s time to acknowledge the impact of our water footprint and be more mindful of our purchases (and closets by giving unused t-shirts a second life through second-hand channels).

Reducing your water footprint means, as always, doing less before doing better: having a limited number of clothes, wearing them for a long time, washing them only when necessary, repairing them when damaged and recycling them at the end of their life.

Now, if you do need to buy something…

2. Choose the right fabric

Before making a t-shirt, you need fabric. There are many types of fabrics, each with widely varying water footprints! Choosing a water-efficient t-shirt starts with selecting the right one. Let's review them…

Cotton as the most used

Most of our t-shirts are made out of cotton. However, cotton has a very high water footprint: it takes 58 m³ of water to produce 1 kg of cotton. 90% of a cotton t-shirt’s water footprint comes from its raw material. The transformation process itself consumes relatively little water.

Organic cotton has a water footprint of 53.6 m³/kg. The difference comes from the absence of pollution while growing. While the reduction in water use may seem small, organic cotton has many other co-benefits for the environment. Did you know that cotton cultivation accounts for 25% of global pesticide use?

Are you wondering if your t-shirt’s cotton is truly organic? Here’s a guide to textile industry labels.

Finally, if you want to stick with cotton, consider recycled cotton: producing 1 kg of recycled cotton requires only 5.38 m³ of water, over ten times less than virgin cotton!

Synthetic and artificial: challenging natural fibers

Synthetic fibers require much less water for their production:

• 0.38 m³/kg for polyester
• 2.31 m³/kg for nylon
• 1.82 m³/kg for acrylic
• 3.86 m³/kg for viscose

… but they come with other environmental impacts:

• Synthetic fibers are made from polluting, non-renewable resources (oil and its derivatives).
• These fabrics release pollutants throughout their lifespan, especially in washing water, where microplastics eventually reach the oceans and contaminate the entire food chain.

Sustainable alternatives: water-efficient natural fibers

Some natural fibers require very little water for their production. These are some of the oldest textile fibers used by humans, well-adapted to temperate climates, requiring few or no inputs. Since they are natural, they do not pollute when they degrade.

• Linen: 5.77 m³/kg Linen grows in Europe, especially in Normandy, France. Europe produces two-thirds of the world’s linen.

• Hemp: 2.59 m³/kg
  Like linen, hemp requires little to no fertilizers for its cultivation. It has multiple natural benefits (thermoregulating, antibacterial, antifungal) and can grow in almost any climate, it deserves greater consideration within the textile industry!

• Wool: between 2.93 and 27.08 m³/kg, depending on the source
  In France and Europe, wool has been abandoned over the past decades in favor of synthetic fibers. Entire industries have shut down. Today, wool in France is mostly considered agricultural waste, it is either burned, discarded or sold at very low prices (often unprocessed) to Chinese manufacturers for cheap clothing production. Most of today’s textile wool comes from Australia, China, New Zealand, Iran or Argentina.

Rebuilding a local wool industry would add value to this by-product of sheep farming and help better compensate farmers. French wool has a much lower water footprint compared to imported wool.

• Jute, cork, Tencel® (or Lyocell), recycled and upcycled materials
  While we lack precise water footprint data for these materials, we know that their manufacturing processes are water-efficient and they offer a great alternative to cotton.

3. Prefer minimally processed or undyed fabrics

Unbleached, undyed fabrics require no bleaching or dyeing processes that are highly water-intensive! Opting for natural colors is a great way to reduce your water footprint.

4. Shop sustainable clothes

According to Ecobalyse, which provides the data we use for water footprint calculations in textiles, there are three key sustainable criteria for clothest. A longer lifespan significantly reduces clothes water footprint.

These three criteria are as a guide to choose water-friendly clothes.

Repairability

The ability to repair a piece of clothing is a double guarantee:

• First, repairability extends the lifespan of a piece of clothing, allowing it to have a second, third (or even fourth!) life.
• But it’s also a sign of quality, only well-made clothes can be repaired.

Limited collections

It’s difficult to ensure high product quality and proper after-sales service with an overly wide catalog. Prefer brands with a small collections that are not changed too frequently.

Traceability labels

Clear traceability labels are believed to increase attachment to clothes, leading people to keep and wear it longer.

Finding the best t-shirt

First and foremost, the best t-shirt is the one you already own. Bring unused ones from your closet to the nearest donation center so they can find a new home!

A second-hand store is also an excellent starting point for your next t-shirt purchase, if you can find what you need, why contribute to new production when so many clothes already exist?

And if you do need to buy new, here are some ideas to find the best and the worst t-shirts as of environmental impact:

Finally, remember that the best t-shirt is the one you keep and use for a long time. And for that go easy on the washing! You’ll reduce domestic water use, prevent pollutant emissions, and extend the life of your clothes. Triple bonus: natural fibers don’t trap odors, require less frequent washing, and don’t release pollutants into wastewater.