From rags to soil riches

The issues include how much we buy and throw away, the materials clothes are made from, and how they are produced. One of my biggest gripes is "fashion", which encourages us to consume, mostly unnecessarily, and contributes to self-image problems among many ordinary-sized people.

Many clothes can be bought cheaply, allowing us to buy a phenomenal amount without much thought. To make space, most people just throw the previous lot away, contributing to the 900,000 tonnes of textiles landfilled in the UK every year. A smaller amount is incinerated. Both these disposal methods emit climate change gases and waste valuable resources.

Most textiles are recyclable: clothes in poor condition should be put in textile banks at civic amenity sites. Alternatively, natural fibre clothing can be home-composted and will add to soil fertility.

Clothes in better condition can be recycled through secondhand shops. And if Marks and Spencer clothes are taken to Oxfam, the reward is a £5 voucher to spend in M&S!

Most cotton is grown with pesticides, fertiliser and irrigation. Organic cotton is increasingly available or alternative fibres such as jute, flax, hemp and bamboo all need far fewer inputs and make much more ethical clothing.

Ethical buying

Cheap clothing is also indicative of "unfair trade", with children working in cotton fields for 60p for a 12-hour shift, and adults doing a day's work in a factory for £1. Fair trade clothes cost more as the producers are paid a higher wage, and organic costs more as yields are reduced.

So, if you want to be really ethical, buy some of your clothes in charity shops, or use specialist retailers (often online) such as greenknickers.org, The Earth Collection and Natural Collection. A comprehensive guide to ethical purchasing is available at ethical-junction.org.

Recycle as much of your old clothing as you can, wear things until they are worn out, repair if you can, and buy less. Don't be "had" by the fashion industry which just wants your money. What you look like is less important than what you do.

John Cossham is Com­munity Care's ethical living expert.