Get in the know about what you put on your skin.
Over the past 10 years online shopping has grown immensely and that trend is not dying anytime soon. In fact, Forrester Research says the number of consumers shopping and buying online will hit 270 million by 2020, driven largely by activity on mobile devices. Online sales in the U.S. are expected to reach $523 billion in the next few years, up 56% from $335 billion in 2015. Little surprise that mobile devices are going to be the key driver in that growth. Additionally, consumers are spending an average of $1,700 a year on clothes per household. The unfortunate part is most of what they are buying online is cheap, synthetic clothes. They don’t know what they are buying, after all you can’t feel the material and read the label when you buy online, and we haven’t been conditioned to read labels for that matter. We want to change this and start educating consumers.
Inexpensive clothes do not last so we end up spending more per year than if we invested in well-made, sustainable fabrics. Education is key, especially for our youth who are underpaid and don’t understand the damage synthetics are having on our environment and our own bodies. Through sharing articles like this we hope to create a movement toward fully green, organic lifestyles.
What do you need to know?
Well, textile production is destroying the environment, so we must start by being more proactive in teaching the importance of organic and natural fabrics ~ we owe it to ourselves and to our children. Sadly due to the state of our economy the demand for man-made fibers, like polyester, has doubled in the last 15 years*. These poisonous fabrics require more energy to make, release tons of toxic emissions and produce acid gases including hydrogen chloride, which can trigger respiratory disease. The statistics are available for everyone to read. Despite the many shocking and down right scary statistics on environmental impact and poor labor conditions we continue to support this toxic industry.
Photo above: Much of what you buy is not what you think.
Stand up and let us all say NO to synthetics!
We need to educate those who have fallen victim to the addictive cycle of wastefully buying new clothes and we can’t do it alone. We need to share these stats with our loved ones, friends and co-workers. For example, did you know only 21% percent of annual clothing purchases stay in the buyer’s possession? That means 79% of the clothes we buy end up in landfills. Yikes!
Photo above: Chances are most of what you wear and toss never biodegrades, therefore leaves a permanent mark on our environment.
Green Apple Active was founded partly because we saw a need for eco-friendly activewear after our own family was plagued with illness. We come from a family of healthy, active sports enthusiasts and we didn’t want to see years of hard work to be in good health be lost because we were putting toxic material on our largest organ, our skin.
So what else can we do? It is important to encourage each other to look for companies who pride themselves in using natural fabric from Mother Earth for their products. This might mean spending a little more because chances are if you are spending under $50 some corners were cut in producing the clothing, whether it is in chemically laden materials or poor factory conditions. We need to buy less, spend the same each year. That is a start! You should also plan out what you need and purchase smart. Read labels and get to know whom you are buying from. When you spend a little more chances are that product will also last you years and therefore saving you money, and the environment.
Join us in the conversation!
Share this on your social media pages using this link: https://www.greenappleactive.com/blogs/how-we-wear-it/why-to-say-no-to-synthetics (copy and paste ;))
The more people start talking about what is happening in factories and to our environment, the more people will hopefully wake up and want to not just eat organic, but fully embrace the organic, green lifestyle for the sake of our health and the planet we all share.
*Data from Technical Textile Markets and Forrester Research
