Wal-Mart has taken a bad rap the last several years for being environmentally and socially unconsious. It represents all that has gone wrong with commercialism, right? Maybe not. Wal-mart might actually be a leader for a people-centered form of environmentalism. While green technology is often blamed for being overpriced, Wal-Mart has brought prices way down on flourescent bulbs and solar lights, recycle bins, and EnergyStar appliances. In fact, they have a “Earth Friendly Products and Budget Friendly Prices” link of their website. Even the buildings themselves are becoming more environmentally friendly.

A few years ago, Wal-Mart conducted a detailed study that showed shoppers bought significantly more products when natural light showed on the area. Other researchers have found that natural lighting increases morale and health in the workplace. As a result, skylights might be coming to a Wal-Mart near you. They have also been playing with more environmentally friendly buildings. A new supercenter in Las Vegas boasts a 45% decrease in energy use compared to other Wal-Mart supercenters. They are also endorsing a Kids’s Recycling Challenge, in which participating schools earn $5.00 for every 60-gallon collection bag filled with plastic grocery bags they bring to a local Wal-Mart store for recycling by March 31, 2008.

Fashion Week in New York began with the Earth Pledge Creates Future Fashion Show, which included a hemp-based pant suit by Calvin Klein, a dress made of recycled cashmere by Michael Kors, and a Donatella Verace hemp-silk gown. Earth Pledge, a non-profit organization, which originally began as a United Nations committee and promotes sustainablity, produced the Future Fashion event.

So why is there a need for ‘green’ clothing? PBDE (flame retardants), synthetc dyes and fibers are one concern, due to the pollution caused by textile manufacturing. Even when cotton, wool, silk, or cashmere are used (all essentially natural fibers), they are often gathered using processes that harm the environment along the way, and then have to be transported all over the world for refinement and clothes production, and I’m not the only one who thinks this is a big deal. According to the Organic Trade Association, sales for organic fiber linens and clothing climbed to 203 million in 2006, up nearly 27% from 2005.”

I’ve told ya’ll before to ‘look at the labels’, so here’s a list of what to look for on clothing tags:

• bamboo fibers (aka sasawashi) – bamboo grows back quickly and few additives are needed to make it into yarn and cloth
• modal - made of beech trees’s celluose, often a rougher material and useful for bedding and towels
• ingeo – trademarked process of fermenting corn sugar to create a biopolymer
• tencel – aka lyocell, also from vegetable cellulose; often softer than rayon and used in clothes and blends
• hemp – tried and true, creates a sustainable and durable fiber, has become softer over the years
• soy – cloth from soy is often silky and very durable (triple the strength of wool)
• peace silk - allows the silk to be harvested without any harm to the silk worm
• abaca fiber – made out of the leaves of the abaca plant, which is native to the Phillipines

You can find eco chic clothing at various prices and stores. More traditionally, Patagonia, Nike and Timberland have environmentally friendly clothing in stock, but organic and sustainable clothing can also be found at Edun, Loomstate, Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, Wal-Mart, Target, Nordstrom, Levi Strauss & Co, H&M and Barneys New York.

With all of the variety in style and price, you have no excuse! Make your next textile purchase a sustainable one. And for good measure – take the bus or shop with a friend!