Your cheap undies are harming the planet!

Lingerie is such a personal choice, and I don’t blame our boobs for being so high maintenance. It’s got to support you right, give you comfort, show your shape off well, but when you choose the right one it becomes your new best friend (that you also can’t wait to whip off and fling across the room once you get home- we get it, every girl does it).

​And seriously, what else is gonna be there to catch the popcorn that misses your mouth?

​What about our undies? We’re all guilty of nipping to Primark to buy a pack of the cheap set of five knickers. They keep us going until they don’t anymore, and it’s off to buy some more. The market for these inexpensive, short-term knickers is a booming business, as this is an easily affordable way of shopping.

​Our underwear is the first thing we put on every morning, and the last we take off every night. Comfort is everything, we think price matters, and to be honest I don’t think we even realise that durability should matter, because it’s so easy to replace what we have.

​But where do our undergarments go when we throw them out?

​They’re a part of the 30% of our clothes that end up in landfills, and not to mention they’re mostly made from cotton which involves huge water and chemical consumption. “About 3000 litres of water is used for just one cotton t-shirt,” says sustainable clothing expert, Carrie Moran. “The chemicals leak into waterways and our ecosystem, and it affects people living in these areas because they don’t have clean water to drink.”

​The fashion industry impacts every part of our planet, including the people who are making our underwear: “The majority of those working in the factories are women where they are faced with sexual exploitation, extensive working hours, and modern day slavery,” says Carrie. “We are talking hundreds of factories and millions of people with no rights to protect them.”

​These bad effects of fast fashion have gained huge awareness recently, with many mainstream shops creating sustainable collections. However, Carrie says a lot of them are greenwashing: “Fast fashion brands are bringing out sustainable collections, but they are not always environmentally conscious,” says Carrie. “It might only be the material that’s sustainable, but how do you make sure there are workers’ rights, no pollution or no waste. It’s a massive challenge for brands.”

​Mainstream brands are starting to make small changes, such as introducing innovative materials to make their sustainable collections, but they’re not quite there yet. A lot of these brands release up to 24 collections per year (on top of the one sustainable collection), rather than waiting for what they’ve already made to sell out. This contributes to the huge amount of waste that goes to landfills.

​So, how can we be sure what we’re buying is truly sustainable?

​This is where independent brands come in. “They can purchase their own materials and work with small manufacturing companies local to them, so they know how sustainable they are,” says Carrie. “People can see if a brand is completely sustainable as it will be clearly advertised.”

​Many of these brands have written on their websites a clear guide about what makes them sustainable, including the unique and innovative materials they use to make their underwear. Some of the materials being used include organic cotton, organic bamboo, and recycled nylon.

​One brand is even using seaweed (it’s not here to only make our beaches and sushi look pretty). Alexander Clementine is an excellent example of a sustainable lingerie brand with clear intentions: “We work with a really great supplier in Portugal who are front runners in the development of sustainable fabrics,” says Freya, co-founder of Alexander Clementine. “98% of the waste created in their factory fabric is reused or recycled, and they share all the same principles as us in terms of being transparent and only creating environmentally-friendly fabrics.”

​The brand’s co-founders had originally decided to make vegan leather jackets made from ocean plastics but decided against this as the only suppliers they could find were in China: “We didn’t want to jeopardize our ethics by racking up the airmiles and working with questionable factories,” says Freya.

​That’s when they realised there’s a gap in the market for sustainable lingerie and decided to change their idea: “We try to buy more sustainably like going to charity shops, but buying second-hand underwear is just gross and not an option.”

​The base of the blend in their lingerie is Tencel, which is made from wood and pulp from sustainably managed plantations. It uses less energy and 97% less water to create and is also biodegradable. The seaweed is harvested in a sustainable way where only a certain part of the seaweed is cut off above the regenerative region once every four years.

​The addition of the seaweed actually adds the quasi-medicinal properties which we thought was such a bonus,” says Freya. “This includes iron and iodine which is vital to thyroid function, as well as vitamins A, C, E and B12, meaning it’s perfect for those with sensitive skin too.”

​So, as well as saving the planet you’re enriching your skin with the good stuff? – we’ll take one set please.

​However, with brands like these you’ve got to be snappy if you like what you see, as they only have limited stock and don’t drop a new line until the first has sold out.

​Sustainable influencer, and founder of Ethical Hour, Sian Conway, works with independent brands like Alexander Clementine, and encourages people to begin small and try them out: “It’s about starting small and identifying one area at a time,” says Sian. “Lingerie is a good starting point.”

​As you start buying more sustainably, Sian says it’s good to have a list of priorities: “Sustainability can mean a whole range of different things,” says Sian. “This can be the environmental impact of fast fashion, the supplier and human rights, thinking if it’s important it’s vegan, or if it’s free from plastic.

​Having a checklist like this is a good way to start because it helps show you what’s important to you. 

​As well as helping the planet, Sian says sustainable lingerie is also better for our own bodies: “Our underwear is the closest thing to our skin in really intimate areas, and non-organic cotton is less sustainable because of all the chemicals going onto your body,” says Sian. “It’s easy to forget how underwear can harm your skin because you can’t see the chemicals. It’s about your health too.” 

Underwear may be under your clothes for no one to see, but dressing nicely down to your skin can make you feel great. One of the messages that Sian resonated with was how good she felt about herself when she was wearing sustainable underwear: “your clothing is about empowering yourself and even down to your underwear,” says Sian. “Nice underwear makes you feel good. Can you feel good about yourself knowing a woman has been exploited in these modern day conditions to make what you’re wearing?”

​As well as dressing for you and your body shape, it’s also about finding your own style. Fast fashion brands are constantly releasing new clothes every month to keep up with trends: “When I started shopping more sustainably I realised it’s about finding your own style,” says Sian. “Ethical items are made to last a lifetime; you’ve got to love what you’re buying.”

​But buying a bra that fits you perfectly can sometimes seem like a struggle for some women, so how easy will it be for us girls to find a sustainable bra, that supports our boobs, our size, and our shape?

​Sian says that a lot of underwear made by fast fashion is just based on one sort of body shape: “They [fast fashion producers] cut their patterns by basing it on a very generic sizing,” says Sian. “Unless you’re a standard shape that they’re using, which isn’t for the majority of women, you find that fast fashion clothes don’t actually fit us in a flattering way.”

​Shopping more sustainably has helped Sian find clothes that compliment her figure well. Usually, ethical clothes, including underwear, are made at a higher price because more time, thought, and care has been put into making them. Although a lot of sustainable lingerie brands are online, they usually have a size guide along with tips if you’re between sizes. This means it’s very likely you’ll be able to find something that suits you and your shape.  

​Definitely some food for thought for our next underwear shop.