Ever since Leanne Marshall won Project Runway, I've been curious about the sustainable fabrics she was talking about. What makes a fabric sustainable? Are they hard to find? Do I own any already?

And then, as if the heavens were reading my mind, I found this great article on VegNews about earth-friendly and animal-friendly threads. It turns out that sustainable fabrics are fabrics that are natural, organic, or made from recycled material. VegNews describes six sustainable materials to look for on clothing labels.

1. Bamboo

Comparable to cotton and silk, bamboo gets an "A" for its list of benefits: organic, sustainable, biodegradable, and extremely comfortable. Even better, the world's fastest growing plant doesn't require fertilizers or pesticides.

2. PET

Made from recycled plastic soda bottles, this polyester finds new life as warm fleece hoodies. After the bottles are separated at recycling plants, they're chopped, melted, and stirred. The resulting liquid is thick and yields polyester strands, which are stretched to make threads.

3. Recyclable polyester

Recycled second-quality fabrics are used to make clothing out of clothing. Some companies even have garment recycling programs where used clothes are reborn good-as-new.

4. Hemp

This fabric's been around for a long time, but is experiencing a revival in environmental circles because it requires no pesticides and yields two to three times as much fiber as cotton.

5. Soy fabric

A renewable natural resource and byproduct of food production, soy wear is easy to clean and is close to wool in its heat retention. First made into a snazzy suit for Henry Ford in the 1940s, the demand for soy is on the rise thanks to conscious consumers.

6. Organic cotton

This choice, quickly gaining popularity, is poised to eclipse traditional cotton, which accounts for half of all pesticide use in the US and a quarter of that used throughout the world.

Looks like I own more sustainable items than I thought I did. (Bamboo sheets are pretty amazing, for the record, and you can find them almost anywhere!)

Have you ventured into green fashion territory yet?

-SocialVibe

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