Those of us interested in consuming the best products that deliver the least amount of damage to the planet as possible may preoccupy ourselves with what our clothing is made from. We might have initially started out looking for hemp and organic cotton, but now may consider lyocell, soy and bamboo as well. I am excited about the developing range in eco-fabrics, but even eco-fabrics have to be produced. From fiber to woven or knit textile, do we really know what goes on at the factory?

Today I was reading a simple news release about an Indian textile company's IPO that would fund their expansion. The expansion will include a new eco-friendly textile processing unit that will have a zero discharge effluent treatment plant and around 70 per cent of the water requirement will be recycled. There will also be a caustic recovery plant to recover and reuse caustic lye solution in mercerising. So, my concern is that if this is not the standard, then how many factories release chemicals into the environment and don't recycle water? I am not sure we will ever get to a point of such transparency that clothing manufacturers will disclose their textile sources which in turn will disclose where and how their textiles are manufactured.

However, at least some people have thought about certifying such things. At the PremiereVision show this summer I was happy to find Oeko-Tex labels. So what is Oeko-Tex?

Essentially there are two certifications 100 and 1000. Oeko-Tex 100 certifies that the fabric is free from any substances that could be harmful to the consumer. Oeko-Tex 1000 certifies that the manufacturing facility has met environmental guidelines:

This covers all of the stages of manufacture, from fibre production to the make-up of the finished article. The production processes should be environmentally sound, fulfilling suitable criteria such as air quality, effluent waste and noise generation...

The International Association for Research and Testing, whilst working within the field of Textile Ecology has always been aware that Production Ecology needs to be addressed and so has developed the Oeko-Tex Standard 1000. This standard has been developed using a modular approach and offers manufacturers the ability to develop measurable and controllable "environmentally friendly " production procedures via an auditing process.

Aside from Oeko-Tex, which concerns itself primarily with textiles, there are general standards, such as ISO 14000, which focuses on environmental management, and Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), a voluntary program which enables organizations within the EU and the European Economic Area to seek certification for their environmental management systems.

So, while people may view my reuse of clothing as just a vintage trend, or dismiss the site because I am not in head to toe eco-fibers, in many ways, reuse is more sustainable than new production. While I still feel it is not an answer for the masses and would like to see cleaner production and textile use across the board, for someone concerned with sustainability (and style), it can turn out to be a useful part of the equation.