Special offer

How to dress green

By
Real Estate Agent with Realty Pro Albuquerque

Okay, here is one for the casual fans among us and the fashion mavens too. Same TIME magazine article as the last tips:

1. Wear "vintage" clothing. What they suggest is not just hitting the Goodwill (although there are those among us who love to do just that) but also to donate your clothes to organizations like homeless shelters or take them to resale shops who deal in "professional" clothes. Besides reducing the amount of materials used to produce new garments, it turns out that cotton accounts for less than 3% of the land farmed globally, but about a quarter of the pesticides.....And giving clothes to people like the homeless or battered women's shelters is just a good thing to do besides the recycling aspect of it.

The best part of this one was the other way to get rid of old clothes and get new ones---throw a closet party--invite friends over and everyone brings a few items to trade.

2. Okay, this one is primarily for the gentlemen. It seems that in 2005 Japanese "salarymen" swapped their trademark dark blue business suits for open collars and light tropical colors as part of the government's effort to save energy by keeping it's office temperatures at 82 degrees throughout the summer. In one summr of not wearing suits and ties Japan cut an estimated 79,000 TONS of co2.  Casual Friday everyday, all summer? Hey, if any of you work in companies with large offices or have been in a hotel you know that the suits and ties are to help keep people warm because air conditioning is frigid! 82 might be a bit much but most folks can be pretty comfortable anywhere between 72 and 80.

Posted by

Dawn Workman
Veracity Real Estate Group, LLC - Camas, WA
Camas Real Estate Expert, MBA, 480-540-8100
I dress a little too casual I think.  I went to a listing appointment yesterday and felt out of place, so I ran to the mall and went to my 2 favs- J. Jill and the Loft.  

Great ideas of what to do with some of my old things.  
Aug 29, 2007 04:19 PM
David L. Britt
Platinum Realty, LLC - Olathe, KS
MBA

Deb, I love to wear the tropical shirts with my dress slacks!  Our summers can be very humid and warm, we have had 21 days of 90 plus degrees with about 40+ humidity!  It's not Hawaii, but I remind myself of the times when I was there by wearing them!

Aug 29, 2007 04:39 PM
Bonnie Erickson
Tangletown Realty - Saint Paul, MN

Sorry, but I'm one of the ones who suffers in the heat between 72 and 80.  Comfortable I am not if that is combined with humidity. That said, I do not have central air conditioning in my own home.

The irony in your post about recycling clothes is that polyester lasts forever.  Just ask anyone whose dad still owns a leisure suit!  The bad part of that is polyester creates an acrid smell from underarm sweat.  Whereas you could wear the cloth for your entire life, those around you would wish you hadn't.  Cotton, linen, and cotton knits do not recycle as long as others, but they also don't smell as bad!

Aug 29, 2007 04:46 PM
Deb Hurt
Realty Pro Albuquerque - Albuquerque, NM
ABR, e-Pro,Green, TRC

Bonnie, Yeah, I know. I have polyester that has got to be 20 years old but I don't wear it and I can't stand the feel of it. It is getting donated to the shelter so someone elso can wear it forever. I think the smell has someting to do with the chemicals used to make the stuff when it reacts to sweat. It really is yucky.

Maybe we can get you a fan  Moving air feels cooler and it uses a lot less energy than having the air conditioner set at 62 or whatever it is in al those office buildings and hotels. I carry a sweater in the summer to put on when I go inside....is that backwards or what?

At least the cotton can be recycled into something else. I kind of like the idea of old blue jeans being turned into insulation!

 

Aug 29, 2007 04:58 PM
Todd and Danielle Millar
Glenn Simon Inc. - Edmonton, AB
Nineteen years of excellence!

Hi Deb,

Yeah they call that swap out of suits into lighter clothes "cool biz"  and  there are lines of clothing that have a "cool biz" logo. 

I understand about recycling clothes but I have to agree with Bonnie about polyester. 

Aug 29, 2007 05:08 PM
Renee L. Norton
Birmingham, AL

I have my favorite charities for old clothes.  To take it a step further, I take old tee shirts that are too stained for anyone to want to wear and cut them up to use for cleaning around the house.  They hold up better than a paper towel. I usually just throw them away instead of washing them, particularly if they've been used for a really dirty job. 

You are so right about the AC.  The temps hovered around 105 here all last week and I had to take a jacket with me everywhere I went to keep from freezing inside the buildings.  This week a cold front has moved in...it has been in the low 90's.  And yes, the humidity is high and we could not stand to be around one another if we wore polyester and stayed outdoors for more than 5 minutes.  We especially would not survive caravan!

Aug 29, 2007 05:55 PM
Dena Stevens
Rocky Mountain Realty - Canon City, CO
Putting The Real Into Realtor Since 2004
I'm an NPR fan and like to listen to "living on earth" on the weekends. On a program a while back they were talking about the tons and tons of clothing that is filling land fills. I know a woman who started a very successful business making rags out of old clothes. The green movement is very much influenced by how often and why we open our wallets. Great post!
Oct 10, 2007 03:06 PM
National Security Delaware Security Systems Free
Home and Business Alarms, Camera Systems 24 Hour Monitoring - Wilmington, DE

Really now come on 79,000 tons of Co2?  You can sit in a hot office all day if you buy this silliness but im cranking it down to 76!  BTW Co2 is in soda also sooooo

Jun 30, 2010 04:25 PM