I love clothes. I love textiles. I love all things fashion. This has been a lifelong fascination that stretches as far back as elementary school when a friend and I started our own fashion design firm in her basement. It was serious business.

Back then my closet was stacked with issues of Vogue and Elle and my desk was cluttered with design-filled notebooks. Sadly, that passion for entrepreneurship fizzled somewhere between boys and a major case of teen angst. But, through the years, my love for fashion has remained strong.

Easily lured into fashion frenzy, this girl loves to stay abreast of trends and can’t ignore a sale. Unfortunately for the earth, that love and addiction have my closet filled with environmental anguish.

However, it’s a brand new decade. So why not ramp up the environmental efforts with a change – a rather large change? Okay, a monstrous and completely life-altering adjustment that both terrifies and exhilarates me. Call it eco-guilt or crazy pregnancy hormones that have me rethinking most everything. Whatever the reason – I’m plunging in.

This is going to be a year filled with eco-friendly clothing. I won’t lie; this is going to be tough. I foresee two reasons for the possible failure of this eco-mission: 1) environment friendly clothing is not cheap and 2) I’m breaking an old habit.

I’m not going crazy by tossing all oil-drenched clothing in the trash and replacing my entire wardrobe. I’m starting small (or large depending on your outlook) and first tackling my frame of mind.

To battle my mind, I opened books and started up the laptop for some research. It wasn’t a big surprise to find that cotton is not cool. While I was aware of the issues attached with the production of conventional cotton, I needed a reminder to get myself in gear.

So, what’s the deal with cotton? It’s intricately woven throughout our lives. It’s comfortable, it’s durable and it’s common.

But while it’s a wonderful fiber for clothing production, the industry is a mega polluter. Not to mention that cotton is incredibly loaded with chemicals – it uses 22.5% of the world’s insecticides. It’s also a water hog using 257 gallons of water to make just one t-shirt. That information widened my eyes and revved up the mission’s momentum.

Conventional cotton production causes harm to the planet through production and pollution. It causes harm to industry workers through the use of chemicals and labor issues.

Fortunately there are alternatives – earth-loving, natural and non-synthetic ones.

Bamboo is ultra-soft, non-clingy, breathable, naturally antibacterial and biodegradable. It is also a renewable grass that grows in various climates. Past manufacturing methods had it listed as a non-sustainable fabric, but new methods produce the fabric without chemical additives.

Hemp is often attached to controversy. But despite its classic hippie typecast, hemp is incredibly environmentally positive. Since it grows quickly and densely, it doesn’t require pesticides or insecticides to combat weeds. Hemp is drought resistant, grows in most climates and one acre absorbs five times more carbon dioxide than one acre of forest.

Organic Cotton is cotton from non-genetically modified plants, certified to be grown without the use of any synthetic agricultural chemicals such as fertilizers or pesticides. Its production promotes and enhances biodiversity and biological cycles.

Soy is another incredibly soft fabric that is durable. It is produced from the by-product of the soya bean. Unfortunately soy production has negatives attached to it, such as aggressive growth and ecological imbalance. So making sure that it is certified organic is important.

Organic Wool comes from sheep that have not been treated with pesticides or hormones, or undergone the process called mulesing to prevent blowfly infestation. Keep in mind that this industry is very small and production costs are high, so this type of wool is more expensive than the conventional kind.

Other green fabrics that came up in research include Jute, Muslin (or Calico), Recycled Polyester, Ramie, Organic Linen, FORTREL EcoSpun, Milk Silk and Nettle Fiber.

When choosing environmentally amicable fabrics there are three things to consider:

-The renew-ability of the resource,

-The ecological footprint of the resource, and

-The amount of chemicals needed to grow and process the product.

Vintage clothing is another route to take, especially when you consider the price attached to eco-friendly clothes. This is definitely the cheapest way to wear eco-friendly threads. With some searching every fashionista should be able to locate great funky finds at second-hand shops.

The price tag attached to planet-loving apparel gets me every time. If only the perfect tank top made in Canada sweatshop free from 66% bamboo, 14% organic cotton, 14% cotton, 6% spandex didn’t cost $64 dollars ($32 on sale) – GULP!

But, the few green articles of clothing that I currently own - made from bamboo, soy or organic cotton – are highly durable. I’m not easy on clothing and these few pieces have lasted almost five years.

Now that I’ve tackled my mind-set with the goods on sustainable fabric, the next step is shrinking the amount of non-sustainable clothing I own.

I could take the extreme route (making my spouse giddy) and not purchase any clothes this year. But, the reality is that I’m pregnant and soon to be in need of a few pieces of clothing.

So far, I’m doing my best to creatively utilize clothing I own. I’ve learned a clever way to remain in my favorite jeans until the last possible moment. Luckily, tops are fashionably long in length and I should be able to use most of what I currently own.

When panic hits (and I know it will), I’m limiting my endless apparel options. I will hit local stores that carry green clothing before ones that don’t. I will also browse second-hand shops in search of those big scores. I have already hit the occasional second-hand shop and triumphed, leaving with some great items for further long in my pregnancy.

Panic-mode involves a budget and this is still under revision (baby steps). But, there will definitely be a budget because that is a big factor in how I ended up with such an unsustainable wardrobe. The current economic situation is playing a positive role in my eco-mission – certainly a rare positive spin – and makes it that much easier for me to succeed.

While I would love to see my wardrobe become 100% sustainable, that would involve a lottery win. A much more realistic goal will be 20% sustainable, 80% unsustainable. No matter the percentage, primarily buying eco-threads is a step in the right direction.

The possibilities for green living are endless. I’m getting there – evolving one habit at a time.