Week 1: Dressed to kill

The item I've picked to analyse is a jacket from H&M that I've owned for a couple of years now. The jacket is Borg fabric, so it keeps me warm, but isn't too thick as to make it bulky or uncomfortable. It also has popper buttons, allowing it to be thrown on when in a rush. Being a neutral cream colour, it can be styled with basically anything, which makes it perfect as a go-to piece of clothing, whether it be a casual or formal outfit.

Being made of 100% virgin polyester, it isn't the most environmentally friendly piece of clothing. Synthetic polyester has a tendency when washed to shed microplastic fibres, which could end up in bodies of water. With polyester being derived from petroleum-based products, it would take hundreds of years to decompose if it ended up in the landfill. I suspect that polyester was chosen however as the material because it has good insulation properties (similar to lambswool), but without the added heft. It is also considerably cheaper to manufacture. Compared to natural fabrics such as cotton, polyester uses considerably less water in production, which balances its CO2 footprint somewhat. Polyester is also water repellent, which whilst the jacket isn't designed to be worn in wet weather, it does actually repel water reasonably well in light rain.

Despite the environmental shortcomings, H&M offers the option to donate end-of-life clothing through their garment collection programme. Additionally, they're also taking strides in the industry to move away from unsustainable materials. Polyester is highly recyclable as a material, and providing it's disposed of correctly at the end of life, its impact on the environment can be reduced considerably.