Green is the new black, according to environmentalists who are calling for the fashion industry to support sustainability. EMMA CLAYTON talks to the author of a new guide to eco-friendly fashion.

We recycle bottles, cans and newspapers as a matter of routine. We buy food which has been grown, farmed or manufactured naturally, and we're careful about not wasting fuel and water in the home.

But are we as environmentally-savvy when it comes to what we wear?

A survey conducted by eco-textile scientist Anna Harvey suggests not. "People think of recycling in terms of glass, cans and paper but we can make a difference with our clothes too, in terms of what we buy, how long we keep it, and how we look after it," she says. "Lots of people are unaware of how many ways there are to wear clothes without harming the planet."

Anna, a PhD student at the University of Leeds studying the application of anti-microbial agents to textile fibres, says the entire clothing industry, from fibre producers and dyers to fashion designers and high street retailers, needs to change its approach in order to become truly sustainable.

Quite simply, our clothes are costing the earth. But we don't need to rush out and buy a coat made from hemp to be eco-friendly. We can make a difference right away, says Anna, by using the clothes we already have.

Anna has produced the Green Guide to Looking Good, offering advice on how to look stylish without harming the environment. Tips include making the most of your wardrobe by sharing clothes with friends; patching up old clothes rather than buying new ones; composting clothes - and throwing out your iron.

"Ironing wastes energy, we don't need to use irons as often as we do," says Anna. "Most people find ironing a chore anyway - saving the environment is the perfect excuse to get out of it! You certainly don't need to iron underwear, socks and bed sheets. I don't iron any of my clothes, if you hang them up most garments don't actually need ironing.

"We should be cutting down on the amount of clothes washing we do too. People think nothing of sticking something in the washing machine when it's only been worn a couple of times, but too much washing is wasteful. We should only wash clothes when they're dirty."

Anna says we should hold onto our clothes for longer, rather than chucking them out each season to make room in the wardrobe for new fashions. And she's calling for a return to the old days of darning socks and patching up clothes - something our grandmothers were doing long before the green age.

"The period in which we keep our clothes has the biggest impact on the environment," says Anna. "People should be thinking about what they buy and the lifetime their clothing has. We live in a disposable age - it's too easy to go out and buy a cheap sweater then chuck it out a few months later - and a huge amount of clothes end up in landfill sites. It's better to buy good quality clothes which last longer; that instantly has a positive effect on the environment. They cost more but they last longer, so you make your money back.

"If we learned how to sew and mend clothes they'd last longer," she adds.

Another way we can make a difference is buying clothes with little or no print on them. "Prints use chemicals and dye that can harm the environment," says Anna.

In a wider context, it's up to textile manufacturers to look at ways of making more environmentally-friendly products such as dyes. Although, says Anna, using natural dye isn't necessarily the answer.

"Just because something is natural doesn't make it more eco-friendly than something synthetic," she says. "Indigo dye is often used to dye jeans, but if we dyed all the jeans in the world with it there wouldn't be enough of the indigo plant to go around.

"With the organic food industry, naturally-produced food is better for the consumer and environment but it's not the same in the textile industry. For example, there's a massive debate at the moment about how environmentally-friendly organic cotton-growing is. The more of it we grow, the more land we need to grow it on.

"The textile industry has to give more creative thought to making new fibres from sustainable sources. Eco-friendly textiles are already made from things like hemp, nettles and bamboo shoots. And corn starch can be turned into a biodegradable fibre called Ingeo which can be composted."

Wool from organically-farmed sheep, grazing on pesticide-free land and washed in chemical-free sheep dip, is eco-friendly - but only from sheep within the country. "Britain uses a lot of imported wool, yet we're not exactly short of sheep in this country," says Anna. "Importing wool on long flights from countries like New Zealand is damaging to the environment. The average textile garment is flown around the world three times; clothes are often made in one country, dyed in another, packaged in another, then sold in another."

Eco-friendly textiles are becoming quite a focus in the industry, with fashion students at Bradford College are studying sustainable design as part of their course. And Anna recently organised the first-ever Green Solutions and Sustainability in Textiles and Fashion conference, which drew delegates from the textile industry from around the world. Held in Leeds, the conference looked at how the entire textile and fashion industry needs to change.

"There were delegates from all stages, manufacturing to retail. It was heartening to see them coming together, as usually they operate separately," says Anna. "Sustain-able style is becoming more popular, with fashion heavyweights like Stella McCartney and Katherine Hamnett supporting eco-friendly products, but we still have a long way to go - in terms of the trend-setting nature of the industry, as well as the manufacturing process.

"The term fashion' can't be environmentally friendly. There should be more emphasis on looking stylish rather than frequently-changing fashions. Designers should be creating products that people can wear for five years rather than just six months.

"And retailers need to look at promoting clothing in terms of being eco-friendly. Eco-friendly clothing makes an important statement about supporting a sustainable environment. Wearing your eco-friendly heart on your sleeve has never been easier."

As well focussing on fabrics, it's easier than ever to access ethical fashion' by buying fairtrade clothing from the internet. Natural Collections, which works with Friends of the Earth, sells a clothing range made by Third World organisations, with profits supporting orphanages in countries like India and funding medical and educational opportunities for the children of employees.

  • For more details on the Green Guide to Looking Good visit www.noisemakers.org.uk. For more about Natural Collections visit www.naturalcollections.com