Sustainable Style: H&M

Every week we feature a sustainable brand on our blog. This week's featured brand is H&M.

Did you know that H&M is one of the world's largest buyers of organic cotton? Pretty impressive for a fast fashion retailer. It's not all good news however since organic cotton only accounts for about 13% of their total garment production. But is it really H&M's (or any other retailer's) fault for this. While I'd like to think that all consumers are clamoring for sustainably sourced apparel, the unfortunate truth is that they're not. In theory everyone would like to live sustainably, eating only organic foods grown on nearby farms, wearing sustainably produced apparel, biking or walking to work but most can't afford to, at least they think they can't.

When it comes to sustainably sourced apparel, the pricing is in most cases comparable to non-sustainably sourced items. Take the t-shirt above from H&M's 2015 conscious exclusive collection. For $18, you get an organic cotton t-shirt that looks expensive, about the same as you would spend for a regular t-shirt that probably doesn't look or feel as good. The rest of the collection doesn't disappoint. All the garments are made from organic or recycled materials, making it one of the greenest and most luxurious H&M collections ever. 

You can purchase items from H&M's regular conscious collection here.

Credit: Photo from H&M