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"  One of my biggest pet peeves is when manufacturers claim their clothing is &amp;quot;eco-friendly&amp;quot; because there really is no such thing. Even if apparel starts out with a fiber like organic cotton, alarming amounts of water and energy are used and a ton of waste is created by the time it ends up in your closet. That&amp;#039;s why when I first saw H&amp;amp;amp;M&amp;#039;s advertisements for its Conscious Collection claiming &amp;quot;more sustainable fashion,&amp;quot; I assumed it was just another marketing scam. But when I checked it out on the website, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is it using &amp;quot;green&amp;quot; claims that are actually attainable (&amp;quot;consciousness&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;environmental responsibility&amp;quot;), but it&amp;#039;s also providing candid reports on what it&amp;#039;s doing to achieve these goals. Last week, H&amp;amp;amp;M launched its second Conscious Collection, which uses sustainable and recycled materials in garments for both men and women. I had the opportunity to meet with Catarina Midby, H&amp;amp;amp;M&amp;#039;s Head of Fashion and Sustainability Communication from the company&amp;#039;s headquarters in Sweden, who was in New York for the highly publicized launch. Midby described the motivation behind this collection, explaining that fashion should be both glamorous and sustainable; and one doesn&amp;#039;t have to be sacrificed for the other. As a worldwide leader in affordable fashion, H&amp;amp;amp;M strives to provide its customers with a way to be stylish and conscious consumers. While it still has a ways to go in achieving its goals towards sustainability, H&amp;amp;amp;M provides detailed progress reports on its website, including the status and timeline for each goal. The steps toward sustainability start with the production process, but it was especially impressive to see H&amp;amp;amp;M&amp;#039;s commitment towards sustainability after the product is sold. Highlights include more responsible garment care labels and a commitment to helping its customers reuse and recycle clothing. In fact, you can bring in unwanted clothing (not just from H&amp;amp;amp;M!) to garment-collection boxes in H&amp;amp;amp;M stores and in return receive a discount towards your next purchase. The clothing will be primarily donated for second-hand use, but if it&amp;#039;s not in good enough shape to be re-worn, the material will be recycled into raw materials for new products. According to Midby, these collection boxes are currently in 1,500 of the stores worldwide, but the goal is to bring them to all 2,800 stores.  H&amp;amp;amp;M is also addressing economic and social sustainability, reporting on ethics and efforts to strengthen communities. In these reports, collaborations with charities and steps to educate garment workers on human rights are detailed. At the Good Housekeeping Research Institute, we&amp;#039;re currently working with our environmental consultants Brown &amp;amp;amp; Wilmanns Environmental to develop a Green Good Housekeeping Seal application for textile products including clothing. Since we haven&amp;#039;t evaluated H&amp;amp;amp;M&amp;#039;s Conscious clothing line for our seal, we can&amp;#039;t comment on its sustainability efforts in a deep or comprehensive way. Nevertheless, we&amp;#039;re impressed by the direction in which it&amp;#039;s moving. If you&amp;#039;re interested in sustainability, be sure to read all about our Green Good Housekeeping Seal. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/institute/a19379/hm-conscious-sustainable-fashion/>