Purchasing a long-lasting winter coat is one of the best long-term investments you can make for your winter wardrobe, and it makes the season so much more pleasurable!
We’ve rounded together 15 of our favorite eco-friendly winter coats that look great and keep you warm throughout the season.
When it’s cold for more than six months of the year, a thick winter coat quickly becomes one of your most important wardrobe-essentials. In New England, where temperatures can drop below zero for weeks at a time, we take our winter coats extremely seriously.
They’re an essential part of getting outside and enjoying beautiful winter days without getting cold!
- What Is A Long-Lasting Winter Coat?
- What constitutes a winter coat that is truly sustainable?
There are a few things to consider while selecting the best sustainable winter coat or jacket:
- What are the temperatures that your jacket must withstand?
- What materials are utilized in the jacket’s construction?
- What are the current criteria for sustainable manufacturing?
Genuinely sustainable jackets for women and men must be able to withstand the elements, also be tailored to your individual weather and lifestyle needs, and be manufactured using environmentally friendly and ethical methods.
Fortunately, there are a slew of eco-friendly winter wear companies out there these days manufacturing some very fantastic items!
Ethical and sustainable textile standards and certifications
If you’re confused by all the sustainability jargon while looking for a sustainable winter coat, the following standards and certifications are vital to look for and may help you feel good about your decision.
Stella McCartney
Stella McCartney is a leader in ecological design, according to Priebe and Ciaraleaf Meaney, co-founder and creative director of Tomorrow Collective.
Priebe adds, “She’s always investing in totally innovative fabrications,” mentioning the designer’s unusual plant-based leathers, including one made from mushrooms.
TWO-THIRDS
When we think of sustainable apparel, we automatically think of the TWOTHIRDS brand, which is currently the market leader.
It was formed in 2010 as a result of a profound passion for the sea. It has grown into a group of like-minded individuals. Lutz Schwenke, the CEO of TWOTHIRDS brand, spent a year as a youngster in Hawaii, where he developed a new perspective on the ocean.
It became a source of inspiration and delight. Lutz worked for the United Nations later in his career, which informed his vision for the sustainable firm he would eventually build.
Knickey
For environmental and reproductive health concerns, this NYC-based direct-to-consumer firm employs GOTS-certified organic cotton. Knickey “uses high-quality natural materials that biodegrade,” according to Elizabeth L. Cline, writer and author of The Conscious Closet, whereas “plastic fibers endure in our ecosystem, poison our seas, and are manufactured out of oil.”
Because pesticides are forbidden and only natural fertilizers may be used, organic cotton conserves water, decreases pollution, increases biodiversity, and is safer for employees.
Knickey also collaborates with a recycling firm in New York to recycle unwanted socks, tights, and underwear from other companies, keeping them out of landfills.
Christy Dawn
Christy Dawn is recognized in Los Angeles for their flowing flowery gowns crafted from repurposed fabrics. Boyd admires the organization because it is extremely sensitive of its influence on both people and the environment over the product’s full life cycle.
“We need additional measures to quantify how people are treated,” she adds, “but I believe someone working on their farm in India or in their factory in Los Angeles would be an 11 out of 10 on the happiness scale.”
Christy Dawn is also a supporter of regenerative agriculture, which, according to Boyd, removes carbon from the atmosphere and traps it in the soil.
“It’s one of the most interesting things going on in fashion right now,” she says.
Babaà
Babaà, a Spanish company, gets its bulky sweaters’ wool from northern Spain. It’s spun and colored in Spain, as is the majority of their cotton, which comes from organic Andalucian farmers.
The brand’s yarns are never blended with acrylics or other synthetic fibers, resulting in a long-lasting and biodegradable finished product. In addition, all Babaà samples go to CEAR (Comisión Espaola de Ayuda al Refugiado), a refugee shelter in Getafe, Madrid.
Caroline Priebe, founder of the Center for the Advancement of Garment Making, says, “I feel that they are so nicely constructed that they could absolutely go to my daughter.”
K.Nicholas
Undyed natural fabrics and vegetable colors from roots, leaves, bark, and berries are used by this brother-sister design team.
“Everything from this brand is so adaptable and comfy, and it’s actually built for the feminine body,” says Alden Wicker, a freelance journalist specializing in sustainable fashion and editor in chief of EcoCult.com. You’ll be hooked if you just go to the store and put anything on.”
B Corporations
B Corporations are for-profit businesses that have a social goal. Under the legislation, they must assess the impact of their actions on their workers, customers, suppliers, the community, and the environment.
RDS (Responsible Down Standard)
The Responsible Down Standard is a non-profit, voluntary global standard that aims to ensure that down and feathers come from animals that have not been subjected to unnecessary suffering.
BlueSign
BLUESIGN is a system that makes everyone’s working and living surroundings safer and more sustainable. BLUESIGN tracks each textile’s progress from the factory floor to the finished product, making adjustments along the way.
RWS (Responsible Wool Standard)
The Responsible Wool Standard ensures that wool comes from farms that practice progressive land management and sheep that have been treated humanely.
Recycled Global Standard
Complete certification for objects containing recycled material. The GRS is designed to provide brands with a tool for more accurate labeling and to encourage the creative reuse of resources.
OCS (Organic Content Standard)
Third-party verification ensures that a completed product contains the appropriate amount of organically grown material.
It does not address the use of chemicals or other social or environmental concerns in production, other from the integrity of the organic material.
Fair Dealing
Given the huge disparities between current salaries and living wage levels, the Fairtrade Textile Standard requires employees to be given living wages within six years after certification, a timeline that was deemed appropriate during the standard consultation.
Oeko Tex
OEKO-TEX® MADE IN GREEN is a traceable product mark that certifies that an item has been tested for dangerous chemicals.
This is accomplished by OEKO-TEX® certification in line with STANDARD 100, which certifies that the textile product was made using environmentally friendly and socially responsible techniques.
Winter Coats, Jackets, and Parkas That Are Eco-Friendly
Because they all meet one or more of the criteria given above, the following eco-friendly winter coats and parkas were chosen.
Each winter coat and parka was chosen from a list of environmentally friendly winter apparel companies that focus on manufacturing high-quality goods while also aiming to develop a truly sustainable and ethical company and supply chain.
While there is always room for improvement, the following winter coats and jackets are among the best on the market for withstanding harsh cold while using sustainably produced textiles and conforming to ethical manufacturing practices.
Our Favorite Sustainable Warmest Sustainable Winter Coats & Jackets.
The following are some of our favorite sustainable and ethical clothing companies that offer the best (and warmest) sustainable and ethical winter coats and jackets to keep you warm and toasty all season long.
PrAna
PrAna has been a trailblazer in the sustainable outdoor industry for decades, and its winter coats and jackets are both beautiful and comfortable.
PrAna’s design innovation, commitment to plastic-free packaging, and general business culture are appealing to us.
Patagonia
Patagonia is a pioneer in the development of environmentally friendly outdoor clothing and is always working to improve. Patagonia’s winter coats and jackets are made from recycled fabrics that fulfill design criteria.
The North Face
The North Face is another ecologically conscientious outdoor company that is always seeking to enhance its processes in order to have a lower environmental effect while still creating high-quality products.
Conclusion
So, as you can see now, choosing a sustainable jacket (and any other type of clothes that is considered sustainable, actually) is a good way to show that you are a conscious consumer. In a modern world of excessive consumption, people leave tons of garbage behind them and buy new clothes just to throw them away next year or even in a few months! This is why conscious consumption is becoming a new trend that is meant to draw people’s attention to this problem.
And buying sustainable clothes is a good way to contribute to this trend. Sustainable clothes are produced reasonably, with the use of eco-friendly manufacturing methods and materials. Like that, when buying a jacket or another piece of such clothes, you can be sure that its manufacturing did not cause the environment the harm that regular clothes manufacturing does.
So if you have ever wanted to contribute to conscious consumption, buying sustainable clothes is a great way to do that. In addition, in this article, you can find a list of brands that sell sustainable clothes. These brands use eco-friendly materials, their clothes don’t contain dangerous chemicals, and they were produced with the use of socially responsible techniques.
