"Green Button" textile label for sustainable textiles

Dear users and authors,
are you familiar with the government-backed “Green Button” textile label for sustainable textiles—that is, for clothing produced fairly and ecologically—or do you think this is a good thing?

I’m not at all familiar with this label, because I’ve been sewing all my own clothes for about 35 years. If I had to go into a clothing store today to buy something ready-made, I’d be completely overwhelmed at first. Every ready-made item I bought would have to go under the sewing machine anyway to be adjusted to my crooked body, so I skip that and prefer to sew my own clothes right away using patterns tailored to me. On the right side, I’m a good 4.5 cm shorter along my entire body length than on the left, but when buying fabric, I make sure to choose high-quality, well-made fabrics.

At least it sounds very good, and I really welcome initiatives like this. I hadn’t heard of it before, though. I’m always learning something new here. Thanks for the info, Josefa.

It’s certainly a good thing as a guide for consumers. However, I’m skeptical as to whether all stages of production can truly be monitored.

There’s so much to read—the more information I gather, the more confusing it all seems to me. We’d like to shop sustainably and fairly, but I find it very difficult to actually put that into practice. I’m not familiar with this “Green Button” yet, but I’ll look it up online.

For myself, I’ve decided to buy secondhand clothing. If I do buy something new, I’ll try to find organic cotton. No pesticides are used on the fields where it’s grown, so at least the insects might be okay.

That’s how I’m living right now, but maybe tomorrow’s findings will render today’s knowledge obsolete, and what’s good today will then be the biggest environmental sin. 

To me, a government-issued label sounds like “meets the bare minimum requirements.”
However, whenever possible, I buy my clothes at a DRK clothing shop—and even then, only when it’s absolutely necessary.

As Ruth already wrote, I also think it’s impossible to trace the entire production chain without gaps.

I feel the same way as Petra—I wear a lot of secondhand clothes or knit them myself. Luckily, I inherit lots of beautiful brand-name items from my friend or trade for them on my swap portal. That way, there are no more toxins in the fabric. When my budget allows, I only buy organic cotton or woolen items from happy sheep, such as those from Finkhof.