Bamboo gets some eco-hype, but the truth is it's rayon, which is a massively processed product with a heavy chemical footprint.
These days I wear merino layers all year around and it has plenty to recommend it. I like the prospect of composting a T-shirt when it's past the point of further mending! But modern "no-itch" merino has been heavily processed too, to make it so smooth and soft.
And in truth, I don't find merino as warm as thick polar fleece. Fleece is toasty warm, it's easy to wear and even easier to wash.
The problem is, every time a fleece jacket is washed, it sheds thousands of tiny plastic fibres. They're too small to be entirely filtered by wastewater plants and are polluting waterways around the world.
A team headed by British ecologist Mark Browne gathered sand samples from 18 beaches on six continents. Every beach was contaminated with micro-plastics, of which 80 per cent were polyester or acrylic. Those plastics contain additives and can absorb toxins.
They're eaten by small marine creatures and accumulate in their guts and tissue, the effects of which accumulate up the food chain.
Experiments carried out this year -- and funded by clothing manufacturer Patagonia -- discovered that older clothing sheds more fibres than new and top-loading washing machines create five times more shedding than front-loaders.
Synthetic clothing isn't disappearing any time soon, at least not while oil remains cheap and comparatively accessible. What's needed is research, effort and regulation.
It needs the attention of regulators, consumers and the manufacturers of clothing, washing machines and wastewater plants!
But what's also called for is a change in attitude, not just shopping preferences.
My strategy is simply to buy less. Lots of my clothes are second-hand (hurrah for Whanganui's excellent op shops; let's keep them a secret from visitors) and all of them are worn until they're worn-out.
I spent time with an older neighbour, learning how to darn. I look for quality fabrics, cuts that don't date and construction that won't fall apart.
Second, I don't wash and dry things to death. I don't throw clothes into the washing basket as an alternative to putting them away and line dry almost the whole year.
As for warm, this winter I'm snuggled into a woollen jersey hand-knitted by a marvellous older lady as a fundraiser for Hospice. It keeps me warm all the way to my heart.
�R K Rose is a fermenter, fomenter and gardener with a liking for permaculture thinking. Links to further reading will be posted on the online version of this story.
