Green Daily

Michelle Higgins writes in Saturday's New York Times about the recent trend of resorts and vacation homes catering to those who prefer the bare necessities when they travel: vacations in the nude.

Nudists, who also call themselves naturalists, cite all kinds of reasons for shedding their layers: simplicity, reducing consumerism, and avoiding the race to the trendiest, most expensive, most recent fashion. You might say they are putting on air -- instead of airs.

You might also remember reading about the German travel agency that is planning an all-nude flight for to a popular nudist beach, Usedom, in July. Americans spend several thousand dollars per year, per person, on clothing. When we finally get around to doing that much-needed spring cleaning, sometimes we take clothes to Goodwill--but sometimes we just chuck them in the garbage because they're too dirty, too torn up, or we're just too lazy.

That has more of an environmental impact than you might think. The EPA Office of Solid Waste reports that individual Americans throw away upwards of 60 pounds of clothes and fabrics each year (read more about the environmental impact of clothing waste here). Well, what if you didn't wear clothes--thus, they didn't wear out? You'd save yourself money, and, potentially, your local dump a few layers of old tees and jeans.

So, here's the question: Would you take off your clothes for the planet?