What exactly does slow fashion entail? Slow fashion is an awareness and approach to fashion that carefully considers the processes and resources required to make clothing, and focusses on timeless, high-quality designs over trend-driven pieces destined for the landfill after a few wears.

What is slow fashion?

There are countless terms in the sustainable fashion sphere, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed—especially when some of them seem to blur together. So what is “slow fashion” exactly, and how is it different from sustainable fashion? We’re here to tackle the term for you and explain why slowing fashion down is crucial for a fashion industry that leaves a lighter footprint for generations to come.

Put simply, slow fashion is the opposite of fast fashion. It encompasses an awareness and approach to fashion that carefully considers the processes and resources required to make clothing. It advocates for buying better-quality garments that will last longer, and values fair treatment of people, animals, and the planet along the way. 

Realistically, slow fashion and sustainable or ethical fashion have a lot of similarities. They are sister movements and follow the same general guidelines. The main difference with slow fashion is that it hones in on reducing consumption and production more specifically, harkening back to the pre-fast fashion era of our grandparents when clothing was a long-term investment rather than a throwaway hobby.

The beginnings of slow fashion

The past decade or so has seen a wave of change sweep through the fashion industry. An increasing number of brands are rejecting the principles of fast fashion and opting for a more sustainable approach to making clothes.

The term slow fashion came about quite organically. It was coined by Kate Fletcher of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, following the phenomena of the slow food movement. As with the slow food movement, Fletcher saw a need for a slower pace in the fashion industry.

Slow fashion opposes the fast fashion model that emerged around 30 years ago, in which clothes became cheaper, and trend cycles sped up. And despite ongoing sustainability efforts to close the loop in fashion, ultra fast fashion brands like SHEIN are pumping out an alarming amount of poorly-made new styles every day. It’s clear that this philosophy is a necessary part of the movement as a whole.

Slow fashion becomes a movement

Pre-Industrial Revolution, garments were locally sourced and produced. People would buy durable clothing that could serve them for a long time or make their own from the textiles and resources available to them. Clothing reflected the place and culture of the people wearing them.

Modern-day slow fashion has seen a re-emergence of some of these old ways. Initially, it asks us to take a step back and decide if we really need something new, or if we can shop our closet for some forgotten piece that maybe just needs a small repair. It then encourages us to buy fewer garments less often, and opt for second hand when we can. When it comes to buying new, instead of purchasing six cheap polyester tops that will unravel after one or two wears, for example, conscious consumers invest in higher quality pieces. They will be made from more sustainable processes and lower-impact fabrics that emphasise the art of clothes making and celebrate the skills of craftspeople, like one or two organic cotton or linen tops you know will last for years to come. Finally, slow fashion asks us to stop treating our clothes as disposable, and to make an effort to repair, upcycle, pass along, or responsibly dispose of them when they no longer serve us. 

Slow fashion has seen increasing support in the last few years as consumers demand higher sustainability and ethical standards. As research shows, 19% of the top fast fashion-related searches are linked to the environment, ethics, and sustainability. As awareness and popularity increases, the planet and all its inhabitants are set to benefit from this slower and more considered approach to fashion.

Some characteristics of a slow fashion brand

• Made from high quality, lower-impact materials like linen
• Garments are more timeless than trendy
• Often sold in smaller (local) stores rather than huge chain enterprises
• Locally sourced, produced, and sold garments
• Few, specific styles per collection, which are released twice or maximum three times per year, or a permanent seasonless collection
• Often made-to-order to reduce unnecessary production

Staple slow brands

These brands implement fair practices for their environmental, ethical, and animal impacts and are great starting points if you are looking for some slow fashion staples.

The post What Is Slow Fashion? appeared first on Good On You.

Brands putting a spin on their sins

With people becoming increasingly aware of many industries’ impacts on the planet, some companies are tempted to put a spin on their environmental sins. In a show of “all talk, no action”, businesses will spend more time and money on portraying themselves as caring for the planet rather than taking actionable measures to reduce their impact.

These companies employ greenwashing techniques to cover for their environmentally-destructive business operations. The practice is prevalent in the fossil fuel industry. For example, it’s no coincidence that one of the biggest oil companies in the world, BP, has chosen the colour green as its primary branding colour and that the logo resembles a flower. These little links to nature reference an eco-friendly model, but most of us can see through the blatant spin.

Greenwashing exists in fashion too, but it may be less glaringly obvious. As conscious consumers, we should recognise that there are no simple solutions to complex problems. So, what are the telltale signs? How can you tell when a fashion brand is greenwashing?

To unravel the tangled web of greenwashing and unveil the truth behind the most common sustainability claims, we turned to the trusted expertise of our diligent ratings analysts. These knowledgeable folks have delved deep into the public disclosures of countless brands over the years, uncovering the realities that lie beneath the surface.

1. Impressive-sounding initiatives to reduce carbon emissions or waste at head office

Got some solar panels on the headquarters roof and an office full of plants? That’s great, but it’s not nearly enough. The supply chain should be one of the first things companies address to reduce their carbon footprint, as this is the largest source of carbon emissions. Production accounts for a massive 70% of the fashion industry’s overall carbon footprint. Brands should look at production facilities, transport and shipping methods, and the environmental impacts of source materials.

Sustainability initiatives such as supplying reusable cups to employees or eliminating single use plastic items at the head office, whilst not mentioning anything about waste throughout their supply chain, is often a sign of greenwashing.

Katelin Opferkuch, PhD – Ratings analyst at Good On You

A brand’s sustainability report should show precisely how it addresses supply chain emissions. Good On You uses these reports to evaluate a brand’s environmental impact and give it a score so you can compare brands and see who is genuinely taking steps to protect the planet.

2. ‘Eco-friendly packaging’ and not much else

Keep an eye out for brands that promote minimal, recycled, or “recyclable” packaging as a sign that they are reducing waste. They may even mention that they recycle their ink cartridges in the office. Again, these gestures alone do not make up for production processes that cause vast amounts of waste and pollution.

The biggest sources of waste in fashion are the textile waste at the production stage and the surplus of clothing being produced. A few years ago, luxury fashion brand Burberry caused outrage by burning £28m worth of unsold clothes and perfume, but many pointed out that it’s a common practice for fashion brands.

Packaging claims often dominate a brands’ entire sustainability pages, with very little meaningful action being taken to reduce waste within their supply chain.

Becca Willcox – Ratings analyst at Good On You

Then there are the cheap fast fashion brands that encourage throwaway culture—a business model that can never be truly sustainable. It’s said that the equivalent of a rubbish truck full of clothes ends up on landfill sites every second. When brands like these talk about reducing waste without changing their mass production practices, then the greenwashing alarm bells should be ringing.

Also look out for brands that outsource their waste reduction to you, the consumer. Producing clothes that are “timeless” and “reject passing trends” is all well and good, but if the clothes are cheap, mass-produced, and of low quality, they’re no better than trendy fast fashion, because chances are they’re still heading for the scrap heap sooner rather than later.

However, if a brand truly addresses textile waste while also minimising packaging, that’s a win on both fronts.

3. ‘Energy efficiency’ that is just the law

Greenwashing in the fashion industry can come in many shapes and forms. The use of LED and energy-efficient lighting or sensor lights in stores can sometimes be little more than spin. Many office buildings already have this type of lighting. It is even a legal requirement in some countries. If the company itself has not implemented anything new to improve their environmental footprint, they’re just making a big deal about something everyone is required to do.

4. Misleading claims and targets that are not backed up with enough public data

Targets are a funny thing. Brands are more or less free to set targets for their environmental impact that are comfortable to achieve, sound promising, and may or may not be impactful.

A good way to decipher this is by looking at the fine print. For example, reducing emissions by 50% sounds great until you read that the 50% is pegged to a date in the past when a company was much larger—before they sold off subsidiaries or production facilities. It would be quite easy for them to “halve emissions” without doing much at all. This same trick applies to emissions reductions expressed as a percentage of production volume—yes, you used 15% less energy to produce a single t-shirt. But you’re making ten times as many t-shirts, so your overall emissions have gone up.

While setting targets is a step in the right direction, many brands are prone to setting ambitious environmental targets without disclosing how they plan to achieve them. If a brand is going to set a target relating to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, or increasing its use of lower-impact materials, it should ensure that the target is realistic. The brand should also ensure that it regularly updates consumers on progress—even if progress is slow.

Kate Hobson-Lloyd – Ratings analyst at Good On You

Science-based climate targets are the gold standard. If a company is adopting emissions reductions targets related to what scientists say we need to avoid catastrophic climate change, they are doing their bit. And while some brands strive to adopt science-based targets, many fall short, often making grandiose claims and setting ambitious targets without backing them with public data.

Our report on fashion and climate inaction, which analysed over 4,000 brands, revealed the targets set by brands are not all they’re made out to be. Brands are rushing to set impressive-sounding targets to show their customers how concerned they are about the climate. 45% of the large brands we looked at had set greenhouse gas emissions targets covering at least some of their direct operations or supply chains, but only 21% of large brands had science-based targets. What’s more, 51% of large brands with greenhouse gas emissions targets do not state whether they are on track to meet them.

5. Payment of a ‘minimum wage’

Many countries have a “minimum wage”, the lowest legal wage a company can pay its workers. This is very different from a “living wage“—the minimum wage a garment worker should earn to feed themselves and their families, pay rent, and cover healthcare, transportation, and education. The majority of garment workers in Bangladesh, for example, earn little more than the minimum wage and far below what is considered a living wage. Companies that shout about ensuring the minimum wage is being paid are doing the very least and don’t deserve a pat on the back.

Brands that claim to be ethical often mention that they pay 'fair wages' but don’t clearly specify what this means and how much workers are actually getting paid. This is misleading, as 'fair wages' does not necessarily mean 'living wages'.

Jessica Ouano – Ratings analyst at Good On You

When you see a brand talk about their labour standards and the living wage, be aware this is a hard factor to regulate. In large production facilities located in countries outside of the brand itself, workers can be overlooked, poorly treated, and their health put at risk.

That’s why full supply chain transparency is essential—responsible brands should list the names and locations of all the factories involved in the production of their products. Better still, look out for brands that operate under fair trade rules, which ensure that workers are getting a fair deal and a living wage.

6. ‘Sustainable’ ranges in large companies

Feeling tempted to head back to a fast fashion store because they advertise their new “organic” or “sustainable” range? Don’t be fooled. This is an increasingly common marketing tool with high-volume, fast fashion labels.

This range of clothing is often a tiny portion of their overall production, and it doesn’t mean that the brands have made a complete overhaul of their business models overnight. What a brand is really doing here is hoping that the green glow of one initiative will rub off on the company as a whole.

For some certifications, you only need 5% of organic cotton content in a product to label it as 'organic', so always be careful and double check brands' claims.

Noriko Kakue – Ratings analyst at Good On You

Don’t believe that fast fashion can become ethical from one corner of a massive store. Unless the brand has set clear targets to increase its ethical range to more than 50% of products or is working towards making the whole business ethical—it’s greenwashing.

Also, brands without a diversity of products in their ethical range may not be serious. Organic cotton t-shirts are easy enough to do—but what about looking at wastewater and water use, harmful dyes, labour rights and conditions? Just because it’s organic cotton doesn’t make it green.

7. ‘Carbon offsetting’ in lieu of actively reducing emissions

Recently more and more companies have included carbon offsetting in their sustainability strategies. Carbon offset schemes fund projects that aim to reduce future emissions. These projects can take the form of clean energy technologies, such as solar panels, or planting trees to help absorb carbon dioxide emissions from the air.

It is imperative that companies acknowledge that offsetting cannot be a substitute for real emissions reductions. Brands may use terms such as ‘Carbon Neutral’, ‘Net Zero’, or ‘Climate Positive’. Whilst the projects themselves may seem innovative and exciting, a brand must be reducing emissions in its value chain to show real leadership and real action on climate change.

Kristian Hardiman – Head of ratings at Good On You

The issue with carbon offsetting is that it doesn’t really do much to reduce the emissions produced today, it just balances them out. Yes, brands might help fund projects to decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the future, but in the meantime, they’re still emitting an enormous amount of carbon, and doing very little to stop that. Worse still, carbon offsetting may take the place of actions that actually reduce emissions, and end up being harmful. Unless the company actively works to reduce its emissions, the best carbon offsetting can do at this stage is keep emissions at their current level.

Put the power back in your hands

Greenwashing is a bit like putting a cherry on top of a cake made of garbage and calling it good, but as our CEO Gordon Renouf reminds us, “the problem is not only claims that are not true, it’s brands’ failure to provide full information about every aspect of their production practices to meet consumers expectations right to know how their clothes are made, distributed, sold, and dealt with at end of life, and how they impact on the sustainability issues consumers care about.”

The underlying approach of both a more ethical brand and effective government regulation should be on full transparency, not just on stamping out misleading claims marketers choose to make.

Gordon Renouf – CEO at Good On You

But it’s not all bad news. There’s an ever-increasing number of dedicated more sustainable and ethical brands that want to provide full disclosure on the great ways they are making their products—with no greenwashing necessary.

Our directory is a great place to read up on the overall impact of a brand, with detailed information from over 500 data points per brand across more than 100 key sustainability issues, indicators, and standards systems. We help to provide the disclosure some brands avoid offering, giving consumers the power to know the impact of the products they are buying. We point out the brands that are constantly greenwashing and misleading consumers, and provide more ethical alternatives that are worth supporting. 

Discover responsible brands near you with our location filter

The post How Can You Tell When a Fashion Brand Is Greenwashing? appeared first on Good On You.

Get to know the 5 Rs of fashion

It’s no secret that the fashion industry leaves a big footprint on the planet, and as a result, we have seen a rising trend in consumer awareness of the impact of our spending choices. More accessible information has invited increased pressure for brands to step up and do better. So, while brands are at work looking at the part they play in all of this, what can we as consumers do to contribute? A lot can be said for some catchy alliteration at the core of this shift that can help you get started: reduce, rewear, recycle, repair, and resell. Ready?

Reduce

The benefits this “R” brings are countless, and the rewards can be felt instantly. Although a challenge (and often a gradual process), the act of decluttering has been around for years, especially as we learn the horrible impact consumerism is having on the planet, people, and animals.

A prominent figure in the area of decluttering and reduction is Marie Kondo, whose principles and philosophy offer a useful starting point to reducing your spending habits and your wardrobe, all while offering great tips for how to keep it organised and ensure you can utilise everything you already own. You, therefore, will reduce what you feel the need to buy.

This is vital in reducing your fashion footprint, with thousands of tonnes of clothing ending up in landfill everyday. Not only will you reap the benefits of the savings you will accrue and the space you will create, but a big bonus is the decision fatigue you will avoid along the way.

This has been true for various successful figures, including Barack Obama, who only ever wears grey or blue suits as a way to focus his “decision making energy”. Reducing becomes much bigger than just fashion and your wardrobe⁠—it will have you looking at other areas of your life, too.

A useful question to pose to yourself is: “When did I last wear this?”. The answer should help to determine if the garment has served its purpose, and to decipher what should stay and what should go. And when we say go, we don’t mean into landfill, but giving to a friend or donating to the local charity drop off (see the Resell part of this article for more information).

Rewear

The waste implications of fashion are a major area of concern and a huge contributor to the constant polluting of our planet. A recent study outlined that 95% of the textiles that end up in landfill each year could be recycled (particularly with increasing technological developments). The fashion industry is also one of the most intensive in terms of resource use such as water, waste, land clearing, materials, and more. Yikes.

Today, reusing is essential to minimising your fashion footprint, and we need to normalise rewearing outfits. We already have so many clothes in our closets, including many that we love and cherish, so of course, we should want to wear them again and again.

It's 2023, we need to normalise rewearing outfits.

If you’re worried about what people might think, ask yourself this: “Do I remember what my friend wore last time I saw them?” No? Well, chances are they don’t remember what you were wearing, either. And if you do remember and see them wearing the same thing more than once, do you care? No? See, there’s nothing wrong with repeating outfits, and we really shouldn’t be afraid to wear something more than once. Especially if it’s that cute dress or shirt that suited you so well. Be proud.

There are a number of ways it can be a fun and easy shift in mentality. Once you have reduced your wardrobe and your shopping frequency⁠—and know exactly what you have⁠—you can try out new pairings and look for creative ways to, for example, bring back that favourite item that’s been gathering dust for six months.

A big part of this puzzle is buying better quality clothing that is made to last⁠—garments that you will wear again and again. Essentially, following a slow fashion approach rather than the ever troublesome fast fashion, which is a huge contributor to the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Resources like Good On You provide a perfect launch pad for accessing garments that will serve you for longer, while trusting they are sourced responsibly and not harmful to the planet, people, or animals.

Reusing can also encompass participating in clothing swaps with friends as another great way to have fun while utilising what you have in your wardrobe (or what your bestie has in theirs). Swapping something out with a friend every few months will give your old clothes a sense of novelty, while also supporting your friends to reduce and reuse as well.

If you are up for a challenge, Project 333 is a great initiative to shift your behaviour and really delve into the reuse part of this process.

Recycle

As new years or seasons roll around, a lot of us want to start fresh and declutter our closets. But what to do with that old dress you haven’t worn in years? You can’t throw it in the trash as it’ll end up in landfill. So why not recycle your old clothes?

If your item is unsalvageable, you can donate it to a company that will recycle it for you, such as:

• Patagonia and their Worn Wear program. The brand accepts used Patagonia clothing that functions perfectly and is in good condition. When you trade in your quality, well-loved Patagonia gear, you’ll get credit toward purchases in Patagonia retail stores, on WornWear.com and Patagonia.com.
• Swedish Stockings has got your nylon waste covered. Currently, the brand collects and grinds down old pantyhose to be used as filler material in fibreglass tanks, which are used in the commercial industry to separate grease from water. To participate in this wonderful, more sustainable process, simply collect and send in three or more pairs of synthetic pantyhose from any brand.
• Knickey is a “Great” American-based underwear brand that has a recycling program for worn undies. The brand has partnered with a local NYC non-profit to safely recycle your intimates and divert them from landfill. The undies are sorted by fibre makeup, broken down and made into a new fibre, and eventually recycled and used for insulation and rug pads. So send them your ready-to-retire intimates and they’ll take care of them, Knickey or not.
• Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program recycles athletic shoes, giving them a new life through Nike Grind. Just drop your used shoes at a participating Nike retail store in North America or Europe. Nike Grind is a collection of recycled materials developed by Nike that is composed of pre-consumer manufacturing scraps, recycled post-consumer shoes from the Reuse-A-Shoe program, and unsellable footwear.

Or you could find ways to repurpose these once-cherished items: cotton t-shirts can become makeup removing pads, headbands, cushion covers, or grocery bags. Have fun with it.

Check out our article for more ways to upcycle your old clothes and give them a new life

Repair

Repairing, restoring, and salvaging is something previous generations knew all too well—but has this handy pastime been jeopardised by a changed approach to fashion and consumerism? This step is where lowering your fashion footprint gets creative, and presents a chance for you to channel your inner grandma for innovative ways to patch, stitch, and extend the life of your garment.

Repairing can be as simple as sewing up a hole, or as dedicated as taking your shoes to a professional cobbler for new soles.

Both these examples don’t take more than 20 minutes, and could add at least two years to the lifespan of a clothing item. And in fact, lengthening the life of our clothing from 1 to 2 years decreases their carbon footprint by 24%. What this approach mainly does is generate a new life for your fashion items, all while saving you the money and time it would have taken to replace them. Getting yourself a compact sewing kit to have on hand is a necessity, and once you get into the habit, you will find yourself whipping it out more than you initially thought. You will also find yourself thinking through ways you can repair things, from patches to professional alterations. For example, transforming an older style dress into a trendy top. This also feeds into the saving benefits from this part of your fashion footprint overhaul.

If there’s a piece you’re still in love with but it no longer fits right or needs mending or altering beyond your skillset, connecting with a local who knows what they’re doing is a great way to save your clothes and support artisans at the same time. Our friends at The Seam offer an innovative option here for those in the UK. The Seam is a digital platform that connects customers with local, specialist Makers to alter, repair, and rework clothes, as well as craft beautiful, made-to-measure garments.

Many more sustainable brands also offer to repair your items nowadays, such as Patagonia with its Worn Wear initiative, or Scandinavian brand Nudie Jeans.

Have a pesky stain you’d like to get rid of? Have a look at how to get 13 types of stains out of all your clothes

Resell

Found some items you are ready to say goodbye to? Not to worry—selling your second hand goods is easier and more accessible than ever.

There are numerous online platforms where you can sell your clothes second hand (or new) such as eBay, Gumtree, and a popular one for fashion, Facebook Marketplace.

Uploading photos takes five minutes, and it’s a great way to make some extra coin while keeping within the minimal fashion footprint framework (after all, we don’t want this minimising process to add more clothing to landfill). If online is not your vibe, then hosting a market stall or a good old yard sale is a great alternative. Who knows, you might even meet some like-minded folks in the process.

Considering these tips and the fun task ahead, making commitments or challenges for yourself is a useful way to keep motivated and committed to this process.

And don’t forget: there is a lot to be said for the positive impact individuals can have by addressing their own habits to reduce their fashion footprint, setting a positive example for those around them to do their bit, too.

The post The 5 Rs of Fashion: Reduce, Rewear, Recycle, Repair, Resell appeared first on Good On You.

What does circular fashion mean?

Circular fashion is a system where the manufacture of an item and the end of its life are equally as important, as the aim is to prevent waste by intentionally designing items to be reusable, repairable, biodegradable and recyclable. The concept of circular fashion is broad and nuanced, but overall, it envisions the industry as an almost endless circle in which materials are kept in use for as long as possible. At the core of this concept is knowing where things come from, what they are made of, who made them, and being accountable for the overall lifecycle of our belongings.

Circular fashion is a system where the manufacture of an item and the end of its life are equally as important.

Circular fashion is the intersection of the circular economy (a model that exchanges the typical cycle of take-make-waste in favour of reusing and recycling as much as possible) and sustainable and ethical fashion. “Linear” economic and societal models lead to excess waste due to a lack of end-of-life solutions for products and a mindset that prioritises throwing items away over renewing them. But the linear model makes huge sums of money for fast fashion businesses that rely on a constant demand for new and cheap items that can be disposed of when they’re no longer on-trend.

Key points of circular fashion:

• Using less materials when producing individual items for increased recyclability
• Working to remove non-recyclable and polluting materials from the supply chain
• Recapturing everything, from garment offcuts to packaging, for reuse
• Ensuring use and reuse for as long as possible, including collection schemes and returning recycled materials to a “good as new” state
• Returning any unavoidable waste to nature safely

How circular fashion came to be

The term ‘circular fashion’ was coined at a 2014 seminar in Sweden that focused on transitioning the fashion industry to a more circular model. This pivotal distinction between the overall concept of a circular economy and circularity in fashion came at a time when the industry was under serious scrutiny. Only a year before in 2013, the Rana Plaza clothing manufacturing complex in Bangladesh collapsed, killing over 1,000 workers and swiftly positioning fast fashion as an undesirable model for consumers to support.

A decade on from the seminar, support for more sustainable, ethical, and circular systems has increased significantly, with the concept of ‘circular fashion’ having entered the wider lexicon. Today, a more responsible approach to garment production, including increased recycling, repairability and reusability, is at the forefront of many consumers’ minds.

The pivotal distinction between the overall concept of a circular economy and circularity in fashion came at a time when the industry was under serious scrutiny

In 2024, the questions for the fashion industry are less about what circularity actually means and more about how to transition to this system long-term. Does this convergence of more sustainable, circular models mean a whole new economic fashion system? And as consumers align with this model by buying less, owning items for longer, and being more specific in their choices, how much longer can the increasingly wasteful fast fashion business model survive?

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation—a champion of circularity and an excellent resource for in-depth learning on the subject—says: “Collaboration is key. Working with partners across the supply chain, securing buy-in from leaders and sharing knowledge creates the conditions for broader, industry-wide change. It’s time to step up the pace and scale of progress.”

Circularity as a buzzword

A side effect of greater consumer and business interest in circularity is that unfortunately, like so many other sustainability terms, it has been hijacked by greenwashing brands looking to entice customers with promises of responsible practices.

Take-back schemes, for instance, have been marketed as a contribution to circularity, but with many brands offering shopping discounts in return for old clothing, these programmes only perpetuate the linear overconsumption model. What’s more, the reality of these take-back schemes is that many of the clothes donated are not reused but dumped in the Global South. Greenpeace’s Poisoned Gifts report (2022) detailed the lack of integrity in so-called circular recycling and reuse schemes—in particular their transparency—reporting that: “While these exported used clothes and even brand new ‘overproduced’ clothes are mostly reported and recorded as “reused”, in fact nearly half of them end up in dumpsites, rivers or are burnt in the open.”

And there are few better examples of corporate companies co-opting the concept than the case of ultra fast fashion giant Shein claiming it was on the road to becoming a leader in circularity by reducing textile waste. You read that right. In 2023, the brand announced that it would partner with software service Queen of Raw to source deadstock fabrics from around the world and redirect them to its factories, where they’ll be used in its designs. To be clear, creating more garments, whether from excess fabrics or not, does not support the shift to a circular fashion model. The brand’s press release demonstrates just how far there is to go for the fast fashion industry to truly comprehend what a circular industry looks like, and how to get there.

The new legislation enabling circular fashion

In recent years, governments around the world have begun to surface bills and guidance aimed at bettering the fashion industry for all. This is a welcome change in an industry that has gone largely unregulated for so long that it has become toxic (sometimes literally). In fact, many experts now believe that legislation is the only way to push the industry to transition to a better, more circular model.

The European Union, in particular, is taking significant action. It has already banned the destruction of unsold clothing and footwear, and intends to introduce digital product passports that will “enable sharing of key product-related information that is essential for products’ sustainability and circularity.” Disclosure of a product’s sustainability credentials will be mandated on its label or packaging, which includes information about component materials, manufacturing processes, and end-of-life management.

The digital product passport is part of a wider Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, which has a key aim to “significantly improve [products’] circularity, energy performance and other environmental sustainability aspects.”

While this is all good news, the reality is that unless stricter and more radical legislation is proposed on a global scale, we won’t see the vast changes that are needed to move the fashion industry to a fully circular model which is, after all, a big ask for an industry built on linear consumption.

Tips for taking a circular approach to fashion

While legislation will help push circularity forward on a larger, business scale, consumers also play a key role in implementing circular fashion on an individual level. With many brands now offering recycling programs, councils introducing textile recycling, and thrift shops abounding, there are so many ways to avoid sending clothes to landfill, reduce the number of new garments we buy, and conserve what we already own.

Things you can do to align with circular fashion:

• Support more sustainable and ethical fashion.
• Learn more about the brands you buy from using Good On You’s directory.
• Live by the five r’s of fashion.
• Buy less and buy better.
• Revise your wardrobe before buying new.
• Shop second-hand where possible.
• Consider renting clothes for your next event.
• Host and attend clothes swaps.
• Take care of your clothes.
• Question “What are the alternatives?” before throwing away used clothing.
• Recycle your clothes through a credible programme instead of throwing them away.
• Choose more sustainable materials when purchasing new clothing.
• Talk to people about the benefits of circular fashion.
• Call on brands to increase their sustainability commitments and move to a circular model.
• Commit to not buying brands that don’t sit within the circular model.
• Keep learning about the impact our clothing has on the planet, and the importance of where and how your clothes are made.

Circular and sustainable fashion have brought a wave of greater consumer knowledge, powerful advocacy, and overall understanding that linear approaches to fashion can’t continue. Although we are a long way from a completely circular model in fashion, as more brands and consumers shift towards it and governments introduce legislation, we’re taking a step in the right direction.

The post What Is Circular Fashion? appeared first on Good On You.

Sustainable and ethical fashion isn’t just about switching our purchases from one way of consuming to another “better” alternative. On the contrary, the most powerful way to reduce our environmental and fashion footprint, and to get to the root cause of why we need to shift to more sustainable and ethical practices in the first place, is to simply start buying less.

Whether it be our wardrobes or our homes overall, to curb our sustainable shopping habits, there is no doubt we need to change HOW we shop (more ethically and sustainably). But equally important is WHEN we consume (how frequently we shop). And it all starts with understanding how to move from a mindless shopper and avid spender to a more conscious consumer.

The importance of buying less

Purchasing more sustainable alternatives isn’t a free pass to buy as often and as much as we want.

Purchasing more sustainable alternatives isn’t a free pass to buy as often and as much as we want. In recent years, we have increasingly seen more acknowledgment and emphasis on sustainable practices and transparency in the fashion industry and beyond, with brands held more accountable for their activities and the impact their actions have on the environment. This shift came about as the stark reality of our consumerism came to light—its impact on the environment, natural ecosystems, and overall, the health of the planet. The rate at which we purchase, spend, and consume is officially unsustainable in the short and long term. Something—namely our systems—need to change.

From high consumer demand comes a higher production of food, personal hygiene products, clothing, health supplies, and more. But the problem is, this high volume means products are made cheaply in bulk rather than through the lens of quality and ongoing renewal and reuse. An example of a systems change we are seeing which addresses this problem at the cause is the circular economy. In fashion, circularity can be defined as a system where our clothing and personal belongings are produced through a more considered model: where the production of an item and the end of its life are equally important. This type of thinking is crucial, not just from companies, brands, and governments but also from the consumer perspective.

Curbing our sustainable shopping habit, therefore, requires something a little bit different, with a more circular system in mind: Taking control of our money and our purchases, spending in moderation, and more thorough consideration of our purchases from the outset. Just because it might be a sustainable product doesn’t make it okay to overconsume. Let’s take a closer look at the key ways we can be more conscious consumers.

6 ways to form healthier shopping habits

Understand the temptation

As part of forming healthier shopping habits, it is essential to understand the deeper meaning or reason behind WHY we shop so much in the first place. I mean, we weren’t born consumers or shoppers. The “temptation” to spend our hard-earned money was thrust upon us when we first saw a TV ad, billboard, or social media ad, or when our friends or family did, and by default, expected us to have items of a similar calibre. The reality is, people often shop so much because society expects us to stay up to date and have all the latest products, which means the (not so old) previous version goes where? Landfill? Maybe a second hand store? The turnover of belongings is so fast we barely have time to appreciate what we already own. If you really look at what you have—the outfit you’re wearing at this very moment, for example—it’s amazing to think about what has gone into the design, fabrication, and production for it to exist at all.

We often see shopping as a balm for boredom or a “soothing” activity for the stressed mind in this day and age—a kind of emotional comfort. But this fleeting comfort is costing the planet. Ecosystems, animals, and humans can’t afford this approach anymore, especially when there are healthier and more fulfilling ways to spend our time and money.

Know what you own

A key factor to having more control over our spending habits is knowing what we already own, making us more prepared when the temptation arises to purchase something new. This could be through the regular organisation of your home and intermittent cleanouts throughout the year. Remember, cleanouts don’t necessarily mean taking everything to a second hand store, especially anything soiled or damaged. Consider recycling or upcycling your unwanted clothes responsibly as an even more sustainable alternative.

I often check my wardrobe closely before buying something to ensure it’s not too similar to a piece I already own. It is also very satisfying knowing precisely what you have and makes pairing clothing items more effortless. Capsule wardrobes for the different seasons are a great option if you own a lot of clothing, so you can see and navigate your clothing items effectively.

Minimise your spending windows

Do you ever find yourself scrolling through your phone or device, and all of a sudden, the “confirmation of purchase” screen pops up, and you’ve bought something without consciously thinking about it? You then backtrack and find the source of the purchase was a paid ad on an app you’ve been using 3+ hours a day. Just like that, they’ve got you again. This phenomenon is common for many people who use social media and other online platforms, but it doesn’t have to be the case.

I have found that putting limits on my apps—which almost all smartphones facilitate now—and utilising functions like the blissful “do not disturb” mode can give you more control, awareness, and discipline around when you use your phone and for what purpose. This tip can involve scheduling time for certain activities—including browsing online, if that interests you—but also for things like reading the news.

Remember, these brands, websites, ads, and search engines are engineered to grab your attention and direct you to where they want you to go. But you can and will resist. The result will be a better use of your time, more considered purchases, and likely fewer purchases overall.

Leave it in the cart

If you are accustomed to buying spontaneously and often, leaving an item to hover in the online cart should be your go-to. To minimise your spending and clothing consumption, set yourself a rule to leave the item in the cart for at least seven days. This way, you can spend adequate time mulling over whether you actually need the item and what benefit it would bring to your life if any. If after this period you still believe the item would benefit you and is not like anything else you own, then you can go ahead with the purchase, knowing you have seriously considered it before buying.

This tip has worked wonders for me and my savings account, and honestly, it still surprises me how the desire to purchase an item often dissolves.

Set yourself up to succeed

To establish healthier shopping habits in the long run, we need to set ourselves up to succeed. This step can look like creating shopping rules to follow. Some examples:

• Curate a list of items you actually need and limit yourself to only buying things on the list.
• Limit yourself to one item of clothing per month/season/year or as the need arises.
• Challenge yourself (and some loved ones) to go a whole year buying nothing new at all.

I recently went a whole year without buying any new garments, and it was a game-changer. It has changed my habits forever, and I have since barely bought any new clothes unless something was irreparable. It is safe to say that a lot more thought goes into purchasing anything now after a year of buying nothing.

Seek out other fulfilling activities

A big part of curbing our shopping habit—sustainable or otherwise—is avoiding temptation in the first place. A straightforward way to achieve this is to spend less time on our devices, period. As we’ve seen a shift and emphasis to everything online since early 2020, we need to have boundaries in place to protect our precious time and ensure we don’t fall into traps of mindless spending and consuming.

A fundamental way I manage this is not to have a browser on my phone. It might sound wild and out of the question for you, but try it on. Just five days without a browser. If you need to look something up, pop a note on your phone and do it on your computer when you get home. That way, you are much more aware of the time you spend on the computer and what you actually do whilst there.

This change also presents an excellent opportunity to re-engage with your community, join or start social groups, head to local produce or second hand markets, try a new form of exercise, or take up a new hobby. Perhaps you’d been meaning to try out the ukulele or try your hand at some knitting. During these peaks of sales and consumerism traps is the perfect time to do so.

Author bio: Madeleine is an experienced content writer specialising in personal sustainability, environmental awareness, and minimal consumption. She loves using her writing and research to communicate these key solutions to environmental issues clearly, and endeavours to help people do more in their everyday lives to minimise their footprint on the planet. To do this, Madeleine manages the online platform Our Simple Gestures, and in her spare time, she loves being outdoors and enjoying life. Also find her on LinkedIn and Instagram.

The post Our Top Tips to Curb Your Sustainable Shopping Habit appeared first on Good On You.

We all know the fashion industry carries a hefty environmental footprint. From systemic and supply issues to the treatment of animals and people, much work is needed to clean up our clothing production. As individual citizens and purchasers of clothing, we are inherently woven into, and can’t discount, our role in fashion’s footprint on the planet. Thankfully, there are big and small actions we can take to help the situation: some obvious, some subtle. But one crucial part of the sustainability puzzle of our wardrobes is how to care for our clothes, since keeping them around for as long as possible is one of the best things we can do to reduce their impact!

Whether your clothes are new or second hand, caring for them requires understanding, consideration, and sometimes a little bit more time to ensure your clothing maintenance routine is the best it can be. This is crucial to maximising and expanding the life of our garments, which will save some pennies as well! Here is our go-to list for how you can win at clothing care.

Know your fabrics

Knowing the fabrics that make up our clothing can be a complicated game. You can find many different combinations on a care label at any one time—plant-based, animal-based, synthetic, blended, organic, and much more. Positively, we are seeing a shift to more innovative alternatives over resource-intensive, traditional fabrics. TENCEL® Lyocell, organic cotton, and Piñatex are a few to keep an eye out for. As materials change and we find more sustainable ways of manufacturing, the care label on our clothing and accessories is the key starting point to caring for our clothes.

To be able to wear clothes until they are truly worn out, gauge what fabrics you are dealing with and understand the different washing detergents, wash cycles, and drying needs for each garment. For example, cotton, a pretty durable fabric, is washed differently from the more delicate silk or linen. Begin to group your fabrics in similar bundles so you can effectively care for them. As a result, you will also have good oversight of the materials in your wardrobe, which can guide you when you next purchase new or second hand to choose more sustainable fabrics!

Pick the right washing detergents

So often, we see harsh washing powders, bleaches, sprays, and other chemicals as our only option for washing our clothing, but what is the long term impact of these on our clothing? These harsh chemicals can wear down the fibres of our clothes, make them more susceptible to holes, and fade their colour, let alone the environmental damage they cause. I maintain the quality of my clothing by using more environmentally aligned laundry products with fewer chemicals (avoiding plastic if you can).

There are many homemade, DIY options as well that are simple and fun to make, solely using items from your pantry. Stain remover and washing powder recipes are a great starting point. You can use a recycled jar and source ingredients from your local bulk foods store. And who says everything needs a load of washing to clean it? Spot cleaning can be the way to go when items aren’t really dirty and don’t need a full wash.

If your clothing is grouped by fabrics when you wash it, you should only have to do a few loads a week, and you can use the appropriate washing detergent for each different variety. For example, delicates such as linen, hemp, silk, and more like liquid detergents and wool wash, whereas cottons and more durable fabrics tend to like powders or more heavy-duty products. Second hand items specifically also do well in a delicate cycle, and if appropriate, in a delicates bag.

Be aware when washing synthetics that residual microfibres shed into waterways and are a serious pollution issue. A Guppyfriend bag is a great laundry companion to prevent most microfibres from releasing in your washing machine.

Wash on a cold cycle (and less often)

Water temperature is important, too. According to Smithsonian Magazine, washing clothes on a hot cycle uses 75% more energy than cold water washes, and warm water is also more likely to break down dyes and cause shrinkage. This means that by washing only with cold water you’re not only reducing your energy consumption and saving money, you’re also extending the life of every piece of clothing. And if the reason you like to wash on a hot cycle is for the antibacterial benefits, then adding ½ a cup of white vinegar with 20 to 25 drops of tea tree oil can be just as effective.

Don’t forget the other tool up your sleeve—washing less often. A huge contributor to clothes wearing out is how often and unnecessarily we wash them. Take jumpers, jeans, and undergarments such as bras—these can be worn a number of times before washing is called for. Simply air them out before storing them, and they are good for a few wears. This is the same in winter for other clothing items (as we generally sweat less) and also in summer for clothing we wear to the beach, which we have on only briefly before diving into the water!

Next time, take a moment to assess your garments before throwing them straight in the washing basket. You will also save yourself time and effort by doing this!

Dry responsibly

The drying part of the caring equation may seem simple, but it is a crucial step! Drying using a clothes rack is the best way to keep your clothes fresh and ideal for extending the life of your clothing—not to mention it will reduce your footprint, as the dryer is one of the most energy-intensive appliances in the home! Remember to hang delicate and coloured clothes inside out, so they don’t bleach from the sun, and as a bonus, why not track down some more eco-friendly pegs like these steel ones from Flora & Fauna to reduce your plastic consumption along the way?

Get mending

For long wear items in your wardrobe and anything second hand, they’ve been through a lot before landing in your wardrobe and sometimes need a little extra TLC. The decision to fix or update a garment before you toss it not only saves you money but also allows you to get creative and view your old clothes from new angles, meaning you’re less likely to make those impulsive fast fashion buys. Darning a hole here and there is an excellent way to keep your clothing in circulation even longer. If darning or DIY tailoring is not quite top of your to-do list, then most local dry cleaners offer repair services at very competitive rates to make small changes such as hemming or patching. It’s a cheap and quick option that can reinvigorate and breathe new life into an old favourite.

Store your clothing right

We all know the feeling of opening the wardrobe to find moth holes, mould from rising damp, or winter woollies a bit worse for wear after a summer in storage. Giving your clothing good aeration, space between hangers, and drawers that aren’t stuffed to the brim can help avoid wear and tear of your clothing. Another hot tip is to establish a capsule wardrobe and, at the end of each season, bundling clothing items together (cleaned, of course!) in an appropriate place. You can also tuck them into a vacuum seal bag for space efficiency and rotate them in for your summer capsule or winter capsule!

Do your best to buy less

Now you know how to care for your existing clothes, a fundamental and often overlooked component of clothing care is not having an abundance of them! With these good habits and a plan to extend the life of your clothes, buying less is a gateway to minimising your fashion footprint, all while saving money, living more sustainably, and valuing the fabulous garments you already own. People don’t care if you wear the same thing twice, and with a quality assortment of well looked after clothes and accessories, you can mix and match more effectively and find novelty in what you already own.

Quick clothing care tips

• Synthetics – Be aware of microplastics from these fibres and wash less often if you can to minimise shedding.
• Plant-based fibres – Wash on a delicate cycle with like colours, using liquid, plant-based detergents in a delicate bag if needed.
• Animal-based fibres – Store appropriately to avoid mould and wear and tear, and read the care label for each item in detail.
• Leather – Use leather protection or conditioner when needed (test anything you use on a small patch first to ensure it’s compatible.)
• Knitwear – Wash in cold water by hand (a bucket is ideal) and dry flat in the shade, inside out. Never hang knitwear on a coat hanger. AND you can even keep lavender nearby to deter moths!
• Swimwear – Wash swimwear with minimal detergent by hand, avoiding the washing machine if you can but using a washing bag if you must. You can often simply rinse swimwear in warm (not hot) water, particularly for saltwater swimming. If swimming in chlorine, use a bit of liquid detergent to rid the swimwear of chemicals. Your best bet is to then lay your swimmers flat to dry in the shade. This will stop the elastic and stretch of the material from wearing out and prevent fading.
• Bras – Rotate your bras each day and consider hand washing them when the time comes. You can even do it in the shower!
• Footwear – Store in a ventilated space, and wipe with a damp cloth before storing if they are scuffed about.

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How to plant the more sustainable fashion seed

It’s undeniable—our consumer choices are having a devastating impact on the planet and its inhabitants. Whether it be pollution, land clearing, unsustainable production, waste, unfair wages, or animal cruelty, there is a moral responsibility that comes with our quick or spontaneous purchases and what they mean for everyone involved in those supply chains. Maybe you’re a seasoned expert on sourcing ethical and sustainable products, just starting out, or somewhere in the middle? Whatever stage you’re at, approaching shopping more sustainably and ethically can help solve some of these issues. But it’s even more effective if those around you get on board, too.

The shift to consciously consuming is enriching and motivating. It presents opportunities to reduce our footprint across our lives: our homes, travel, possessions, and a large piece of that puzzle—our clothing. But how enjoyable and effective is it to approach life this way on our own? What about the people and communities around us? While it can certainly feel meaningful as an individual to elect such lifestyle shifts, the widespread positive impact comes when we see a wave of people making small changes. The ultimate question becomes, “how can we encourage our friends to shop more ethically and sustainably?” It can be a tough conversation, but it’s worth having. Here’s how to plant that sustainable fashion seed.

Share your story

Before talking to your friends about their shopping habits, a fundamental element to approaching our lives through a more ethical and sustainable lens long term is identifying why we are doing it in the first place. What is your “why?” How did you reach a point where you want to encourage those around you? This self-reflection is vital and will help your friends better grasp how you made the shift and understand the support you’re well equipped to provide.

Sharing your story is crucial because sometimes encouragement can be interpreted as judgement. Why not reveal some of your own truths so they can relate? Maybe sometimes you see an advertisement for some shoes you don’t need, but instinctively still want to buy them? Or when shopping at a second hand store, you sometimes buy something made from polyester, even knowing it will shed microfibres? Honesty and acknowledgement that shifting to shopping more ethically and sustainably is a process goes a long way. Just don’t forget to emphasise the rewarding reasons that motivate you to shop this way, too.

Outline the benefits

In the last few years, we have seen a significant increase in consumer awareness. There are shifting industry standards driven by increased consumer demand for more ethical and sustainable products. With this shift comes an improved system overall, with more clarity and understanding across the board.

Consuming more sustainably has many environmental, economic, and social benefits. For example, ethical brands often apply a slow fashion, circular model to their production processes, which is much less intensive on the whole supply chain, from the people and animals to the planet. These brands provide a level of transparency that far outweighs any fast fashion label and are paving the way for a revived industry that holds ethics and sustainability at the core of all considerations.

At first glance, shopping ethically can seem expensive—but once you weigh up the numbers, you get a different story. The better quality of each garment means they will last far longer, and the monetary cost will be marginal compared to the cost of the damage if you don’t choose more sustainable and ethical options. The overall shift in your shopping mindset to investing in fewer, higher-quality pieces you know you’ll love and wear for years to come will genuinely reshape how you think about shopping and how you spend your time.

To present these benefits to your friends and loved ones, you should be positive about the progress rather than dwelling too much on the negative impacts. After all, this isn’t a guilt trip—it’s an encouragement. The approach is sure to vary depending on your friends, and you know them best.

A quick snapshot of benefits include:

• Aligning your spending habits and consumer behaviour with your values
• Minimising your environmental footprint
• Investing in fewer, well-made pieces that you will own for longer (i.e. quality over quantity)
• Having fewer pieces to help minimise decision fatigue
• Minimising your wardrobe for more space in your home
• Having another common passion with your friends and holding clothes swaps and other group events focused on sustainable and ethical fashion—a great way to keep each other accountable.

Appeal to their specific interests

Make sure to appeal to your friends and loved ones’ passions and interests, e.g. if you know they’re an animal lover, introduce them to quirky eco-friendly leather alternatives that don’t harm our fellow earthlings. This could be shoes made of Piñatex or other recycled materials like Econyl. Maybe they are environmentally conscious and want a brand that has a transparent recycling solution? You can point them to resources like lifelong repair guarantee or return-to-store programs. There are so many fantastic resources and solutions that address the various priorities and questions they may have.

Once you start the conversation, prepare to answer questions and send them to relevant resources. Here are a few helpful articles to get them started:

• What is Ethical and Sustainable Fashion?
• How to Find Sustainable Fashion Brands
• What is Fast Fashion?
• What is Slow Fashion?
• Capsule Wardrobes: How to Build a Sustainable Closet for Life
• How to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Your Fashion Choices
• What to Do About Microfibres in Clothing
• The Ultimate Clothing Material Guide

Ask questions and show compassion

Some friends might come on board quicker than others, but don’t be discouraged. Regardless of their pace, be sure to ask questions and understand their hesitations if they have any. This is an important step, as one person might be experiencing some form of eco-anxiety while another might feel overwhelmed by issues like plastic pollution. Exercise compassion and remind yourself that the process for them may not be as straightforward as it was for you. Essentially, shopping is a habit just like running, smoking, or anything else—it can take a while to tweak and shift to different patterns of behaviour. Understanding their perspective will also help you encourage others in your family or community to shop more ethically and sustainably.

Share your favourite ethical brands

As your friends start making the shift, you can begin to share with them your favourite brands and why you are enjoying them compared to your previous consumer choices. I personally have a very minimal approach to my wardrobe these days and don’t buy new items often, but when I do, a few of my favourites are Kuwaii, Elk, and Patagonia. I find online stores like Well Made Clothes a good starting point, stocking a broad range of styles.

One rule of thumb that generally makes the transition easier is checking the brand rating on the Good On You Directory or app to ensure a brand is rated either “Good” or “Great”. And while there, also browsing the other valuable resources the platform provides. Once your friends learn which brands are ethical and sustainable, they can also integrate second hand clothing shopping and look for sustainable brands and materials at second hand stores to reduce their impact even further.

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Fashion cycles and consumer habits have drastically changed over the past decade or two. Did you know we produce clothes faster and more cheaply, and in larger quantities than ever before? Fast fashion brands have flooded the market and with them a deluge of waste, pollution, and carbon emissions. There are even ultra-fast-fashion brands now! 

That’s why researchers in Sweden have taken a detailed look at the life cycle of modern clothing. The 2017 study out of the Chalmers University of Technology has generated the most comprehensive life cycle analysis of the environmental impact of our apparel to date. And the results are fascinating.

We’ve always known the textile industry impacted our environment, but now we can see precisely how. Researcher Sandra Roos reveals several significant issues facing the clothing manufacturing processes, and the biggest problem is production. Production accounts for a massive 70% of the overall carbon footprint of the fashion industry. That’s even more than distribution (4%) and washing and drying (3%). Surprisingly, she found the emissions from shopping trips—taken mainly by car in Sweden—came in second, with a significant 22%.

As expected, Roos’ research found that cotton farming drastically damages the land on which it is grown. But her research also reveals a problem in the processing stages of other fibres such as nylon, wool, and polyester. And the chemicals used in the weaving, knitting, and dyeing of these materials are as dangerous as growing cotton!

The best thing you can do

The researchers say that the lifecycle of a piece of clothing could be between 100-200 wears, but only a fraction of garments ever stay in our wardrobes that long. Shoppers in Europe and North America buy about 50 new clothing items per person each year. But given how much of an item of clothing’s impact is in production, buying fewer clothes and getting more wear out of the ones we have is the most critical thing we can do to stop our fashion tastes from impacting the planet. Or as Sandra Roos put it:

If you want to be as eco-friendly as possible, there is only one thing you need to remember: use your clothes until they are worn out. That is more important than all other aspects, such as how and where the clothes were manufactured and the materials they are made of.

Sandra Roos

So, what can we do to extend the life cycle of our clothing? Below are some more valuable points from Sandra Roos’ research to become a more conscious shopper:

• Give away or sell your clothing to extend its life cycle. This one comes with a caution. Merely dumping your fast fashion in the charity bin so you can buy more contributes to the oversupply of clothing and does nothing to stop production impacts. On the other hand, buying second hand clothing instead of buying new is an excellent step in the right direction.
• Look for eco-friendly materials, including natural materials such as organic cotton, hemp, linen, or recycled wool, or low impact materials such as Lenzing Modal and lyocell (also known as Tencel).
• Think about how you wash and dry your clothes. Each wash shortens the life of a garment, and tumble drying has an even more significant impact, using five times more energy than washing. Using a cold wash and a good old-fashioned clothesline when possible is better for both your clothes and the environment!
• Invest in clothes made from high-quality materials so that you can get more wear out of your clothing.
• Resist “trends” and the urge to buy endless amounts of clothing. Instead, buy a small amount of high quality, timeless pieces that you love and will wear over and over again.
• Look for ethical fashion brands that care about reducing their carbon footprint. The free Good On You app or web Directory is a great resource that rates brands according to their environmental impact and their treatment of workers and animals. Look for brands rated “Good” or “Great”.

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So once the waste is out of our hands, what does it become? Well, these days it could be your next pair of shoes or running tights! In the fashion industry, recycled clothing materials are an emerging and welcome shift needed to address the industry’s high volume of waste, fractured processes, and linear garment lifecycles. Let’s look at the most common recycled clothing materials and break down their sustainability.

A brief history of recycled materials

We can’t introduce recycled materials without acknowledging the murky history of fabric production in the fashion industry. In the late 1940s, society saw the first signs of cheaper, virgin fabrics, and a strong presence of synthetic chemical-based materials like nylon. Enter mass production and fast supply chains, aka the infant signs of what is now known as fast fashion. Decades later, an estimated 100 billion garments are produced annually worldwide.

Technology and innovation are starting to enable a new wave of recycled clothing materials through a more sustainable and circular model.

But times are changing, and the world of fashion is at an exciting turning point. Technology and innovation are starting to enable a new wave of recycled clothing materials through a more sustainable and circular model. More brands are offering programs that give consumers a simple recycling solution for materials. And from plant- and animal-based to synthetic, various recycled fabrics are popping up which address issues such as waste, climate change, deforestation, pollution, and much more. As ever, be alert even when purchasing recycled material—it can be tricky to ensure sustainability if you don’t have all the correct information.

Not a perfect solution

We chatted to our Head of Ratings, Kristian Hardiman, aka the in-house materials expert, and he talked us through the issues with recycled clothing materials. While we are seeing positive steps in the right direction, “the reality is that the fashion industry as we know it is fraught with fractured systems. Regardless of the material and its impact, there is an underlying issue: too much virgin material is being used to make our clothing.” This overabundance has led to colossal textile waste issues from numerous areas of the production line, including pre-consumer and post-consumer waste. When it comes to our rating system, Good On You rewards brands that only use deadstock material (discarded offcuts in the manufacturing process). “In an ideal, more circular world, there would not be any deadstock material, and waste would be minimised, with more value placed on the material. A similar logic applies to recycled synthetics. It is mainly due to our broken and overwhelmingly linear system that recycled materials are a solution at this point in time.”

Regardless of the material and its impact, there is an underlying issue: too much virgin material is being used to make our clothing.

Kristian Hardiman – Head of Ratings

A mixture of lower-impact materials is needed going forward, and the industry can’t be reliant on a single material to repair the system. Organic fabrics require land and can only be grown in some regions of the world. Recycled synthetics don’t have the land-use demands but are much higher in energy intensity. “At this stage, there is no one right way to go about it. It is diverse and dynamic. So while sustainability and ethical practices continue to make their mark on the fashion industry, we need to find solutions to support the shift to a more circular fashion industry, acknowledging that sometimes the solution is driven by the problem.”

Recycled clothing materials

Recycled cotton

Did you know that conventional cotton is extremely intensive to produce? The fluffy white plant requires vast amounts of water, a lot of space to grow, various harmful chemicals, and overall, is very labour intensive. Despite this, cotton is one of the easiest fabrics to make into a recycled garment. It’s worth checking whether a recycled cotton garment is derived from organic or conventional cotton and if it’s made from pre-consumer or post-consumer waste. Thankfully, cotton is entirely biodegradable—able to break down over time. So, if done correctly, it fits within a circular model, setting it apart from many other synthetic recycled materials.

Our verdict:

Go for recycled cotton as a first option, particularly if you can identify its origin as organic cotton. Extend the life of your cotton garments by using gentle, plant-based washing powders and cold water cycles.

Brands using recycled cotton:

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Decluttering your life is said to have a number of psychological benefits. And minimising what’s in your wardrobe can save precious time in our fast-paced lives.

Below are four simple ways you can simplify your wardrobe, making the process of getting ready every morning a breeze.

1. The Big Cull

This initial step might seem daunting at first, but it quickly becomes very satisfying. To tackle your clothes head on, it’s good to separate your things into categories. Separate your skirts, shorts, pants, jeans, and shirts, so you can see how many you have of each one. You can then identify what you can cut down on. Realistically, items such as jeans and skirts are staples (especially if they are from well-made, durable, and quality brands). Keep the ones you know you will wear. I usually ask myself “Have I worn this in the past 12 months?” If the answer is no, it goes in the donation or sell pile. If the answer is yes, limit these items to the ones you wear the most. If you see holes or strong signs of wear and tear, donate it to charities who recycle damaged clothing and fabric scraps. Alternatively, H&M and Zara offer recycling programs at all of their physical stores for clothes of any brand and condition. If you really love the piece, though, why not repair it?

2. Rotate seasonal clothing

Once you’ve sifted through the categories of clothing, you can clearly see how much of each item you own. Keeping these at similar numbers means you have set outfits and ideas about what you will wear on a day-to-day basis. A good idea is to also separate by season. Putting your winter jackets, scarves, and beanies away during the summer can clear up more space, and means you will know what you have when that season rolls around.

3. Donate or sell unwanted clothes

Once you have sorted, categorised, tossed, and identified what you are keeping, you can either sell the clothes you don’t want to keep, or else donate them to a local charity store or op-shop. Just be aware of the pros and cons of donating clothing, and make sure you’re making the most ethical and sustainable decision before dumping a big bag of clothes in a charity bin.

4. Tidy your wardrobe and become less sentimental

Now you have decluttered and simplified your wardrobe, have an idea of how you want to organise your items. To maintain an organised space, group things together into neat piles. See this new approach as a chance to break away from the sentimentality of your clothing. Keep those few pieces you love wearing, but resist the urge to replace the ones you’ve passed on. A big part of simplifying your wardrobe is appreciating the garments you have, and realising the benefits of cutting down the number of decisions about what you have to wear each day and enjoying the space you’ve created in the process.

Have you loved learning how to simplify your wardrobe, but want to push yourself that little bit further? Why not consider a capsule wardrobe?

Author bio: Madeleine is an experienced content writer who specialises in all things personal sustainability, environmental awareness, and minimal consumption. She loves using her writing and research to clearly communicate these key solutions to environmental issues, and endeavours to help people do more in their everyday lives to minimise their footprint on the planet. To do this, Madeleine also manages the online platform Our Simple Gestures, and in her spare time loves being outdoors and enjoying life! Find her at LinkedIn, Instagram and at the website.

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What is upcycling?

Upcycling is a form of traditional recycling where items can be repurposed at the supposed end of their use. It means looking for ideas on how things like garments can be used again to ensure we get the most out of the materials. Upcycling involves intercepting items you would normally throw in the recycling bin or have a specific recycling solution for, and instead look to repurpose them and give them a second life. The idea is that an item should exist and be in circulation for a long period of time. This concept is an important shift in our consumer behaviour, particularly to move away from unsustainable systems like fast fashion, where garments are traditionally utilised for a short amount of time and result in numbers like 1/3 of all clothing ending up in landfill every year!

A number of great upcycling alternatives include making backpacks out of old jeans, weaving strips of tops together to make shopping bags or hanging plant holders, or using old socks as cloths to clean shoes. It could also be altering a dress with a hole in it so the top half can become a standalone shirt! We can even consider shopping second hand as a form of upcycling, by keeping clothing in circulation for longer and stopping it from ending up in landfill while it still has a purpose.

Thankfully, with so many ways to upcycle using our clothing and fashion items, it is the perfect creative outlet and activity to share with family or friends to collectively reduce our impact.

Upcycling is a form of traditional recycling where items can be repurposed at the supposed end of their use. It means looking for ideas on how things like garments can be used again to ensure we get the most out of the materials.

What is recycling?

Recycling is the sorting and processing of items in order to reuse materials in their current form to be made into a new product. A recyclable material is often readjusted, altered, melted. and broken down. This concept places value on the resources which make up our products, and follows a circular model of: use → recycle → reuse.

Unlike upcycling, breaking down materials in a recycling system is emissions intensive and reinforces the unfortunate societal norm that says an item can be disposable after one use. This is where upcycling becomes a much more appealing—and sustainable—option.

In the fashion industry, fabrics and textiles have not traditionally been the easiest items to recycle, and there remains a lot of confusion around how to recycle clothing. With this issue under the spotlight and upcycling being preferential to recycling, more and more recycling solutions are emerging to divert clothing from landfill, which look to make recycled fabric garments. These are great steps towards shifting the system from a linear, process driven approach to a circular one.

Key actions for upcycling

• Host an upcycling (clothes swap equivalent) event, where friends can come and create new items out of things you are finished with (think face masks out of socks or weaving with strips of fabric!)
• Before throwing something away, try to visualise how you could use it again. If you are unsure, collect those items and do an online search and see what alternatives you can find—there are loads of hacks out there for upcycling
• Visit an alterations shop or DIY repair your clothes, turning damaged or worn clothes into new clothing items (e.g. jeans into shorts if the hem is worn, or a dress into either a skirt or top if a particular part of the garment is worn out)
• Get to know the upcycling options for your clothing

Key actions for recycling

• Avoid throwing your clothing into the general waste bin. If the item is in reasonable quality, take it to a second hand store for it to be reused there
• Look for local organisations who can recycle your fabrics. companies such as Upparel are popping up everyday, offering a legitimate, reliable recycling solution for your clothing
• Understand the fabrics of your clothing and their ability to be recycled (.eg. linen vs polyester will determine how you recycle specific garments)
• Learn which companies or brands are recycling your non-salvageable items

How they work together

Despite the differences between upcycling vs recycling, what these concepts jointly call for is an awareness of our consumer choices and responsibility around what we do with our items after we have finished with them. Though reusing and repurposing are key features to this story, reducing should be front of mind in the process, in order to minimise the volume of waste there is to upcycle and recycle in the first place.

Check out these circular fashion brands and brands making clothes out of recycled plastic!

Author bio: Madeleine is an experienced content writer who specialises in all things personal sustainability, environmental awareness, and minimal consumption. She loves using her writing and research to clearly communicate these key solutions to environmental issues, and endeavours to help people do more in their everyday lives to minimise their footprint on the planet. To do this, Madeleine also manages the online platform Our Simple Gestures, and in her spare time loves being outdoors and enjoying life! Find her at LinkedIn, Instagram and at the website.

The post Upcycling vs Recycling: What’s the Difference? appeared first on Good On You.

As individuals that form the basis of communities, we are accountable for the impact our actions and decisions have on the planet and all of its inhabitants. Anything from brushing our teeth to combing our hair presents the opportunity to think about our environmental footprint. In this article, we’ll take a look at a number of great, simple switches you can make in order to clean up your personal hygiene routine and to ensure the ritual actions of washing, applying, and scrubbing, create as little harm on the planet as possible.

Minimising products and consumption

An important first step in the process of cleaning up any aspect of your life while injecting more sustainable and ethical decisions is the big dilemma of consumption. Our homes can be full of single-use items that gather dust with a short life cycle, when their necessity in our lives are minimal. In the case of personal hygiene, do we really use and need all the things in our bathrooms? Often bathroom cabinets and vanity tables are full to the brim with disposables, expired tubes, and maybe that product a friend recommended one time that you’ve barely touched. Finding what works for you is important, and this part of the puzzle is crucial. Relying on less external items will create more space internally. In previous articles we have spoken about minimalism, particularly Marie Kondo’s approach to cleaning up. This definitely applies to our hygiene routines as well.

Setting yourself some questions can help in the minimising and decluttering process, such as: is the product sustainable with minimal chemicals? What kind of packaging is it in? Is there a similar product with less packaging? If packaged, is the packaging recyclable? Is there a DIY alternative I can try?

Reusable face and makeup remover cloths

Face and makeup wipes and items like cotton balls contribute significantly to our environmental footprint for a number of reasons. These items are disposable, used for mere seconds, and are not biodegradable or compostable. They go straight to landfill, which is bad enough, but if they mistakenly end up in the plumbing (we see you, flushers!), they can be terribly harmful to the environment. Thankfully, there is a simple alternative! Washcloths are great for washing your face and body, lightly exfoliating and removing make up, and can be used over and over again (and how about the money you will save in the long run!). You can get a few uses each time from one cloth if rinsed properly too, so they won’t even create much more work for you in the laundry. Just pop them in the machine once a week and you are good to go! Think about using the money you would normally spend on a month’s worth of wipes on a sustainable washer, like this organic cotton one from Bhumi:

The post 8 Ways to Green Your Personal Hygiene Routine appeared first on Good On You.

Now more than ever, Earth Day, falling on Thursday 22 April this year, provides an important opportunity to appreciate, reflect, and demonstrate action to protect this planet we call home. So, let’s take a look at how this significant day came to be—and what we can do to celebrate and support the planet in 2021.

A brief history

The first Earth Day took place in the 1970s, born from the desire for individuals to acknowledge the need for greater care for nature across industry and society as a whole. The initiative emphasises the now dominant human over planet relationship, rather than a civilisation in harmony with its environment.

Let’s take a momentary deep dive into some technical stuff: in geological (planetary) time, this shift to humans dominating the planet has been classified as Anthropocene (which unofficially began around the 1950s), defined as “the most recent period in Earth’s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems”.

In the 50 years since it began, Earth Day’s importance has become more and more apparent with the changes we have witnessed in our climate.

It was around the 1970s that scientists first started consistently recording the effects that industry was having on the natural world.

Looking back, plastics became a prominent item in households after World War 2, with widespread use by 1945. More recent examples include reports in the 1990s revealing that oil giant ExxonMobil knew of climate change in 1981, yet continued with its operations unchanged. A few years later in 1985, the hole in the Ozone layer was recorded for the first time, and not long after in 1988, for the first time America ate more food than it grew.

Numerous examples of this awareness and simultaneous disregard for nature continue to surface, and looking closely, we can almost see the gradual disconnection from nature as our cities grew and industries expanded. It is apparent why there was and continues to be such clear welcoming and support for movements such as Earth Day, and greater participation in environmental protests and activism over the last 50-odd years.

In 2021, Earth Day—with an apt theme of “Restore Our Earth”—is more important than ever, and allows us to acknowledge this momentous milestone at a crucial period of time where, as a species, we are facing unprecedented challenges, but can do more than ever as global conscious consumers.

What you can do from afar

Earth Day is just around the corner, and with a lot of the global population still maintaining social distancing, here are a few things you can still do to be a part of Earth Day 2021.

Eat plant-based for a day

A very effective and fun challenge for Earth Day is to eat a plant-based diet for the day (and beyond). The agriculture industry has a huge impact on global emissions. It is directly responsible for around 14 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions, which doesn’t include additional land clearing—that would bring the number up to a shocking 25 per cent! The global demand for meat is causing irreversible damage to natural environments. For example, the Amazon deforestation we saw in 2019, resulting in the thousands of blazes across the region, escalated by 85 percent more from fires than in 2018. The current demand for animal products is simply not sustainable, and Earth Day is a great opportunity for individuals to minimise their impact on our natural environment. Some of our go-to sites for delicious plant-based meals are Minimalist Baker, Deliciously Ella and Jamie Oliver’s Meat Free Meals.

As author Jonathon Saffron Foer says, saving the planet begins at breakfast.

Why stop at one day? If you are inspired to try eating vegan into the future, check out Challenge 22.

Grow veggies on your window sill, porch, or backyard

If recent challenges have taught us anything, it is that the food and supplies in our supermarkets are in fact finite. Shortages from bushfires, droughts, and the global pandemic have meant people have had to adapt, go without, and connect with their communities to source certain products. With our lives fully centred around our homes, this Earth Day is a perfect time to think about how we can cultivate some of our own produce and food sources. You will feel more self sufficient, have the ongoing satisfaction of watching something grow, and be more prepared for the future. Herbs such as mint are extremely resilient and love filtered or direct sunlight, and for veggies, capsicum or tomato vines seem to be a great entry into growing your own produce. Some useful resources to learn more are Good House Keeping, Common Sense Home and Gardenate.

Gardening is also a great activity to do with the kids, so while you’re at home with them stuck for ideas, challenge yourself to start a little garden as a family project!

Track your fashion and ecological footprint

In true Earth Day spirit, while many of us are homebound, it is a perfect opportunity to assess our behaviours in the home and particularly, our environmental footprints. This can be useful on many levels, such as thinking through our spending, looking for ways to reduce our waste, and also think about the space we live in. A couple of reliable footprint calculators are the WWF Ecological footprint tracker, and for our fashion footprint, there is the Thredup Fashion footprint calculator. This will give you a thorough indication of some areas you can work on, whether it be the electricity you use or where you are sourcing your clothing.

Once you have your results it is a great idea to set up an actions list or plan for how you will see them through. 

Clean up your wardrobe

Many articles and headlines have come out about people using their time at home to clean, declutter, and get to some odd jobs that always fall to the bottom of the to-do list. As Earth Day is on a Wednesday and you might be working as well, one easy thing you can get cracking on in your lunch break is cleaning up your wardrobe. This satisfying task will simultaneously declutter your space and get you doing something good for the planet.

Remember that this doesn’t mean discarding clothes in landfill, but thinking through donation options, second hand stores, or selling online. 

Use minimal electricity for a whole day

As many of us did for one hour a few weeks ago for Earth Hour, a good challenge for Earth Day is to see how little you can use power for the whole day of the 22nd April. This is useful to see how we can raise our awareness of our day to day actions that add to our environmental footprint. Could you work with just a few lamps on, hold off on that load of washing, turn off some electrical appliances at the wall, and not drive the car for the day? 

If you are going all in, it is a great idea to make a list of the things you switch off or don’t use to then compare with the following day and notice how you changed your normal patterns and habits.

Attend online events

Many of us are excited for Earth Day, particularly at a time when we might still be feeling isolated. In the true spirit of the day and all it signifies, many organisations are going ahead with Earth Day celebrations—either made virtual or livestreamed for convenience! This is a great opportunity to connect with a broader community and partake in the global action for our planet.

Support Earth-friendly brands

The post Why Earth Day Is Important and How to Get Involved From Afar appeared first on Good On You.

Fashion’s impact on forests comes mainly from the production of textiles. There are many fabrics are derived from plant pulps or from plants themselves. These can be found in our shirts and pants, right down to the rubber in our shoes. Common ones include viscose, rayon, modal and lyocell. The forest campaign group Canopy revealed that dissolving-pulp (the base material for rayon/viscose) wastes approximately 70% of the tree and involves a chemically intensive manufacturing process.

Plant pulp is not the only footprint that intensive fashion production has on forests, with cotton being a big culprit for land clearing. Given that, approximately half of all textiles are made of cotton we can begin to see the kind of impacts this can have.

To shine a light on the urgency of the threat fashion poses to forests across the planet, Canopy has launched the CanopyStyle campaign, engaging brands and promoting awareness around the increasing issues of endangered species and disappearing forests. The program also looks to develop new innovations for clothing waste, such as the fibres from disposed clothing, or resources such a straw to replace the high demand for these currently forest-derived materials.

The drive to protect our forests is urgent, and not just for endangered species such as Orangutans. Forests play a big role in the more complex ecosystems of our planet, and the balance of the gases in our atmosphere. Not only do forests produce the oxygen we breathe, they are efficient at cleaning our air too.  In fact, Approximately 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide – one-third of the CO2 released from burning fossil fuels – is absorbed by forests every year. These beautiful landscapes have a big job to do, especially as we see the increasing effects of climate change.

150 million trees are logged and turned into fabric every year. If placed end to end, these trees would circle our earth’s equator 7 times over. It’s a big problem, and with fast fashion increasingly shaping our purchasing behaviours we need big solutions!

Canopy

Sustainable alternatives that support the forest:

Fortunately, we are seeing a shift in the fashion industry to promoting more sustainable practices and a large sense of advocacy for the natural environment. These brands ensure forests are not destroyed in their processes, or work to replenish and revegetate these ecosystems. Here are some notable brands doing their bit.

The post Fashion’s Footprint In Our Forests appeared first on Good On You.

Fashion and International Women’s Day have always had a connection. The idea for IWD was born in 1909 when women gathered in New York City to honour garment workers who had gone on strike over pay and conditions one year earlier.

Now, more than a century later, International Women’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of woman and call for equality and empowerment – and fashion has a role to play here too.

We know that Fast Fashion Is A Feminist Issue, and the empowerment of female garment workers is still a key concern for the industry. But what about the brands themselves? What are they doing to celebrate, uplift and empower women from all walks of life?

While there’s still some work to be done, ‘woke’ fashion is now much more than just a passing trend. Diversity and representation are now mainstream ideas. Some examples of the fashion world embracing diversity, include 97-year-old style icon Iris Apfel recently signing a new modelling contract and cancer survivor and amputee Mama Caxx (below) making her stunning debut appearance on the catwalk at New York Fashion Week.

 

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Thank you @chromat + team for allowing me to grace your runway once more. Thanks to everyone who oiled me - Such an amazing show , the collection explores human’s contribution to the destruction of our planet. A collection made with recycled plastic bottles, discarded fishnets and upcycled fabrics. Diversity and inclusion has always been the root of Chromat now taking a bigger step towards sustainable fashion. . I could have sworn I was smiling but apparently I was focusing on not falling but I did spot @missjulee in the crowd and even winked at her. So happy I got to see @jillianmercado @chellaman @maryvbenoit @denisebidot after the show. . Thanks for the love and support y’all : @voguerunway . #abishcantevenwalkyettheygotherwalkingtherunway #callmebambi #beckywiththeoneleg ____________________________________________

A post shared by Mama Cāx (@mamacaxx) on Feb 8, 2019 at 6:23pm PST

At Good On You, we’re celebrating all women on March the 8th, so without further ado, here are some top ethical brands that pride themselves on featuring different races, sizes and cultures in their models and editorials:

The post 4 Ethical Brands That Celebrate All Women appeared first on Good On You.

Locally sourced fibres, using resources from local farms can seen as a more sustainable and ethical mode of production – reducing transport energy and increasing supply chain transparency. Fibreshed hold this approach at the core of their organisation. Initially a research project that started in Melbourne, Fibreshed is now a growing textile hub in Victoria that is only three years young. Their focus is to engage the local community and connect consumers directly with the supply chain of their clothing.

This year’s Festival of Natural Dyes in Melbourne coincides with Melbourne Fashion Week and will showcase a number of brands, methods and individuals who are part of this international natural fibre movement. We talked to Fibreshed’s Nicki Collis about the ideas behind the festival and the exciting initiatives taking place.

The natural fibre movement is more than just about locally made clothing –  it suggests a different relationship to fashion and clothing all together. Knowing who made your clothing, the resources that were involved in the process and an appreciation for the potential for natural modes. That’s how Fibreshed’s Nicki Collis began her involvement with the movement. “I started my connection to Fibershed by creating a 100% local outfit sourced from within 500km of my home,” Nicki says.

Right down to the hand-fired buttons and hand-woven twill, I sourced everything for the outfit from the soil up. It was a natural transition then to co-founding Fibreshed Melbourne with Rachel Bucknall.

Fibreshed Melbourne is one arm of a global network of groups working to promote local, natural textiles within the context of their own environments. “Fibreshed Melbourne is part of the Fibershed Affiliate Program, an international grassroots network that promotes the development of regional fibre systems communities,” Nicki says. “Fibershed’s work develops supply chains to create clothing that will become the new standard in a world looking to rapidly mitigate the effects of climate change.”

But it’s not just about being sustainable. Fibreshed’s work connects primary producers with designers and clothing brands, creating demand for local textiles and supporting local business. “Fibreshed Melbourne supports our local economy to access locally produced, sustainable textiles,” Nicki says. “We want our clothes to benefit the land and people in and around Melbourne. The possibilities for innovation in sustainability become much more tangible to Australian designers when they can talk to every stage of production, we think about co-design of clothing at every level to create a new standard.”

With Fibreshed Melbourne’s help, a number of brands have taken this approach on board and are now making a portion, if not all their garments, from locally sourced fibres and materials.

“We work to connect people across the supply chain,” Nicki says. “We have worked with mills to help them access knitwear designers, we have worked with farms to help them add value to their product through local processing, we have connected designers to suppliers, customers and training opportunities, and we have worked with retailers to connect them to new local suppliers.”  Brands like Remuse, A-BCH and McIntyre Merino Woolwear have been involved in Fibreshed Melbourne’s programs.

One highlight of the Festival of Natural Dyes, is the Natural Dye conference. Nicki says anyone interested in sustainable textiles will get a lot out of the experience. “The Natural Dye Conference is a two-day event where we will explore the opportunities that botanical dyes present for local fibre industries,” she says. “Participants can expect to have lots of cross-sectoral conversations, and to be an active participant in all sessions.”

The conference will feature a number of great workshops, natural plant-based dyeing methods and various explorations that have been taking place in Australia. A special feature of the event will be the exhibition of textile artist Sally Blake – something Nicki is particularly looking forward to.

“Sally Blake’s Eucalyptus Dye Database is the culmination of research into the colour produced from over 200 species of Eucalyptus at the Australian Botanic Gardens,” she says.  “Her art is her playful way of inviting people to explore the science of her studies; each piece represents a series of colours produced from a particular species or location.

Sally will bring her exhibition to Melbourne for the first time and will talk about her research. The exhibition will also stay on in Kuwaii’s city store as part of Melbourne Fashion Week.

So, with all of their inspiring shifts and innovations to more sustainable modes of making and sourcing, Fibreshed are paving the way for brands to really look at the potential of local suppliers, and connecting consumers to the supply chain more meaningfully.  Initiatives such as this and organisations like Good On You aim to close the gap and provide consumers with the reality behind their clothes, and the implications for fast fashion brands. Keep an eye on the innovative ways organisations like Fibreshed are enabling this exciting shift to more sustainable fashion.

Check it out:  www.fond.org.au

The Natural Dyes Conference is being hosted by RMIT University on August 31 and September 1, 2018. Click here for tickets and details

Author bio: Madeleine is an experienced content writer who specialises in all things personal sustainability, environmental awareness, and minimal consumption. She loves using her writing and research to clearly communicate these key solutions to environmental issues, and endeavours to help people do more in their everyday lives to minimise their footprint on the planet. To do this, Madeleine also manages the online platform Our Simple Gestures, and in her spare time loves being outdoors and enjoying life! Find her at LinkedIn, Instagram and at the website.

The post Inside The Campaign To Bring Natural Dyes To Fashion appeared first on Good On You.

Summer is that time of year when the fun circuit of festivals are in full swing. The lineups have been released, you’re gearing up for an awesome weekend outdoors with great music and friends, but your sustainable self wants to minimise your impact on the environment in the process. That’s why we’ve put together a guide to doing festivals more ethically, with tips that can carry across from the festival ground into our day to day lives.

They may only last a day or five, but festivals can have a big environmental impact, with tens of thousands of people descending on one spot—often in an idyllic country setting. “According to the Greener Festival report…the average festival produces 500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, the weight of three single-story houses,” reports Forbes. A Greener Festival works with event organisers to help them be more sustainable, but there’s a lot us music fans can do to.

Keeping fashion more sustainable

Regardless of the time of year your festival is taking place, it is inevitable things are  going to get dirty! But this does not have to be a bad thing. Fast fashion brands often market festival fashion to their customers—cheap, quirky outfits that are often only used for the one event, or thrown away at the end of the weekend. But how sustainable is that?

Festivals are a great opportunity to use what you have in your wardrobe and create new combinations (as well as knowing you won’t turn up wearing the same thing as anyone else!). Alternatives to buying new are clothes swaps or op shopping; much more sustainable and ethical ways to dress for a festival weekend. And, if your clothes do get dirty, caring for your clothes is quick and easy. They will be as good as new in no time!

Minimal impact camping gear

When it comes to more ethical and sustainable camping, there are a number of ways to minimise impact, both leading up to the festival and during. A good place to start is your sleeping arrangements.

We all know there are tents floating around for cheaper prices, but why buy something poorly made when you and some buddies could borrow a tent from a friend or family member?

If you decide to invest in a high-quality and long-lasting new tent, know that in recent years, people simply walking away and leaving their cheapo tents at the end of a festival has become a huge problem for organisers. There’s even a campaign Love Your Tent which encourages people to take their little domes home with them. Investing in a good tent will keep you warm, dry and sustainable for years.

Other ways you can minimise your footprint is by borrowing camping gear from relatives, or make a plan to share different camping items with friends.

More sustainable supplies

It is hard to avoid disposable plastic products at a festival ground, especially if it runs over a weekend. But coming prepared and planning your supplies ahead will allow you to maintain minimal impact on the environment while having a great time.

While England is banning single use plastics, it is a crucial time for consumers to move away from disposable items and look to a more sustainable way of approaching portable meals at events. Reusable drinking straws and BYO plates and cutlery are great staples to bring along for the weekend. Bringing a reusable cup such as a KeepCup as your go-to cup for the weekend is another useful, sustainable way to minimise your footprint at the festival ground. With these small, lightweight and convenient items, you could almost go the whole weekend, waste free.

Another necessity for a weekend in the country is a torch or portable light, as we can’t always rely on our phones. Little Sun produce small portable lights that are fully solar powered. They are compact and have a long battery life, with up to 50 hours of power from five hours of charging in sunlight!

Getting there

Road tripping to your next festival? Why not squeeze everyone in, and split the petrol costs, save on parking, take turns driving and best of all, avoid taking multiple cars. Fuel emissions from cars are a huge contributor to the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, so with the volume of people attending the festival, it makes sense to be conscious of the impact this will have, considering how we arrive to the moment we leave the event

Car sharing is a great option if you and a few friends don’t have access to a car. Platforms such as Uberpool, BlaBlaCar and more are great alternatives to hitch a ride with someone going the same direction. Posting on social media channels can also enable you to find random festival goers looking to fill some seats.

Recycling

Amongst all the other fabulous and innovative ways you can be more ethical at a festival, recycling is one of the most important. Although most venues offer some form of recycling, it is worth investigating your recycling options ahead of the event, which will give you time to prep accordingly. In many countries, things like soft plastics can be recycled separately from general waste, so collecting these to take home with you at the end of the weekend will greatly minimise your waste. Also ensuring you have a cardboard box handy for things like bottles and plastics will keep your campsite waste free throughout the whole festival weekend. Plus, it’s free and makes the clean up much easier on the last day.

So, enjoy the festivities and great music with this ethical guide, while knowing you can minimise your environmental impact with just a few easy steps. Check out Good On You to find other ways you can maintain your more sustainable approach, to fashion, festivals and more.

The post How To Do Music Festivals More Ethically and Sustainably appeared first on Good On You.

Buy less

In Australia alone, 6000 kg of clothing ends up in landfill every 10 minutes. Fast fashion brands have torn up the industry model of seasonal trends, introducing new items almost daily.   The resources involved in producing this type of clothing are staggering, with a $1 t-shirt said to use up to 2,700 litres of water to make.  And what happens to clothing that’s unsold? H&M has a $4.3 billion worth of clothes sitting in its warehouses and was last year accused of burning tonnes of it!

As consumers, we can minimise our consumption by recycling, sharing and borrowing our clothing, instead of buying $2 t-shirts. A go-to for recycled clothing and hidden gems are charity shops. Reasonably priced and fun to explore, they are a great place to source vintage and unique clothing, and can offer new styles and brands you may have never heard of.

Another method of buying less, and saving money while mixing up your wardrobe, is Clothes swaps. Set a date with friends and spice up your wardrobes by trading cool pieces you’ve been eyeing, and you’ll have a “new” outfit for the weekend. This is perfect  for motivating each other, for a last minute fix or if you feel the tendency to spend; you can try something new without spending any money at all.

(TIP: think about that trip you’re saving for and how you will spend that money overseas. Write it down and stick it on your wall to motivate your saving!)

A big factor of buying less is Decluttering. Avoid decision fatigue (yep, it’s a thing!) by simplifying and organising your wardrobe. Seperate your clothing into seasonal categories will create structure and will mean that you know your wardrobe well. Familiarise yourself with potential combinations and have a go pairing things you haven’t put together before. It will make those old, reliable pieces as good as new (and again, help the savings account for that big holiday you’ve been waiting for!).

Choose well

Today, we have an increasing variety of brands shifting their production and materials to a more sustainable, slow fashion model, ensuring we as consumers can access all the specifics of their production process. An aspect of the slow fashion model is avoiding trends; Slow fashion is based on the traditional two collections per year. Fast Fashion means consumers can get their hands on a continuous cycle of trend-led clothing, all year round. Avoiding these “trends” and going for more timeless styles is fundamental to choosing well. The Good On You  app helps you choose well by providing full disclosure of brands’ ethical and environmental credentials, and is a great way to find quality clothes from brands that do better.

A number of online platforms showcase high-quality, sustainable brands. We love Veneka for capsule wardrobe building, and Made Trade for all things gift-giving. The clothing might seem a little more pricey at first, but approach these garments like investments. Many brands featured on these sites use fabrics that require less intensive resources and are of an extremely high quality; they are made to last.

When buying high-quality brands from less commercial stores or online platforms, you will often come across boutique and local designers. Supporting a local designer often means you are also investing in artisan skills, and a conscious approach to fashion. This information is often available on their websites in detail  – and with an increasing number of micro labels taking responsibility for their impact, this is a great way to support their mission.

Want to continue your path to a more sustainable and ethical wardrobe? Head to Good On You to source material guides, tips, how to guides and more!

Make it last

A big factor that plays into clothing longevity is how it is looked after. Do you remember your mum always going on about separating your garments into whites and colours and not mixing delicates with tougher fabrics? There was some good reasoning behind that after all!

Paying attention to the care instructions is key to making clothing last. Buying a good detergent (wool wash for delicates) and using things like delicate bags will prevent your clothes from wearing out. A large amount of detergent can actually make your clothes more dull and stiff, so cutting down on this will add to the life of your clothing. Using drying racks are also a better drying option, for your clothes and for the environment. Check out our Guide to Making Clothes Last Longer for more clothing care tips.

A great initiative that promotes making clothing last is the popular #30 campaign, founded by Livia Firth. #30 encourages a slower approach to fashion and suggests asking yourself “will I wear this a minimum of 30 times?”, shifting away from the weekly trends in fast fashion, and thinking more about whether you will wear an item long term. #30 is a great first step to making your clothes last and getting more life out of your favourite pieces.

Get creative and start saving time and energy today by decluttering, recycling, swapping, and buying investment pieces for your wardrobe: the environment (and your wallet) will thank you.

Author bio: Madeleine is an experienced content writer who specialises in all things personal sustainability, environmental awareness, and minimal consumption. She loves using her writing and research to clearly communicate these key solutions to environmental issues, and endeavours to help people do more in their everyday lives to minimise their footprint on the planet. To do this, Madeleine also manages the online platform Our Simple Gestures, and in her spare time loves being outdoors and enjoying life! Find her at LinkedIn, Instagram and at the website.

The post How To Buy Less, Choose Well and Make it Last appeared first on Good On You.