Being ‘Green’ seems to be becoming a bit of a trend lately and I am ALL for that. With celebrities such as the amazing Emma Watson promoting organic and ethical fashion brands, its time to start listening to them and realising that we don’t need to keep supporting the non-ethical brands. Sustainability and eco-friendly options are becoming more readily available. But even without buying from ethical brands, there are plenty of ways to be a bit ‘greener’ when it comes to our wardrobes.
5 Tips for a Greener Wardrobe
➤Buy Less. Wear more. When you start questioning what you’re buying and if you are truely going to get the wear out of each time, you will start to buy less. Buying less is really the easiest way to shop/live more sustainably, becasue once we all buy and consume a little less, the fashion industry is forced to make less products and use as much energy and resources as they are at the moment. It’s also really nice to have a nicely curated wardrobe full of pieces you really love to wear and feel great in.
➤Quality not Quantity: How many times have we heard this saying? And yet we are consuming more than ever before. And a lot of what we buy into is fast fashion, which we all know doesn’t last as long when we are continually wearing and washing our clothing.
➤Buy Second Hand: If there are items that you can find second hand then do it. It is possibly the most environmentally friendly way to shop because it involves no extra resources and it gives new life to clothing that may just end up in material landfills. Certain pieces you won’t want to buy second hand but I have found some great things in my local charity shops such as a trench coat for €6, a basic black A-line skirt for €2, a roll neck cable knit jumper for €9 (with merino wool), a knitted balmain inspired blazer for €4 and some cute slip dresses for a couple of quid each. There’s also the option to alter or customise these pieces if they’re not entirely to your taste or fit, but you then end up with a completely unique piece.
➤Do It Yourself (DIY) : You’ll know by now I’m a big fan of making my own clothing, whetehr it’s making something from scratch or upcycling a worn out item. Again, you’ll have something unique to you. Depending of course on how you source your fabrics and what fabrics you use, you could create a very sustainable and unique wardrobe.
➤Ethical/Eco Brands: Shop from brands who share more ethical and eco values. They may use recycled or organic fabrics, use sustainable energy to create their products or have better working conditions for their workers (which I believe is one of the most important factors in ethical fashion).
More Eco-Conscious Brands
If buying from ethical brands is the route you want to take in creating a sustainable wardrobe, I’ve researched a few brands making positive changes towards sustainability.
People Tree is ethical and sustainable clothing brand that I have previously worked for and have quite a few pieces from now. From working there I can guarantee that they have ethics and sustainability at the core of the company, in everything they do. It was such an inspiring place to work and this brand will always be dear to my heart. It is on the less affordable side of high-street prices but I find nowadays we don’t place enough value on the clothes we buy, and we need to realise that £10 for a top is NOT realistic. People Tree has a great selection of everyday basics and more statement pieces. They work really closely with the producers and I was lucky enough to go and meet some of the women who hand-knit the wool knitwear in KTS in Nepal when I first started working there.
I also love *Organic Basics for sustainable underwear and basic tees. (*affiliate link)
Look for brand who focus more on who makes their products and how they are made, instead of just labelling them as ‘organic’ or made from ‘recycled fabric’
For more ethical brands & shopping tips visit : http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/clothing.aspx
I’d like to point out that I am in no way telling you guys not to buy new clothes because I do sometimes treat myself to new pieces, like this shirt and these shoes, and I don’t want to be a hypocrite. I am however inviting you to be a bit more mindful while you’re shopping and selecting the pieces that you will add to your wardrobe. It will also make a huge difference to your own peace of mind that you’re being more aware of your spending, making positive changes that will hopefully impact the environment in a healthy way and let’s face it, you’re wardrobe won’t be full of clutter. Ain’t nobody got time to tidy up all those clothes every bloody day!!
For more tips on creating a wardrobe with less pieces you can check out my videos on How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe and my Seasonal Capsule Wardrobes.