Tomorrow highlights the start of a very special event in the field of sustainable fashion: the Dutch Sustainable Fashion Week! From the 7th till the 16th of October sustainable fashion is promoted throughout diverse events and in various (multi-brand) stores in the Netherlands. Events like fashion shows, expositions, conferences, the Fair Fashion Festival and even an 'Aweareness Fashion shop tour'. During this tour, participants follow special shopping routes, can take part in treasure hunts, workshops and clothing swap events.
Retailers and designers have collaborated to share inspiring stories behind the sustainable clothing. The best part of the Dutch Sustainable Fashion Week will be the 10th of October, when the Dutch Design Fashion Show and the Streetwear Fashion Show will take place in Amsterdam. The after movie of last year should give you a good impression of the festivities.
6 non-fashion related things to do for the environment right now #1
Even though this blog is mainly focussed on fashion, making your wardrobe more sustainable will not solve the entire issue. Now, I will not talk too much about all the subparts of environmental pollution, because, trust me, there are many. However, the aim of this post will simply be to help you make your life a little more green.
1. Drink a fresh cup of tea
Personally, I am a big tea drinker and perhaps you are too. Tea is great, but tea bags are less amazing. Research shows that most tea bags are only 70/80% biodegradable. Even worse, the rest is made out of polythene terephthalate (PET), aka plastic. Now PET is has a high melting point, however, we might want to consider it's glass transition temperature (Tg), the temperature where molecules in certain materials (such as polymers) begin to break down. The problem is that where the melting point of PET is 482 degrees Fahrenheit, the Tg is about 169 degrees, which is less than the temperature of boiling water (water boils at 212 degrees)... Hence the molecules will already be in the process of breaking down while drinking tea from a PET tea bag. Not the nicest idea, is it?
When you realise that in the UK alone, 156000000 cups of tea are drunk per day (I repeat, per day!). You might realise, that is quite a few teabags. Hence, to protect yourself from consuming plastic particles you might want to replace teabags for fresh tea and use a reusable tea sieve.
2. No vacation from sustainability
Personally, I am a big fan of travelling. As a Dutch exchange student in Singapore, this is my very first time being a tourist in another continent. Before this year, I could count the times I have set food in a plane on one hand and had mostly visited tourist-focussed areas (read: sun, sea, beach). This year I experienced many culture shocks. Many of which, I could place under the umbrella term of sustainability. Now the biggest shock so far has happened to me in Bali, a place I imagined to have the cleanest and beautiful beaches of the world. Beautiful, yes. Clean? Unfortunately, I experienced with my own eyes how tourism is destroying this little piece of heaven on earth. When traveling, a lot of us seem to forget our responsibilities, including our responsibility for the earth. Chief Seattle has a simple advice for all those people: “Take only memories, leave only footprints.”
3. Eco-traveling
Next to not participating in consumerism (even when on holidays) and not to pollute the place, you might want to look in-to eco-traveling. Eco-traveling, according to Ties, is "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education"
4 . Leave the car
You want to get fit ánd do something good for the environment. Leave the car behind, and take the bike instead. Or if it is a bit further away, what about public transportation? Studies show that the transport sector is responsible for 22% of CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. Light-duty vehicles, such as cars, make up 45% of that. To make it even more specific, the average car produces 4.7 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. So ditch the polluting monster, ditch your car!
5. Read, read, read
If you are a book lover like me, you probably read a lot of books. However, buying all these books in paper form is not the most environmentally friendly. Therefore, the library is my best friend. As I wrote in the post on the Fashion Library: "The concept of a library to me is great. I pay a little monthly fee - which is most likely less than I would have paid would I have bought all the books individually. Yet, I get access to a broader range of books than I could probably ever collect myself. I can stroll through the endless rows of books, and take any books with, without having any commitment - if after reading the first few chapters I dislike it, I can just bring it back without any (monetary) consequences. This allows me to pick up books I might have otherwise never picked up and explore genres I otherwise would have never explored. Amazing." And if you do want to own the books, there are still more environmentally friendly options out there. What about secondhand books? Or an E-reader?
6. Buy package free
So many things are packaged these days. I was opening a box of tea bags and found out that within the carton box each individual tea bag was packaged in a layer of plastic. Packaging over packaging is often done, to me and many others, for no clear purpose. This of course is one of the main reasons we create so much trash and is hence a topic that should be addressed. The website Beunpackaged.com already gives good insights on how to live package free and Lauren Singer also did a nice Ted Talk on living a zero waste lifestyle in which she elaborated on how to avoid buying packaged food. Basically buying a lot of things fresh, for instance from local markets, and bringing your own containers to package it, is the best way to start!
IPCC. (1996). ‘Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories’, IPCC. Retrieved from: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_and_data_reports.shtml
Ratcliffe, S. (2011). Oxford treasury of sayings and quotations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
TEDx Talks. (2015, May 25). Why I live a zero waste life | Lauren Singer | TEDxTeen [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF72px2R3Hg
The International Ecotourism Society. (n.d.). Engaging Communities, Empowering People, Inspiring Lasting Change (Research Report). Retrieved from
the Ecotourism website:https://www.ecotourism.org/sites/ecotourism.org/files/document/ties-overview-brochure-lr.pdf
Trashedfilm. (n.d.). 10 Small things. Retrieved from: http://www.trashedfilm.com/10-small-things/
“The best things in life are free, the second best are very expensive...”
You might actually have heard these words before, as these are the wise words of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi is mainly known for his pacifist teaching of tolerance, not harming any living beings and his vegetarianism. Ever since he was born in the 19th century, he has been a great inspiration for many. Today, he was also the inspiration for this blog post. Even though the quote on first sight might have more to do with ethical fashion than sustainable fashion, in this case, the two are - in my opinion - highly connected. In the current consumer culture we are constantly striving to own the latest, the newest and the trendiest, without thinking much about the consequences, on both humans and ecosystems involved.
Starting with the ecosystems, as these not only provide us with resources but actually provide us with various services. During the Millennium Ecosystem Assesment, these services were divided into four groups: (1) producing drinkable water, (2) stabilizing the climate, (3) supporting the food chain (for instance crop pollination) and lastly (4) providing recreation for humans. This might sound rather straightforward. However, this fact that we as humans actually need our ecosystems to provide us with these services, is a fact the fashion industry often 'forgets' to take into account.
The ecosystems are being overlooked and that, all for fashion. Which brings me to the next Gandhi quote: "There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness."
Write it down
So from now on, shout it from the rooftops, write it on the skylines, or perhaps just make a note in your agenda: Every Sunday from now on there will be a new SSQ!
Stay fashionable, stay sustainable.
Until next time!
Ps. Bonus points for the ones who got the lyric references hidden within the texts.
Even though this blog is all about fashion, I have to admit that I have another materialistic interest: books. I really enjoy reading a little while I am in public transport, while eating breakfast or while filling in those little bits of time in between classes. A book is then also something you will most likely always find in my bag. You might wonder, why I am promoting a not so environment-friendly product. No worries, And yes, I am well aware that (paper) books are also not the most environment-friendly, that is why I love going to the library.
The concept of a library to me is great. I pay a little monthly fee - which is most likely less than I would have paid would I have bought all the books individually. Yet, I get access to a broader range of books than I could probably ever collect myself. I can stroll through the endless rows of books, and take any books with, without having any commitment - if after reading the first few chapters I dislike it, I can just bring it back without any (monetary) consequences. This allows me to pick up books I might have otherwise never picked up and explore genres I otherwise would have never explored. Amazing.
Source: LENA the fashion library - http://www.lena-library.com/about/
Now, while I was thinking about this concept, I thought how useful it would be if there was a fashion library. Just exactly the same principle, but then for clothes and accessories. And guess what, I was not the first one who got this genius idea. Even better, the concept has already been executed in my own country; the Netherlands. Amsterdam houses one of the first fashion libraries in the world.
Angela, Diana, Elisa and Suzanne, four entrepreneurial ladies with a passion for fashion and for sustainability created LENA the Fashion Library, a fashion library for women. Their motto? Fashion has to be fun, for everyone involved. In other words, nice clothes, without harming other humans and the environment. Being able to enjoy new clothes every month, but not having to take part in consumerism and own closets full of clothes.
Members of LENA have access to a wide range of the most beautiful vintage pieces, pieces of rising designers, sustainable labels and also; clothes brought in by people like you and me. For a set monthly fee (starting from €19.95 per month) you can change your clothes whenever you want. The only fashion you will not be able to find is fast fashion, as LENA does not support the industry and because the quality is often low. What this infinite wardrobe might look like? The video below might give a little indication.
Personally, I think this is a great concept, which should inspire the fashion industry to be more sustainable. The succes of the fashion library shows how consumers are ready for sustainable innovation in the fashion industry. However, the fashion industry might not be willing to change the consumer culture into a sharing culture. So far, I only found a similar initiative in Belgium; Les rebelles d'anvers - a fashion library located in Antwerp. Nevertheless, this concept should spread internationally. Hence, there is much work to do! If you are by any chance in the Netherlands on the 19th of November and if you are curious to know more about LENA the Fashion Library, then I would highly recommend to check out the Meta Fashion Summit. The Meta Fashion Summit is a full day seminar focussing on topics like sustainability, innovation and fashion. Suzanne Smulders, one of the co-founders of LENA the Fashion Library will also present. She will explain the concept of the clothing library and how she and the other co-founders solved the challenges they faced while introducing this innovative concept.
Unfortunately, I will not be in the Netherlands to witness this great event. However, when I am back, visiting LENA the Fashion Library will be one of the first things on my to-do list.
Crowd Expedition. (2015, July 2). Interview with LENA the fashion library [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAEFWg1dnwM
Hasmik Matevosyan. (2016, September 29). Meta Fashion Summit - Interview with Suzanne Smulders [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbGCJHWuh24
Morgan, A. (Director). (2015). The true cost [Video file]. United States: BullFrog Films.
“Fashion should be about challenging the status quo.”
Write it down
So from now on, shout it from the rooftops, write it on the skylines, or perhaps just make a note in your agenda: Every Sunday from now on there will be a new SSQ!
Stay fashionable, stay sustainable.
Until next time!
Ps. Bonus points for the ones who got the lyric references hidden within the texts.
Reduce, reuse and recycle. These are common, but great ways, to eliminate waste and help maintain the environment and they also apply to the fashion industry. By reducing the amount of clothes you buy, reusing the clothes you already have and recycling the clothes you would have otherwise not used or even worse, thrown away, you are already well on your way to becoming an ecological shopper. Now reducing and reusing sound like rather straightforward tips, but for recycling you might need some inspiration. Luckily, there is plenty of inspiration out there.
Thrifted Transformations
Let me introduce you to April, or better known as Coolirpa, the name of her Youtube account. April is a YouTuber who loves to thrift and transforms her thrifted findings into the latest fashion. On her Youtube account, she shares these videos with her 900.000 followers, showing them all the possibilities their old clothes offer in a DIY - Do It Yourself manner. Whether it is an old blouse from your father or an old skirt from your grandma, April knows what to do.
“Reducing our levels of consumption will not be a sacrifice but a bonus if we simply redefine the meaning of the word 'succes.' ”
Write it down
So from now on, shout it from the rooftops, write it on the skylines, or perhaps just make a note in your agenda: Every Sunday from now on there will be a new SSQ!
Stay fashionable, stay sustainable.
Until next time!
Ps. Bonus points for the ones who got the lyric references hidden within the texts.
