Stylish and Sustainable blog!
Maven women Carmen red top.
The leather skirt the Robert Rodriguez from The Real Real!
As a Yoma, I am thinking about the quality of life my grandchildren will enjoy as it relates to the environment just as much as their health, safety, and overall happiness. Like most folks, I have always been aware and tried to do my part to help save the planet and keep the environment clean. If I need to throw something away while out and about, I hold it in my purse until I reach a trash can. I am prolific recycler, solar panels on my home, fuel-efficient vehicles, and I take my reusable bags to stores or just carry small amounts of goods in my purse to avoid the plastic bags. I, however, never thought about how fashion and the clothing industry have such a negative effect on the environment. Not even once. Crazy, right? I wish I would have taken the time to research the effects on the environment like I research sales or styles for look books. According to United Nations Climate Change News, the fashion industry contributes 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 20% of the global water waste. The mass amounts of what I call “poorly made disposable clothing” being manufactured and flooding the market are contributing to the peril of our planet. Many times these clothes end up in the trash because the repair or dry cleaning bill costs more than just trashing it and buying another.
Here is an excellent and eye-opening article in Vogue about the future of clothing manufacturing. It’s a requirement for me to purchase new clothing made from mostly natural fabrics and recycled materials as much as possible.
One of my favorite sustainable clothing lines, designed and created by founder and CEO Rebecca Ballard of Maven Women, uses an eco-friendly Ponte di Roma, which is primarily made of cotton that is certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard to create beautiful and impeccably tailored clothing.
About 10 years ago, I started shopping on eBay more often to buy designer clothes with tags that might be a few seasons old. It made it easy to supplement my wardrobe with high-fashion pieces with discounted price tags. Then, a few years later, online high-fashion designer consignment stores were popping up all over the place, like Rent the Runway, Poshmark, Tradesy, and many more. These stores allow high-end designer fashions to be recycled and renewed in another wardrobe without being dumped in the trash, along with pumping money into the economy over and over. One of the stores I use most often is The RealReal. I absolutely fell in love with this store because of the expert verification of designers, and the well-displayed clothes on the site. I also love the reusable packaging of the items and itemized receipts, and the excellent tracking, shipping, and communication from customer service. They offer an easy and convenient process to help you consign your items with a personal consigning specialist. For folks like myself who don’t have the patience or time to display and ship to sell my own items, it’s a perfect fit. As of late, I love TRR even more because of their strong promotion of sustainability. TRR has entered into agreements with Stella McCartney, Burberry, and Gucci to help to reduce the fashion world’s carbon footprint.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that I am going to pass up a great sale at one of my favorite department stores, like Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale. I will, however, make certain that I am leaning in the direction of being more environmentally conscientious about how I make shopping decisions in the future.