Plastic Free July!

Well, we don't have to stop just at July, It could become a part of our lifestyle!

That's what I aim to do.

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I recently came across the 'Plastic-free July Challenge' organized globally to raise awareness about the harmful effects of the single-use plastic. And found it a very interesting way to promote a plastic-free life. Everyone can try this challenge or take it as a form of a pledge without feeling too much pressure and take baby steps towards a Green living. 

The challenge is pretty simple, nothing hard and fast- we have the freedom to draw our own boundaries, the aim here is more to raise awareness and ultimately adopt a zero-waste lifestyle than to make things intimidating.

We have an option to choose what kind of challenge we take- it could be 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, a year, absolutely anything and also what we choose to stop using- all single-use plastic or the top 4 plastic pollutant- plastic straws, plastic bottles, plastic bag and coffee cups. or to have a plastic-free house, office space or travel. 

It could be also an individual or a group pledge!

you can customize the pledge as you feel convenient, to begin with. 

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It's a pretty easy, and very sensible challenging to take, considering the rampant use of plastic in our daily lives, the most harmful and excessive being the plastic shopping bags. 

In India, 20 states have completely banned the use, manufacturing, supply, and storage of polythene bags while 5 states have partial bans though we cant be very sure how far they have been successful, for the lack of awareness and also lack of an equally cheap substitute. 

Challenges or pledges like this will help create awareness and take personal steps to this cause.

 Step 1

Make a list of items that you use that are plastic based or harmful to the environment. 
Use of disposable coffee cups, plastic bottle, use of polythene bags, using disposable cutlery.

Step 2

What are the possible substitutes for it? 

What changes can you bring about in your lifestyle to reduce or avoid the complete use of it?  

Make a list of substitute or changes in lifestyle.  

Step 3
Make actionable plans to incorporate them into your daily life.
Adopting everything all at once might get a bit too overwhelming, and it would be convenient and much effective if actions are taken in small steps.

Step 4
Review. 
Give yourself time after which you can review your progress. And its okay if you are falling a bit behind, don't give up, even the smallest of progress is better than none.

For starters, we can

Reduce, the use where ever possible if not avoidable

Refuse, the use, but substituting it with eco-friendly options.

Reuse, if the item isn't sustainable.  

Avoid product in plastic packages.

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5 better places for your pre-owned Clothes.

Continuing with my previous post

on how to have a sustainable closet, in this post are few suggestions ways  our clothes don't end up in the landfills and get a chance for second life!

1. Give it to your siblings.

As Indian I feel every family does this- give away clothes to the younger siblings in the family.

The first line of give away is usually your own siblings, i know mine has been!

and then comes cousins, who ever fits into it. 

We have had this order for a long time in our family! I have clothes as old as 27-28 yrs old which my youngest cousins still wear and its such a joy to see them wear it. 

2. Donate it to the people who come to work at your place.

I feel this also is a common practice in India. We usually give away our clothes- faded, small, slightly torn or just something we don't like, to the people who come to work at our places- them or their kids. Be it the house maid, sweeper, gardener or someone who comes to wash your car once in a while, cook just about anyone who you think could benefit from your   (un)clothes. 
Giving away our clothes to those in need, rather than just throwing it away is a much better option. Sometimes what we easily discard as unwearable can be something, someone desperately needs. 

3. Donate it to charitable institute near your home or in your city.

We can also find a number of orphanages, home for destitute etc who will happily accept your clothes. Please be responsible while donating your clothes to such institutes, as to not give clothes that are absolutely not in a wearable condition.

Our intention here is just not to get rid of any and every piece of clothes that you don't wear but also to be able to be helpful to someone in need. 

or else we can also

4. Donate it here.

seams for dreams

A wonderful initiative by startded by Evelyn Sharma. You can drop off all your excess cloths after washing it nicely and packing it at their drop off centers.  

dream girl foundation
This foundation works for the under privileged and neglected girl child in India. Not only do they help out through the clothes that are donated but also work towards the betterment of the girl Child

goonj
Apart from clothes Goonj also accepts a number of second hand item that could be helpful to those in need.

clothes box foundation
Another option, where we can donate our used clothes.

or

Share at the Door Step

5.You can also sell them here.

sharewardrobe

The arrange a pick up once we get in touch with them, but they also do have pretty high standards as to what clothes they accept for re-sell

coutloot

you can sell your pre-owned high end designer clothes here. 





You can also read more on Sustainable Fashion in my previous posts

Here , here & here !

heart torn into pieces
love shredded into mindless chunks
souls ripped apart

every bit broken
every bit of tear cried out,

nothing will be joined back again
cause all of it will evolve to becoming a better one.

Beginners Guide to an Ethical Wardrobe.Part 3

   Why is having an Ethical wardrobe important
now than ever?

Fashion, whether we choose to or not is a major part of our life.
The clothes we buy or we decide to wear, are all fashion choices we make. Be it a simple top we decide to buy from a roadside vendor or a branded dress from a high-end mall- none are a lesser part of the fashion industry. And, each decision that we take in terms of the clothes we wear is creating an impact on someone, somewhere. 
The affordable and fast fashion that we are constantly consuming 
comes at a high price which we and our generations to come will have to pay for, unless we collectively as a community take conscious take steps towards a green and responsible fashion.

 The textile industry impacts the environment more than we probably imagined, not just the environment but also the millions of lives of people involved in the different aspects of the industry - agriculture, production, transport, manufacturing etc
and we should treat it as a matter of urgency to take the appropriate actions to reduce these effects as much as possible cause of the colossal damage the environment is suffering. 

In this post, I am going to very broadly highlight the effects of the textile or fashion industry on the environment and humans involved, hence the importance of a responsible, ethical and sustainable wardrobe as an end consumers.


 Environment
 Up to 2,700 liters of water are used in the manufacture of a single T-Shirt.

 20,000 liters of water for just 1 kg cotton.

 10,000 liters of water to creating a single pair of jeans.

Beginners Guide to an Ethical Wardrobe.

To give you a perspective on how all this affects the earth, Aral sea, once the 4th world's largest lake in the 1950s, reduced to 10% of its original size as a result of increased diversion to cotton cultivation.

 Moreover, 90% of the cotton is genetically modified. 18% of pesticide and 25% of insecticide are used worldwide for production of fibers which is not only harmful to the soil
but also humans. 
Chemicals used in the production of the textile are disposed of without being properly treated or not treated at all in the local waterways leaving the locals with access to water and an open invitation to a host of diseases.
The results of polluted water have been so grievous, that it is been reported to have cause death in several cases.

The apparel industry contributes to about 20% of the global water pollution. It is the 2nd most polluter of clean water.

 10% of global carbon emission also comes from textile industry. 

 85% of the textile are sent to the landfills, 21 billion tons of garbage is produced per year
A large amount of unused fabric and garments end up in the landfill, increasing the chances of chemicals to seep in the surface and groundwater source.


 People

150 million people are directly or indirectly engaged in the apparel industry out of which 80 %  are women.

The fashion industry is an estimated 2.5 trillion industry.

Beginners Guide to an Ethical Wardrobe.

The Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh was an eye-opener to the Fashion Industry and made everyone stop and think for once about the poor conditions and the inhumane treatment a  garment industry workers have to work under to manufacture the affordable and so-called trendy fashion that we are constantly consuming without a thought about the people behind it.
 The tragedy cost lives of 1100 people and injured 2500, which could have been easily been avoided had the workers not been ordered to show up for work in spite of giving a clear warning about the very poor condition of the building.

Think about it, why are clothes cheaper than they should be, the price, really is paid by the people behind it, who are exploited, paid lesser than the minimum wage required to be paid, and made to work in places which are not suitable to even live, probably. This definitely doesn't mean buying expensive clothes guarantee that the garment has been ethically made- but what it does is, encourage you to do is ask, ask #whomademyclothes. 
We as consumers can bring about a change in the lives of so many people involved in the industry, just by asking the questions we should be. 

Where do our clothes come from?
How is it made?
Who makes our cloth?

Beginners Guide to an Ethical Wardrobe.

You can find my previous post, Part 1 & 2 on an Ethical Wardrobe

Here for Part 1

&

Here, for Part 2

Beginners Guide to a Ethical Wardrobe. Part 2

How to create an ethical wardrobe?

My previous post was a brief introduction to what an ethical wardrobe is?
and to get an idea of how our fashion choices affect the environment?

I'll be using Ethical and Sustainable interchangeably for this series of posts, though they are two very different concepts. 
(A post specifically to talk more about this difference will be coming soon! ) 

So once we have understood what an Ethical wardrobe is,
creating it should not be very difficult. I have listed below few pointers to get you started! 


1. Take a nice look at your existing wardrobe.
Just because you are creating a new wardrobe, does not mean you have to get rid of the old and go on a mad shopping spree!!! Exactly the opposite in fact.
Open your closets, and check out all the clothes that you already own. There might be few gems lost and hidden away somewhere inside! Do you wear them all? Are there certain pieces kept for ages and ignored? 
well, it is time to clean it all up, give away the clothes that you no longer wear and are in wearable condition.
Some may be in good condition and just need a little touch from your local tailor, get it altered, a little fitting here or maybe a little loosing up there and it is as good as new.


2. Repair and Reuse.
Repair the small tears or loose stitches cause of which you have not been able to wear your fav pieces and get them back in your daily wear.
Clothes that are beyond the wearable condition, give it a go at DIYing it,
you can find some really amazing tutorials online!


3. Buy less, Choose well.
Go shopping only if you have to and need to, I know the 70% sale sign or the Buy 1 get 1 free deals all seem so irresistible.
But what we don't pay attention to is the quality of the clothes that we buy, is it stitched well, if the fabric of good quality or are these just going to get torn after few wears. 
Such impulse shopping only encourages the garment manufacturers to produce more low-quality garments, in subpar conditions of workers, they also put to use practices which create more waste and care less about how it is treated or disposed off.
( I know sad state of affairs. ) 


4. Try out Thrift shops or Vintage Shops.
Can't control that itch to shop, try out second-hand shops or vintage shops. As the saying goes, one man's food is another man's poison or the other way round, basically don't be quick to judge those pretty pre-owned pieces.  Sometimes we get tired of wearing clothes which might be in a perfect condition and these clothes go up for sale. There is no shame in buying second hand. Yes, they are Cheaper, that is a plus!!!
Buying a second-hand cloth means saving that piece of clothing from going to landfill and polluting the environment.


5. Shop Local. 
When we buy local, we help in reducing the pollution caused by transportation, empowering someone in our community and give back to the society and doing our little bit.
When I say Shop local, I don't mean, shops which get cheap stuff from a different city and sell it in ours. Shop Local products by local people or designers who use their traditional skill of weaving or embroidering or use fabrics that are locally made and manufacture clothing locally. This saves on transport pollution and creates a livelihood for the local community and also keep a tradition alive which otherwise seems to be vanishing in this fast fashion world.



Creating and maintaining an Ethical closet is all about thoughtfulness, towards out clothes, toward our surrounding, towards the people who make them. It is not something we buy but something that we feel.
how responsible do we feel about our fashion purchase choices?
about our discarded clothes.

Being ethical and sustainably ffashionably is a process which takes time, it isnt something we one fine day decide and get it from a shop. 

The first step is being aware of the problem
Second, understand how our actions are contributing to the problem
third, evaluate how can we stop, find substitutes and solutions.
fourth, start taking those action, take those baby steps.

And in this entire process  be easy on ourselves, I understand old habits die hard,
but keep trying. Dont be harsh on yourself when you can't resist 
Focue on need than on want.
Putting an end to this dark side of fashion is in our hands. leaving behind a better earth for our next generations is in our hands. 

Beginners Guide to a Ethical Wardrobe. 

(Note- I am not an expert, just a novice like probably anyone else reading this post right now, trying to get a better understanding about sustainable fashion and sharing the little knowledge I have! ) 


You can find the part 1 & 3 of this post
Here for Part 1
&
Here for Part 3

Beginners Guide to an Ethical Wardrobe. Part 1

Before, we get into 'How to create an Ethical Wardrobe?',

these are few things I would like to talk about-

1. What is an Ethical / Eco wardrobe all about?

2. How do we create an Ethical wardrobe?

and

3. Why is it important NOW than ever before?



In my this part of the blog let us first talk about  Ethical Wardrobe.
Creating an Ethical Wardrobe is, maybe still a concept that is taking baby steps
in India. Some us might be wondering what we mean when we say an 'Ethical wardrobe'?

Beginners Guide to an Ethical Wardrobe.

'An Ethical Wardrobe in simple terms is to own a
closet which takes into consideration the impact it creates on the environment
and the lives of the people creating it .'

So does that mean,
Is it owning clothes only from Ethical Brands?

Is it dressing up in second-hand clothes?

Is it wearing only garments made out of natural material?

Is it JUST Shopping Locally?

Well, it is a little bit of all of the above I feel.I personally don't think that there is a hard and fast rule to creating an ethical wardrobe. There are guidelines- and we just play around them. The main essence, to keep in mind of an Ethical wardrobe is being responsible towards our surrounding and the people involved in making them.


How do the clothes that we wear impact the environment? Do they even have an affect? Yes!!! They do! In fact, the Textile Industry is the 2nd largest polluting industry, it creates upto 10% of the global carbon emission, and upto 17 to 20 % of the global water pollution is a result waste of the clothing and textile industry. 

The different aspects of our fashion choice which impacts the environment are-

1. The materials, that they are made of. 
Is the fabric the garments made out of natural, pesticide free, chemical free?

2. The manufacturing process put to practise. 

Does the Garment manufacturing process produce environmental waste? How is the Garment manufacturing waste disposed off?

3. How do we treat our clothes?
How many times do we wear the garments before we wash it? Are we using eco-friendly ways to wash it?

4. How we dispose off our old clothes?
What do we do with the clothes that we don't wear anymore? Does it end up in the garbage?Do we donate it?  or give it away to other members of the family? or create some interesting D.I.Ys?


Therefore, an Ethical wardrobe is considering all of the above, starting from the very fiber our garments are made out of to the very end, how do our garments end up.  Taking a keen interest in the different aspects of the clothings-  with a humanely perspective is what we can define as 'Ethical Fashion'.


In Short , the 5 ways to create a Ethical Wardrobe are

Beginners Guide to an Ethical Wardrobe.

You can find the Part 2 & 3 of this post
Here for Part 2
&
Here for Part 3