When it comes to fashion, baby, I'm a huge fan. I love to read about new styles, fabrics, designers... you name it. And, like my gal pals, I covet, but then rail against, the so-called "hot" handbags (which, I still call pocketbooks because my mom called them that). Why are they so pricey? I mean, really. They are all starting to look the same - Marc, Mulberry, Chloe, St. Laurent... my head is a-spinnin'.
And, now that you got me started on this topic, what's with all the new (read: expensive) sustainable, organic, vegan, waste-reducing clothing? What does it all mean? I know that Bono's company, Edun, produces cool fashions, and that it is "nude" spelled backwards, but that's it.
Clearly, I had much research to conduct. And, for the sake of my readers, I may have to purchase some of my research! (It is part of the job, folks. It is these types of sacrifices that I am willing to make for the betterment of our planet!!)
So, credit card at the ready, I started pouring through web sites, magazines, etc. Turns out, there is still quite a bit of confusion in terms of clothing labels. The U.S. standards are a bit flaky, and international standards aren't that much better. There are organic, vegan, sustainable labels. Recycled, waste-reducing, fair-trade produced...Want a bamboo tee-shirt? You can have one. Want a pair of jeans with recycled coke bottle caps for snaps - got it! Production processes to more safely harvest the materials, design, manufacture, package and ship are changing by the day.
After a short while of clicking, I found a great source: Lotus Organics (www.lotusorganics.com). The founders, the Lackmans, have been in the well-being biz for over 35 years. I figured they were safe to teach me.
Their blog: http://organicclothing.blogs.com/ is filled with amazing definitions, eco-fashion information and even a "clothing, fashion and fiber glossary the likes which you will never see (http://organicclothing.blogs.com/my_weblog/2005/12/fashion_fabric_.html)
After all is said and done, there are a gazillion choices today in terms of eco-friendly fashion. Not all organic dresses are made from hemp and look like burlap sacks and cost the same as a year of Ivy-league college tuition.
It just makes sense to look at what we wear if we are trying to change the way we treat this beautiful planet of ours. Do we want to wear shoes made from malnourished and poorly treated cows? Do we want to wear tees made from cotton grown with planet-poisoning pesticides or without? Do we want to support a company that cares about the environment or one that just wants a bigger bottom line? (p.s. go to www.patagonia.com, one of the caring companies.)
We all have choices to make.
And, speaking of choices, let's get to a new MEM idea.
Modern Eco Mom idea: donate
Go through your closet and donate some clothes that are collecting dust! It's pretty easy. A good rule of thumb is if you haven't worn the item in a year, give it to someone who needs it! Go to http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/fifteen/used-clothing.htm for info on donating women's clothing; www.careergear.org for info about donating men's clothes and http://www.kidsdonations.org/ for info on donating kids clothing.
Rock on.
2 comments:
Where I live, there are two famous clothign repurposers, Haricanna, which uses old fur coats to make trendy new ones (I don't wear fur, but if i did, this would be how I would do it) and On and On, that buys bulk used clothing and remakes them into something else all together. you can even bring them your favorite things thatyou don't wear anymore and they'll make something new out of it!
Just found your site via the MJM. I've been going green as well - not using paper towels (or napkins) - replacing cleaning chemicals with more biodegradable options - and even recently changed disposable diapers in for gdiapers (they are biodegradable - or flushable - and you can use cloth in them!). Let me know if you need some ideas!
And thanks for doing this. I'll pass your site on to others!!!
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