Small Ways to Save the Planet - Eco Friendly Shopping

The planet is what I am truly passionate about and for just over a year now I have been trying to find new ways to lead a more sustainable life. This is something I believe we all need to do and the good news is, it's super easy to make small changes to do so!

Firstly, we have to get the obvious out of the way...GET RID OF THOSE PLASTIC BAGS. You have to be using tote bags and other kind of reusables by now, or at least reusing your plastic bags! Never go to shop empty handed, take a bag with you!

Also, if you're buying loose fruit, stop picking up those pointless little plastic bags to put them in, there's really no need. Seriously, how do they offer any more protecting to your fruit and veg? They don't. I just chuck it in the basket as it is, but if you really want to cover them, get yourself some mesh bags like these

Right, now on to the juicy stuff...fast fashion

Recent studies have found that the textile industry is responsible for the release of more greenhouse gas than international shipping and aviation combined. That's without even thinking about the huge amount of waste they create and resources used

The average person now buys 60% more clothes than they did 20 years ago and keeps them for about half as long. In the US, 85% of unwanted clothes end up in landfill, where they take 200 years to decompose, leaving behind toxic chemicals, dyes and synthetics 

The fashion industry’s CO2 emissions are projected to increase by more than 60% to nearly 2.8 billion tons per year by 2030. Main cotton producing countries like China and India are already facing water shortages, and with water consumption projected to go up 50% by 2030, these cotton-growing nations face the dilemma of choosing between cotton production and securing clean drinking water (Forbes, 2017)

Fast fashion has cheap prices which may seem convenient for us, however they are made using extremely cheap labour in sweat shops. These sweat shops force people and children from extremely poor backgrounds into making our clothes at sometimes often $1 per hour for 72 hours straight.

                                   

So, what can YOU do?

1. Ideally, stop buying cheap clothing from high street brands. Do you really need a new H&M t-shirt if this is what it costs the environment and the people who made it? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not judging, I'm trying to get better at this myself. If you really need something new, why not buy higher quality that will last longer, ultimately saving you money in the long run

2. Learn how to fix your clothes! I know so many people that throw stuff away because of a hole, learning to sow is really easy and can save you money. It's a pretty important life skill. Also, if you get good at sowing, you can make your old boring clothes look way cooler by adding some patches or embroidery!

3. Resell your old stuff and buy other people's old stuff! Don't throw your old clothes away when someone out there could give them a loving home. I've become Obsessed with Depop recently and would recommend everyone downloading it, it's such a great easy way to buy and sell old clothing for cheap prices. There are loads of other ways to sell your old clothes but that one is my favourite. If you see a design you really like in a shop, look it up on there and you will probably find something you like even more for cheaper!

4. Charity/Thrift shops. In the UK, our thrift shops are pretty expensive, but charity shops are the best thing ever. They're not just full of granny clothes I promise. My friend and I actually used to make days out of going to local charity shops to see what treasures we could find ahaha

5. Go to small local shops or small businesses online, which are far more environmentally friendly (and farmers markets for food)

I hope we can all try our best to introduce slow fashion into our lives 💚

The Punky Bunny

I just wanted to shoutout the amazing Emma at The Punky Bunny on Etsy for her amazing vegan designs and recyclable packaging! Definitely eco-friendly shopping right there!  Her designs are gorgeous and she's absolutely lovely so go check her out ❤️

Etsy: ThePunkyBunny

Instagram: ThePunkyBunny

Thank you lovelies,

Lon x