From 2011 to 2016 I was pleased to be able to have done 365days where I did a kind deed every day(& 366days in the leap year)!
In 2017 I am doing it again...my aim is to inspire others into action by showing them how simple it is to do kind acts for others. I do this by doing a kind act a day. I do this by sharing my story and some ideas for living a kinder life. Kinder for others, kinder for ourselves, kinder for the planet. Welcome to 365days of kindness!
I can’t believe how fast this month has flown by! It’s unbelievable! After today there are only two more days! Two until the end of Sustainable September! I thought I would talk about something that I’ve been making every morning before work and consuming on my walk to work. And that’s ... Tea!!!. But I make it simple and take it in a travel mug which is what today’s idea is all about!
Day 28.Use a reusable Coffee/Tea Cup
This is great when it comes to going to coffee shops as you can save yourself a few cents/pence anytime you buy a cup of tea or coffee take away.
Using reusables is also much better for the environment.
I have also been using mine everyday as I walk from my house to the office in the mornings
As the mornings get colder and I need a cup of something to keep me warm.
It turns out that a warm/hot cup to take with me as I leave home is also a great hand-warmer as I walk to work every morning.
I know the first few time going to a coffee shop you might forget but its an opportunity to take that time to sit in and enjoy a ceramic mug instead.
If you are a cafe owner and are looking for ideas, you can always do like this little cafe in Australia has done ... ban single use coffee cups, and provide an option for those who forget.
I hope this helps, enjoy the clips from both UK and Australian War on Waste.
As it comes to colder weather, you could do simple kindnesses, like Suspended coffees or even giving homeless a couple dollars for a hot drink, a coffee card for a local cafe, or even inviting someone to join you for a cup or tea or coffee.
Welcome Back Everyone.
There are only a few more days of Sustainable September so I am making sure this counts. Yesterdays blog post (for today) was all about making some reusable swaps like saying no to disposable razors in favour of reusable Safety Razors. There are so many awesome ideas for yesterday and I am sure there will be people telling me that there are more that could be done too. I welcome those challenges.
Today's blog post idea (for tomorrow) is a big one... so I hope I do it justice. It is all about Slow vs Fast Fashion.
Sustainable September Day Twenty Seven: Give Fast Fashion the flick.
Lets start by explaining what Fast Fashion is... before we talk about what we can do about it.
What is Fast Fashion?
Fast Fashion is simply the high speed turnover of clothing so that when you buy a "Trendy" item it will be out of fashion by the time you wear it. In the past, in my grandmothers era, there were two seasons of clothing to buy for: the warm season and the cold season. Then there were four seasons of clothing: Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. Now Fast Fashion is generating 52 Seasons of clothing every year...One for every week of the year (some brands are going even faster than that).
When I worked for an Australian fashion brand, ten years ago, we would receive new shipments of clothing every week. Each week there was something new to entice people in. What I witnessed then was that any of the old stock that had been reduced to clear (but hadn't sold) had the tags removed (identifying labels for the brand) and then it was either thrown in the bin or donated to charity. There was a lot of waste. A LOT! But I didn't think much of it at the time. I wasn't aware then of how fast fashion worked. I wasn't aware about how bad it was for the environment to make these items. I didn't realise how bad it was for the planet as a whole when it came to disposing of these items, nor for the workers who make these items AND also how bad it is for our wallets (that is a conversation for another time).
If you shop Fast Fashion now and still have nothing to wear then check out this video on Fast Fashion
Here are some quick Fast Fashion Facts...
The War on Waste
Australian TV show did an amazing job of showing off the impact of fast
fashion. If you aren't in Australia you won't be able to watch the
episodes. But there are a lot of other amazing documentaries and programs that show you what the Fast Fashion Industry is all about.
So how about you check out this Video from TED talk.
The key points of this TED Talk is that 10% of the worlds carbon footprint is coming from the Fashion industry. The fashion industry is the Second Highest polluting industry behind only the oil industry. 4 Billion Pounds of textiles end up in land fill every year. Polyester is made from micro-plastics which means that every piece of polyester that has ever been made still exists, even if it has been thrown into landfill.
There are so many other challenging facts about Fast Fashion. If you want to learn more about Fast Fashion and the implication it has for our planet and all those who live here... check out the documentary called "The True Cost". It is available on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon and to download on your computer. It is really worth a watch.
After you watch the implications of the Fast Fashion industry you have to ask yourself... What can we do about it? And it is a very good question.
Be Kind, Choose Slow Fashion, Choose Fair Trade (Ethical brands), Buy Second hand or Vintage, and Upcycle. I won't cover all of this here because it is a massive task, however, I will look at a few of these points.
Firstly, for a kindness advocate I had to look at the importance of Kindness in my consumption of fashion. I don't just mean Eco-kindness either, oh no, this is kindness to fellow human beings all over the planet. There are many people who work to make our clothing. In many countries these people are living in poverty and do not earn a decent wage for what they make. This is something that I have started paying more and more attention to over the years. I want to make sure that the people who make my clothing are in safe living and working conditions are not subject to slave labour and have enough food to eat and water to drink.
Sometimes this means that I have to pay a few more dollars for the clothing I buy. Those extra dollars buy me peace of mind.
I have a few different Apps to help me make conscious choices about where I want to spend my money. The one I have used the most is an app Called "Shop Ethical" (Available on Apple and Android). Another I use is called "Good on you"(Also available on Apple and Android). I have these apps available on my iPhone at the touch of a button. For more Ethical Apps check out this link to an article on Ethica.
To continue making a different and steer away from Fast Fashion there is now a movement toward slow fashion.
Slow Fashion - What does it even mean?
Slow Fashion means being deliberate with your money. Every dollar you spend is basically a vote toward the future you want to create. Spending money on fast fashion, means you are voting for the continuing ethics and attitudes behind it. Spending money on ethical, fair trade, vegan (cruelty-free), environmentally friendly brands, you are voting for those types of businesses and products you want to continue. Changing your focus from consuming, to making the world a better place with your purchases, is a type of conscious kindness that we need more of. It ultimately affect us all.
I used to find shopping fun. I used to go to cheap stores and buy a bunch of sale items. I would spend about $20 to $50 every week on fast fashion. But now I am more conscious of what I buy, where and from who. I make sure that the money I spend, when I do actually spend money on clothing, is going to support the type of industry that I want to have.
One of my most recent Purchases was two pairs of jeans from JeansWest over 3 months ago. One is skinny blue jeans and the other is straight leg black jeans. They cost me $99 for the two pairs. This is more than I would have bough for jeans in the past but already they have well and truly earned their keep. As they are so well made they will last a lot longer too.
When I went to purchase my jeans I checked on my Shop Ethical App and discovered JeansWest were good when it came to their ethical wages & conditions for workers. They have started working on reducing environmental impacts too.
I also saw that they have a return and repair shop when I bought them (in Sydney), so I can get them repaired if, say, a button goes on my jeans. I have worn them almost everyday for the last 3 months and they are amazing. I know that they have a long way to go, but I chose them deliberately for their clothes and because I really needed to get some jeans.
Note: I had purchased some JeansWest jeans second hand (from Ebay) a while ago but they didn't fit. So I opted for convenience. At the shop I could try the jeans on so I knew they would fit me AND last a while. Next time, I might go in and try on jeans in a range of styles to see what i like and what suits me best. Then I can look for the right size and style second hand on eBay. It just takes a bit more time to figure it out, so I admit I went for the easy option with this purchase.
Choosing Fair Trade is linked to all of these. I have talked about Fair Trade on this blog before so I won't go too far into it. Here is an Inforgraphic to explain it to those who might have missed my previous blogs.
What I will say is making choices that are going to help not only your hip pocket but help those who are making and growing the ingredients/products you buy, is a start.
The Sustainable September idea for tomorrow is to say NO to fast fashion. This can be hard at first. So here are 10 Fashion Tips to help you give fast fashion the flick.
So check out this video below for more inspiration:
Did you know: There are companies around the world who are taking up Sustainability and Zero Waste practices in the world. There is even a design award that promotes and encourages Zero Waste and Environmentally Sustainable Practices. You can check out more info from this link...Video: Eco Chic Designing Award - Cutting Waste out of Fashion.
ACTIVITY: Do not buy any new clothes for a week. Instead take the time to research what you really need. Check out tomorrows blog for ideas about how to figure out what you REALLY need, when it comes to clothing.
I hope this post doesn't overwhelm too much. I did my best to keep it short and sweet. However there is just so much information about fast fashion and its impact on our environment.
How did you go with the Bamboo Toothbrushes? Or the toothpaste?
I gave the Bamboo toothbrushes a go last night. It was a bamboo toothbrush infused with charcoal. So if you give this a go be warned you might have a grey tinge to your teeth until you rinse. But the lady at the Wasteless Pantry told me that this stops happening after the first couple of brushes.
I gave the toothpaste a go too. I have to double check I got the recipe right because I think I might have put too much coconut oil in. Be aware it takes a little while to get used to the taste… so if its too horrible maybe you could add a touch of stevia to taste.
Another day, another idea for tomorrow.
Sustainable September Day Ten – Take and use a reusable Coffee/Tea cup.
Why is it an Eco-Kindness to take a reusable coffee cup? Because single use coffee cups are not recyclable and in Australia we use a Billion coffee cups a year. Check out his news clip from ABCs 7.30 Report 'Takeaway Coffee Cups driving hidden plastic catastrophy.
Why coffee cups cant be recycled. This clip comes from 'War on Waste UK'
Recently in Australia, we also had the 'War on Waste TV' show that brought up this issue. Check out the War on Waste (Aus) #BYOCoffeeCup.
What can you use instead?
I have two different types of Keep Cups (two plastic and one glass) that are both Coffee Cups that are barista standard sizes.
(Glass on the left and one of my plastic ones on the right)
There are a huge range of other types of reusable mugs and cups. So i would love your recommendations for other people to check out too.
SOMETHING ELSE: Did you know that there are whole communities who are working toward Zero Waste. Like this one, Zero Waste Town, who will zero waste by 2020. …Zero Waste Town by 2020.
You are not alone on this journey to Sustainability, no matter what level of Eco-Kindness you and your community are at.
ACTIVITY: If you want to use up your old coffee cups... then this is the nicest upcycling idea i could find.
I hope you are all well and enjoying Sustainable September.
