Big brands are listening and putting their best foot forward to help tackle the consumer crisis. What great news! Recently, as I was scrolling on my Instagram feed, an ad came to my attention. Did you know that "More than 25 billion pairs of shoes are manufactured each year, and 90% of them will end up in landfill - often within 12 months of purchase."!
Quite often, I see products that claim to have been upcycled but, these products weren't exactly waste in the first instance. Many people purchase secondhand clothing then cut them up to use the portion they want for their new upcycled piece. However, this is actually creating waste...
Plastic such as Polyethylene are not just added in the form of microbeads but can be added in other forms, combined with various monomers. It can be used to bind/hold ingredients together; to dilute solids; to prevent separation of oils and liquids; to form coatings on skin, hair or nails; and to polish teeth etc
I keep scrap pieces for using as pocket lining pieces, to put together to make bias binding, or to use as fabric cover buttons. Another way we can use up fabric scraps is to make a patchwork Christmas stocking either as a gift, or for yourself!
It was said that 66% of the fast fashion industry is made of synthetic fibres derived from fossil fuels. Therefore it was suggested that even just kicking out the use of synthetic fibres derived from fossil fuels within the system would make a huge impact to our planet and help to see a more hopeful future.
In the UK, we are incredibly lucky that we have kerbside recycling. We don't even have to carry all our rubbish to a local tip, we just have to go outside of our properties! There is a misconception that paper can only be recycled a few times...
Do you have lots of fabric scraps that you just don't know what to do with? Well here is a wonderful idea for you to try, and you can guarantee that no one else will have exactly the same end result!
If you are a person who menstruates, it comes as no surprise that it is a very costly matter. Did you know that in the UK alone in 2020, 3 in 10 girls have struggled to afford or access sanitary wear during lockdown, with over half (54%) of these girls having used toilet paper as an alternative.
Recycling plastic can be a minefield of problems. Look at how many things are wrapped in plastic at the shops. Think about how difficult it is to identify what plastic each item is: therefore trying to recycle each and every piece of plastic produced is pretty much impossible, especially where technology is limited in certain recycling plants.
I've gone a little off-piste with my blogging this week! It may not be about sustainable sewing but it is about how businesses can make themselves more sustainable, and I find this particular question is one I ask every time I stay at a hotel! The results are amazing, so here I am to share what I've found!
We must shift from harming the planet to healing it. For World Environment Day 2022, the United Nations have developed "A Practical Guide to living sustainably in harmony with nature". From the guide, I share with you here the importance of the crisis, and what we can all do as individuals to help.
As we all know, the fashion industry creates too much too fast. To eliminate this problem, we should be creating less waste, and look at the circularity of a textile piece. If deadstock fabric is now sought-after, then it becomes a demand.