Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Eco fashion
What is it and where can you get it?
You’ve heard the word but you don’t really know what it means. What is eco fashion anyway? Why do we need it? Is it not just another brilliant scheme the fashion industry has conjured up to rid us of more cash?
Actually, no. Eco fashion is built on a solid foundation. According to the Sustainable Technology Education Project, Eco fashion is clothing that:
- Is made from materials such as organic cotton treated without the use of pesticides. According to the offtherails website cotton is the most environmentally unfriendly crop there is. It uses 25% of the world's insecticides and 10% of its pesticides!
- Doesn’t involve the use of bleach or other harmful dyes on clothing.
- Is often made from recycled or reused materials, such as second hand clothes or even glass bottles!
- Is fair trade.
- Is made to be durable and of a very high standard so that it lasts.
Pretty impressive eh? Makes me want to try this whole eco fashion thing myself!
So where can one buy eco fashion in Ireland? Oxfam sell some very reasonably priced t-shirts, bags and jewelry and a full list of their shop locations can be found on their website.
If it’s bags you’re after, I would highly recommend the rag bag site. Ragbags are bags made from plastic bags collected by people in the slums of New Delhi. Ragbags have already created 50 jobs for rag pickers, people at collection centres and fabricators in New Delhi. A VERY good cause to contribute to if you need a bag anyway.
Marks and Spencer’s have even got in on the act with organic cotton bags, t-shirts, towels and babywear.
So let’s all do our part in the best way we can and look into eco fashion. We can look good and feel good too!
By: Lynn Dunning
