When Plastic Free July rolls around, we make the most of it to celebrate our favourite low-waste, zero-waste, plastic free, sustainable and eco-friendly brands.
It's no secret that polyester is one of the least sustainable fabrics you can buy, and the only benefit of it, is that is tends to last - but at what cost? It's not sustainable, it's not eco-friendly, it's not natural, it doesn't breathe, it harbours bacteria, it doesn't break down, and put simply - we can do better.
15 billion trees are cut down every single year around the world, but we need trees to survive. Global re-planting is essential for human existence, so to combat deforestation, One Tree Planted successfully planted over ten million trees worldwide in 2020 alone.
Around 18 million bras make their way into landfill every few years in the U.S alone, and most of them are made with polyester material and plastic fixtures. If they're made with fabrics like polyester, nylon, synthetic lace or mesh, they can take up to 200 years to decompose.
What if all the clothes we bought were sustainable? What if everything we wore was made ethically? If everyone in the world bought ethical and sustainable clothing and the fashion industry was circular and fair, we wouldn’t be having these kinds of conversations, but how do we change the behaviour of nearly eight billion people?
Every year around the world, we flush nearly 15 million trees-worth of toilet paper down our drains. If you’re yet to consider the impact of taking ten minutes out on the throne, it’s time to make the switch to recycled toilet paper and help wipe up a wasteful mess.
The Australian Government Department of Health guideline have confirmed, repeatedly, that cloth face masks are suitable for us everyday folk, with two layers a minimum, and three layers for better protection.
‘The Three M’s’ are easy to understand and remember, and when you stop to think about it, it all makes sense. Where a garment is MADE, what MATERIALS it's made from and how MUCH it costs, will answer any questions you have about ethics and sustainability.
If no one in Australia bought a single-use coffee cup today and instead used a reusable cup, we’d save 2.7 million cups today alone. 70 million barrels of non-renewable oil are used every year to make the world’s consumption of polyester fabric, and 60% of all fashion bought is made from it.
Online shopping is great, but plastic packaging is not. Only 14 per cent of plastic is recovered from landfill for recycling in Australia and the rest is buried or accidentally washed out to sea.
In the last forty years, half of all marine life has disappeared. Oceans are becoming warmer, sea levels are rising, and the increase in carbon dioxide has started a process of acidification in our ocean.
Margaret Mead was the one who said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
It is estimated that between 8 and 13 million tonnes of plastic leaks into the world’s oceans each year to be ingested by seabirds, fish and other organisms, and more than 230,000 tonnes of it are microplastics.
53 million tonnes of clothing will be produced this year and 87% of it will be landfilled or be incinerated. It’s a fact that we cannot ignore any longer; what are we doing about it?
