Sustainability

The folks at EthicalOcean asked me the other day, "How far away is the fashion industry from becoming 100% fair trade?"  My first response was..."Unfortunately, pretty darn far from it." 

The fashion industry as a whole won't be able to go fully fair trade until consumers as a whole start demanding fair trade with their actions.  You can vote with your dollars every day to make this kind of change.  By choosing to only wear a wardrobe that's been made under fair labor conditions, labels producing in sweatshops will have to start listening.  It's hard to resist those big sales at department stores in the malls, but if we all keep buying items without knowing where or how they were made, we aren't going to see much change. 

So this got me thinking...what actions have I started taking personally to build a resposible wardrobe?  How do I choose to vote with my dollars when it comes to fashion and filling my closet?  Now, you have to understand that like most of us, I'm on a tight budget.  I don't take a salary from Dsenyo yet so I don't have much of a dispensable income.  Therefore, with this in mind, I recommend the following simple strategy for building a socially conscious wardrobe. 

How to build a Responsible Wardrobe:
When you are buying a new item make sure it can fulfill at lease ONE of the following criteria:

1. Is it Fair Trade?  Do you see the GreenAmerica or FTF logos or credible information on the hangtag about who made it and where it came from?
2. Is it at least partially made of sustainable fibers? (ex- hemp, organic cotton, tencel, bamboo, recylce polyester, etc)
3. Is it recycled, upcycled or used?  (consignment shops and thrift stores are a great place to get items of clothing that you can't find fair trade or in a sustainable fiber)

That's it!  Keep it simple and start today!

Last year Dsenyo became a Green America approved business for people and planet.  So what exactly does this mean?

Green America (formerly Co-op America) is a great non-profit organization based in the USA working to promote sustainability in business both from the social and environmental perspective.  They are an excellent resource for information on organic, fair trade and sustainability in general.  Sustainability meaning that the "Earth is preserved for all the generations to come."

In order to become an approved business as part of Geen America's Business Network, Dsenyo had to go through a throrough application process and review of our business.  We like Green America because they balance both the impact on people and the environment which is right up our alley at Dsenyo. 

According to Green America a "Green Business" is on that fits the following principles:

• Green businesses operate in ways that solve, rather than cause, both environmental and social problems. 
• These businesses adopt principles, policies, and practices that improve the quality of life for their customers, their employees, communities, and the environment.

You can find a list of Green businesses in Green America’s National Green Pages™ .  All of these business, like Dsenyo, have passed a screening process that qualifies them for membership in the Green Business Network™. 

Although this article was pulished a few years ago, it brings up several issues relevant that are still valid today. Namely, that the local textile industry in Malawi has been threatened by the sale of second-hand clothing coming from places like the US and Europe.  Over that past 10 years many textile mills have closed with only one company remaining.  On the bright side, there has been talk about starting to grow organic cotton in Malawi through a partnership with Taiwan.  I will give you an update on this when I return from Malawi at the end of July.