Posh Swaps Blog

Posh Swaps has recently been asked to contribute to a new initiative based in Germany called ‘Make It Green!’. The aim of the company is to contribute their part of the carbon footprint by raising its awareness. Posh Swaps was approached by the Make It Green team after they came upon the Style-Eyes Fashion Blog from earlier this month. 

The Make It Green team are trying to raise awareness about the carbon emissions used by people who use the internet, with blogs being named in particular as any one blog generates around 15,000 visits a  month has a yearly carbon dioxide emission of 8lb.

To help lower these emissions, the team have created a scheme called ‘My Blog is Carbon Neutral’, where more details can be found on their website. On this website you will find a button where bloggers can demonstrate that they care about the environment and the carbon footprint of their blogs, with the general idea being to show all bloggers the possibilities to make a small contribution to protect the environment.

To actually neutralise your blog’s carbon footprint, the Make It Green team are planting trees in cooperation with the Arbor Day Foundation working specifically in the Plumas National Forest in Northern California. Over the past ten years, thousands of wildfires have burned down many national forests, and 88.000 acres of the Plumas National Forest were destroyed by two fires alone in 2007. The support of bloggers all over the world is needed to help re-plant these lost trees, so for every one participating blog, one tree is planted.

And so Posh Swaps has now gone carbon neutral and shown that they care with a tree planted in their name- just another small step towards helping the environment!

Picture from www.arborday.org

Tesco have just recently announced the launch of their new clothing collection, which is made out of recycled and discontinued materials. The collection ‘From Somewhere’ for Florence and Fred consists of just six pieces and is made purely from left-over materials that would have otherwise been thrown away.

Tesco got the inspiration to produce recycled clothing as part of their commitment to help the environment after a visit to From Somewhere’s collection at Estethica as part of the London Fashion Week back in February this year. The decision to launch a recycled clothing collection has had mixed responses as this is just a small step for Tesco to associate themselves with a commitment to recycling and helping the environment whilst yet remaining a company not normally known for their ‘light carbon footprint’- and because of this, why would one of the UK’s most respected ethical fashion labels want to be associated with Tesco? From Somewhere and Estethica designer Orsola de Castro has said that she believes that ‘upcycling’ fabrics should be made more accessible, and that the larger retailers should be encouraged to take responsibility for their waste. ”I have always believed in infiltration,” she states. ”We put Estethica right at the centre of London Fashion Week.”

The clothes, being produced in a ‘green’ factory in Sri Lanka, has still received negative views from the customers, with some believing that this is not a ‘go green’ production as the recycled materials are being flown to Sri Lanka and back again. The factory, however, is the first one of its kind in the world to be awarded a gold rating for Environmental Responsibility.

The collection is as you would expect from ‘From Somewhere’- they have kept to their original style with dresses made to flatter the shape, using bright, bold colours. The collection is available exclusively at www.tesco.com/clothing.                                                   

Picture taken from www.guardian.co.uk

There has been a lot of talk lately about sustainable clothes and eco fashion. Every day a new brand emerges that is in some better for the environment than conventional clothing and usually more ethically produced. But with fast fashion and the culture of buying cheaply (and often unethically) made high fashion clothing still highly popular and ‘environmental green washing’ becoming the new in phrase, what really can be done to make clothing more sustainable?

At Posh Swaps we believe that there is no right or wrong way to become more sustainable, anything that we can do, no matter how small is a positive step in the right direction. But there are some things that we can do that are likely to have a more positive effect than others.

1. Buy less clothes - it is quite simple really, the less clothes that we buy, the less environmental damage is caused in their manufacture and the less waste we make. Clothes swapping is a great alternative to buying clothes. It allows you to update your wardrobe without having an impact (or a very minimal impact on the environment)

2. Buy second hand clothes- this is the most eco friendly way to buy clothes. There is no additional carbon footprint (except for transport) associated with buying new clothes. But we understand that you cannot always find exactly what you want second hand and will sometimes need to buy new.

3. Buy quality clothes that will last, where possible in Eco friendly fabrics- fabrics made from recycled materials, probably have the smallest footprint as they do not have to be made from scratch. There is also the benefit of having saved materials that may have otherwise ended up in landfill. Other eco friendly fabrics including organic bamboo, cotton and hemp are all better than their conventional alternatives but still have a carbon footprint associated with their growth and manufacture and contribute to the problem of waste so should always be bought to last.

Finally, in order to ensure that your clothing is really sustainable, you should consider its whole life  cycle:

• Buy clothes to last
• Wash and dry (or clean) in as eco friendly manner as possible
• When you no longer need them recycle by selling or donating to charity.

Posh-swaps.com was at the Southbank Centre in London on Wednesday for the Sustainable Clothing Conference and update of the Sustainable Clothing Roadmap. The conference included entrance to Estethica, London Fashion Week’s sustainable trade show, a reception and address by Environment Minister Dan Norris.The conference brought together over 200 clothing industry representatives to discuss the ethical and environmental impacts of clothing.

One year on from the first sustainable action plan in which Posh Swaps pledged to promote recycling and reuse of clothes by encouraging clothes swapping and buying and selling of second hand clothes as well as other eco fashion and sustainable clothing. A further 40 companies and organisations have signed up to the action plan including British Retail Consortium, Ethical Fashion Forum, Forum for the Future, Levis Strauss, MADE-BY, Cotton Made in Africa, RSPCA, Society of Dyers and Colourists.

Since its creation the SCAP has brought together over 40 organisations, from high street retailers, to designers and textile manufacturers to battle the environmental and ethical impacts of ‘throw away’ fashion.  Some of the biggest names in fashion are working to take actions which will make a significant difference to the environmental footprint and social inequalities which blight some of the consumer fashion supply chain.

Many of the initiatives from the original action plan are now well underway including Tesco’s new sustainable clothing range in collaboration with From Somewhere which will launch this Spring and the Oxfam ‘Clothes Exchange’ partnership with M&S.

There was also the announcement of a £3.5 million fund to be made available over 3 years by the Responsible and Accountable Garment Sector (RAGS) fund for bids from organisations who want to make the clothing business more ethical and contribute more strongly to development in poor countries.

picture from Home Green

This week our Green Chic friends have some great posts from the winter olympics to give aways and peace necklaces. More ethical, eco and cruelty free glamour and style than you could ever want.

Factio Magazine is giving away some fab eco-chic gifts from Pottery Barn and West Elm!
Guiltless & Glamorous reports on the fur controversy surrounding the 2010 Winter Olympics..
Home Green loves Canada for making the Olympic metals from recycled metals– Not only are they beautiful but eco-friendly as well!
Posh Swaps checks out some very gorgeous and sustainable Second Hand Style by Captive Studio
Runway To Retail - Chicago designer, Lana Bramlette, hit the jackpot when her “Peace” necklace made the cover of the most recent Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.
Shopping and Info is giving away a great Chelsea Messenger bag from Aspinal of London.

Factio Magazine checks out eco-chic store Sofia Vintage. The chic second-hand shop hosted a media friendly affair recently with vintage fashion tips, stylish people watching and flowing cocktails.
Fashion Pulse Daily finds some great ways to shop and help Haiti- from buying flip-flops to grooming products.
Guiltless & Glamorous is disappointed with this year’s cruelty-free red carpet picks at the Grammys…or lack thereof
Home Greenloves clothes made from bamboo because they are fashionable, affordable and sustainably produced Plus, they feel like silk or cashmere- watch out cotton!
Posh Swaps looks at the latest eco fashion designer collection in her post Christopher Raeburn SS10 – recycling at its best
Runway To Retail checks out eco-chic beauty, trying Desert Essence Organics!
Shopping and Info loves this lilac Balenciaga bag for Spring 2010 because it is the hot color of the season AND it is pre owned for 50% off retail.

And here is out weekly round up of the best of green beauty and fashion for the week. Enjoy!

Factio Magazine gets Nicole Kidman’s 2010 SAG Awards “Beach Hair” with eco-friendly product by David Babaii! Find out which one!
Fashion Pulse Daily gets some great V-Day suggestions from renowned stylist Robert Verdi!
Guiltless & Glamorous rounds up the start of the awards season’s cruelty-free red carpet fashions!
Home Green gives you tips on how to switch to a facial thats tough on dirt and easy on the environment
Looking Sharp! discovers Fancy Clothinga new Pittsburgher designing wares with thrift store finds!
My Beauty Bunny asks the question – What are parabens and should we be worried about them?
Posh Swaps talks fashion and sustainability with some useful tips.
Runway To Retail finds out if H&M is Lying About ‘Organic’ Cotton Click Here
Shopping and Info idea for Valentine’s Day Gift ala Angelina Jolie give to charity in the name of your loved one.

The principles of sustainability can be applied to almost anything but for humans, it is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which depends on the wellbeing of the natural world and the responsible use of its resouces. Fashion and clothing are well recognised as having a high environmental impact and being unsustainable. Here are just a few ways that you can become a more sustainable shopper when it comes to clothing and fashion:

• Buy clothes to last - choose quality pieces in classic styles that will not go out of fashion quickly.
• Look after clothes- ensure that clothes are washed according to instructions, protect from moths using cedarwood balls and make minor repairs as neccessary.
• Where possible buy second hand clothes or swap clothes.
• Recycle old clothes by selling them, swapping them or donating to charities.
• If you do buy new clothes, opt for sustainable fibres like organic cotton, bamboo and hemp.
• Consider carefully how you wash clothes and the environmental impact. Wash on a low temperature, line dry and use eco detergents where possible.

picture from Shopping and Goodies 

Its great to see so many blogs out there proving that you can be green and look gorgeous and raising awareness of the environmental issues that effect the fashion and beauty industries. Here are just a small selection of this weeks posts from our Green Chic Friends. Enjoy!

College Candy schools Fashion Pulse Daily on the fashion industry’s wasteful ways.
Guiltless & Glamorous continues its Welcome to the New Year series with a run-down of great cruelty-free hair products to introduce to your haircare regime in 2010.
Posh Swaps is excited that 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity and explains how this is relevant to the fashion industry.
Shopping and Info loves the eco friendly Toms Shoes worn by Julia Roberts.

2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity as declared by the UN. So what has this got to do with fashion you might ask?

Well fashion as  with many other industries has a significant impact on the environment. From the pollution caused by pesticides used to grow cotton to the disposal of clothing at the end of its life. Natural ecosystems have a very delicate balance. Change just one environmental factor and the balance will collapse having far reaching ecological effects. Biodiversity describes the variety of flora (plants) and fauna (animals) that exist in the world and as ecosystems are destroyed or fragmented so the biodiversity is lost. Ultimately loss of biodiversity has an impact on humans as it provides food sources, shelter, safe guards water and effects CO2 emmissions and global warming.

Events will be taking place around the globe to celebrate biodiversity and explore ways to sustain biodiversity. Specifically for fashion, EcoChic Geneva on 20th and 21st January will begin with a 1.5 day seminar “Redefining Sustainability in the International Agenda” from the perspective of the fashion and cosmetics industries.