Posh Swaps Blog

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.

Have you ever wished that you could live a  more green life but just can’t seem to find the time to do so? Finding the most eco friendly options and products can take time and that is something that most of us seem to be very short on. That is why I am really pleased that I came across www.wekangogreen.co.uk, a website that seems to give almost everything that you need to make your life a lot greener and be more eco friendly.

From organic gardening tips to a database of places to recycle and find eco friendly goods to making less waste when you cook, the website is jam packed with really useful information accompanied by charming pictures.The shop stocks almost anything that you could possibly need from cleaning and laundry products to hair care and organic makeup to batteries and even water saving devices. If you though going green would be difficult, this website will make it a whole lot easier.

They even run a stamp reward scheme so going green doesn’t have to be expensive.

estethica at London Fashion week seems to gaining pace. This time the British Fashion councils ethical initiative has added 13 new designer and 9 new labels making a total of 28 designers. estethica is all about fashion which is ethical but also achieves design excellence. Great news, we don’t think that just being ethical is enough, we want the clothes to look great as well.

We have already posted about North Circular the new label by top models with knitwear knitted by grannies using locally produced ethical wool. Other exciting new additions to estethica for this season are AJNA with a collection inspired by natures beauty and crafted by indigenous textile artisans in Peru, Nepal, Bolivia, India, as well as locally in New York in a range of eco friendly materials including The materials used are organic cotton, hemp silk, ahimsa silk(vegan wild silk), biodegradable viscose, bamboo, sasawashi(bamboo leaves and paper), pina(pineapple), abaca(banana leaf), organic wool, himalayan cashmere and indigenous alpaca. Beryl Man, designer at AJNA is also the former knitwear design director at Donna Karan.

All estethica designers adhere to at least one of the three estethica principles of fair-trade and ethical practices, organic and recycled materials. It is great to see support of recycling in the fashion industry. We love clothes swapping but there are also lots of innovative labels finding new ways to recycle and create beautiful clothes.

picture from www.londonfashionweek.co.uk

The Wottle, a collaboration between designer Orla Kiely and water filter company Brita is quite simply a reusable water bottle. Nothing revolutionary about but a great idea and looks pretty good two. The constant use and subsequent disposal of plastic water bottles is very damaging to the environment. Not only is there the problem of landfill to consider but also the use of valuable and non renewable resources to keep manufacturer plastic bottles for just one use. The Wottle eliminates both of these problems and can just be reused each day by refilling with tap water or water from a filter jug.

The Wottle is manufactured from recycled plastic further adding to it eco friendly credentials. It is also a lot cheaper option than spending money on bottles of water. I think the Orla Kieley leaf design also makes this  a much more stylish option than a normal bottle of water.

There are so many creative ways that recycled items can be made into jewellery, here are some of our favourites:

Who would have thought of using old bicycle inner tyres to create beautiful and unique jewellery? Sasja Saptenno a designer from Holland did. She makes a range of delicate and intricate jewellery from bicycle inner tyres aswell as 3d shawls from recycled materials.

For fun colourful and stylish jewellery, I love Recycled Newspaper Jewellery. It is made from Bracelets, Brooches, Earrings and Cufflinks  made of  Recyclable Paper Materials including Newspaper, Sweetener Packets and Loser Lottery Tickets.

This gorgeous vintage looking bracelet made from recycled floral biscuit tins is just one of the beautiful pieces of jewellery made from recycled materials on www.the-green-apple.co.uk.

They say that diamonds are a girls best friend but for a recycled alternative to diamonds these sparkly necklaces by Kumvana Govmani are  a great choice. They are made from recycled PET plastic.

If you love vintage jewellery then why not try something new made from vintage. This vintage clasp and recycled chain necklace is just one of a range of one of a kind jewellery on http://uncommonlybeautifulrecycledaccessories.bigcartel.com that is made from recycled and reclaimed materials including scrap leather, clock parts and suitcases.

Landfill in the UK is becoming a huge problem. With the drop in the price of recycled products, the issue is what to do with all of the waste that we produce. The breakdown of waste in landfill sites creates huge amounts of the greenhouse gas methane. There are also many products that will not breakdown and will remain in the environment for ever with the potential to contaminate water supplies.

Traid, a charity specialising in the recycling of textiles reports that 900,000 tons of shoes and clothing are thrown away each year in the UK. Only 200,000 tons per year are recycled and the rest is dumped in landfill. The government estimates that similar amounts of between 550,000 and 900,000 tons of textiles are thrown away each year.

Clothes swapping is the perfect solution to the problem of clothing going into landfill. You can do your bit for the environment by buying quality clothes that will last and swapping or selling your second hand clothes. When you get bored with your clothes do not throw them out, swap them. You can also buy some great clothes second hand, often they have hardly been worn or are in almost perfect condition.