In the past couple of years, sustainable development has become one of the most focused on forms of development for people, businesses, and communities. Sustainable development, in short, is preserving present times materials for future needs.
In order to contribute to this movement, people have been looking for ways to become more environmentally or ecologically friendly. One of the ways industries took on sustainability and became more eco-friendly is through making changes in the use and overconsumption of materials.
The fashion industry, for instance, has really taken a toll on the environment. Businesses and people have been looking for more eco-friendly replacements for wardrobe items that would not harm tomorrow’s needs.
Read on to discover 7 possible options for those replacements.
1. Handcrafted Jewelry
Although you might be thinking that handcrafted eco-friendly jewelry looks like a child’s arts and crafts project, think again. There is now beautifully designed jewelry that is one of a kind made by both local and international designers.
There are tons of websites that sell handcrafted jewelry online like Etsy, which has sellers from all over the world. They range from reused plastic to maple wood, to reconstructed silver and gold. Some are quite inexpensive, but others have such intricate details that you would not be able to tell it apart from designers’ jewelry.
2. Second Hand Handbags
Handbags are one of the most expensive wardrobe items on the list. Buying a used handbag though can ultimately do two things: save you a lot of money and save the environment a ton!
Bags are either made out of leather or plastic, or other materials that are not good ecologically. If you want a branded bag but do not want to spend a ton, there are tons of places that sell designer bags that are still in season and great form.
3. Wheat Straw Sunglasses
This may sound cartoonish, but if you look up wheat straw sunglasses, you will not believe what they are truly made out of! The wheat straw is compressed and mended into fashionable glasses, colored with plant-based dye, and the lenses are completely recycled, even the polarized lenses!
4. Eco-Friendly Watches
Watches do not seem like the easiest thing to turn eco-friendly given their nature to contain so many different materials. Yet you would be surprised at the number of companies and businesses that create very chic and very wearable watches out of reused materials. The reviewers from Puratium.com suggest that you keep a couple of factors in mind to ensure that you stay eco-friendly and super stylish when shopping for your next watch.
Many companies not only abide by CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) guidelines that the United Nations has set, they go above and beyond in promoting it. Instead of the batteries, they use solar energy and reuse stainless steel, sapphire, and synthetic/vegan leather.
5. Vintage Clothes
The best way you can save some money is by wearing vintage or used clothes. Thrift stores like Global Thrift Store, Good Will, and Revolve all have great looking items that users have left behind for other customers to buy and recreate or wash and wear as is. There are usually great finds and a lot of one of a kind items.
6. Organic Clothes
If you are not comfortable with buying used items, then the best way for you to go eco-friendly is to look for brands that have gone that organic sustainable route. There are numerous brands that generally make fast fashion that have sections of clothing that are organic and are labeled as ecologically friendly. For instance, H&M has a section where the labels are all green which shows where the clothes were made and out of which organic materials.
7. Mended or Recreated Clothes
With time, our old clothes become unwearable. Either because they got ruined somehow, or they went out of style. In that case, instead of throwing them away, you can do one of two things: donate them or repair them. When you repair clothes you are able to spend less money on new clothes and create styles out of materials and elements you previously loved.
Whether you are going the sustainability, CSR, or sustainable development route or are creating an integration of all three, the most important thing is to think of yourself as well as the next generation. The environment is barely healing from today’s constant mining for materials and overexploitation of the goods this Earth gives. At the same time, you have to look for ways that will help you still look great so that it becomes just one of the motivations for going the eco-friendly path.
