The main tenet of sustainable fashion choices is being socially conscious - conscious of land and resources used, as well as conscious of the conditions of workers & the wages they are paid. Eco-fashion has flourished over the past few years with this broad definition of sustanaible design. Stella McCartney's entirely vegan shoe line has garnered support from celebrities such as Natalie Portman, and eco-friendly fashion has been featured in mainstream stores, even trickling down to eco lines for Forever 21. Combining the low prices of Forever 21 with the elegant design of Stella McCartney presents a challenge... Lots of so-called eco-friendly clothing fails to live up to to this standard, with misleading fabrics or sweatshop labor being used to produce eco fashion.
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| A Global Friendship |
Eco-friendly Shopping
Three major eco-friendly fabrics are linen, hemp, and bamboo. Hemp isn't particularly regulated & can come into contact with pesticides during the growing process without being reported. Similarly, the chemical process to make bamboo into a fabric is still somewhat toxic. Linen is one of the most sustainable materials. It's grown worldwide, often without toxic fertilizers that seep into aquifers.
Eco-Friendly Shopping
Knowing a bit about fabrics can make shopping easier. Buying fabric dyed with water-based ink is a great start!
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| Credit: Summer House Textile |
AGF encourages our artisans to use renewable materials at every step of the process, and we use linen to craft all of our bracelets. Not only are these bracelets environmentally friendly, but they're also
friendly to workers. We encourage the artisans we partner with to grow their own business, enabling them to hire new workers, ideally opening the avenue to growing businesses for these professionals.
Respect the earth and respect the people working on it.
It’s World Oceans Day! Although ocean environmentalism may not be directly associated with our work at A Global Friendship, the oceans have special meaning to the organization. AGF founder Elizabeth Firgeleski was inspired to create the nonprofit after being caught in the 2004 Asian Tsunami disaster. The Thai people helped her to safety, and now with AGF she offers economic opportunity in gratitude and hope.
