 About Style By Ann Turner
How you can help Change the world with your credit card!
Where mini-skirts defined the '60s and legwarmers are associated with the '80s, our new Millennium will be remembered for the shift
towards ethical style. Instead of asking "Does my butt look big in this?" Contemporary women are asking "Does my carbon-footprint look big in this?” and “Who made my garment, where and how do they work?”
For those of us who wear their scruples on their sleeve, the sleeve must still be chic. Style is ultimately about self-expression, and ethical fashion is increasingly the place to find it. There is high interest being generated by activities like learning about new fabrics like tencel and hemp, dyeing your own, being more resourceful, thrift shopping, or simply having fun with a ball of yarn. Today’s stylish woman has turned her back on environmentally damaging duds. Stores, consumers and industry insiders alike are trying to atone for past style sins such as sweat shops. The trend is forcing large retail establishments to acknowledge the increasing demand for Fairtrade.
 Below are a few examples of the many creative designs available to consumers in today’s Fairtrade market. They’re competitively priced and designed to meet our changing fashionable needs.
This Naila suit jacket is 55 per cent hemp, 45 per cent tencel and 100 per cent organic silk lining (right)
Shaun Deller makes his hats from fabric repurposed from thrift-store garments.
More than a mere fashion accessory, this bamboo scarf (left) helps support clean-water initiatives through eco-designer Linda Loudermilk's Water Is a Human Right product line (below).
The Ecoist bag is made from a variety of reused and recycled materials, ranging from candy wrappers to soda-can pull tabs, to movie billboards. These bags will be noticed (right).
Bonus: Ecoist plants a tree for every purchase
Littlearth’s soda-cap belt is bound to be a popular accessory.
To the unimaginative, old rubber tires, pop bottle caps, and seatbelt buckles might seem like just a bunch of junk. To the creative minds at Littlearth, this “trash” becomes treasure in the form of a soda cap belt.
ECO Jeans
The Levis Company has responsibly delved into organic cotton jeans. They make them in a variety of their classic styles, from bootcut to cropped, straight-leg to skinny, There's a style out there for everyone; and organic T-shirts too.
The Reware Juice Bag belongs in a category somewhere beyond useful. I can see a nifty product like this quickly becoming an indispensable accessory. Where a traditional tote is handy, the juice bag is more like a support staff. If you've got gadgets galore, you'll appreciate a Juice Bag as I do. They are made from the polyester fibers reclaimed from soda bottles, so these bags are strong and durable. Plus, they have a thin-film solar panel that will charge up anything from an iPod to a digital camera. No more dead battery in My PDA! Yea!
Our environment is the real fashion victim. The fashion industry and its accompanying lifestyle, represents a huge carbon footprint, The industry as a whole loves to fly. Magazine editors seem to think nothing of flying a team halfway around the world to find an offbeat location to shoot. In terms of today’s climate crisis, this sort of behavior is egregious! Where marketing is concerned, there is no conscience.
It's time to start asking questions like “can I make a difference to people's lives by choosing organic cotton”, “How can I buy into a greener lifestyle” or “How does it help the environment when we use organic materials?” Thankfully, because more and more of us are asking these kinds of questions and demanding answers, the ethical clothing movement is gaining momentum.
The average consumer is beginning to understand that it is worth inquiring about things like working conditions and fair compensation for workers. It’s no coincidence that the minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh halved in real terms in the 1990s. For consumers here, It’s a shopping dilemma when there are incredible bargains out there. The fact is that we consumers are a big part of the overall problem. Purchases of unethically produced goods actively contribute to global warming and are a driving force behind the perpetuation and the practice of mistreatment of workers. Little steps like Ireland and the U K ’s environmental tax on plastic shopping bags can have a significant impact on carbon emissions. To make a difference, there is a real need for more green products that appeal to mainstream consumers as well as more altruistic shoppers, Help drive the demand by asking your retailers for them.
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My biggest sin is that I love clothes. I write about designers and style. As such, I actively promote consumerism. Is this a contradiction? Probably not. I strive to put my money where my mouth is. What sort of a consumer are you? What sort do you want to be? If you’re ready to become part of the solution, check the eco-credentials on the label before parting with  your cash.
Links:
* Check out green Fashion Finds at Grist
http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2007/08/09/clothes/
*Sustainable Technology Education Project (STEP) defines eco-fashions as clothes “that take into account the environment, the health of consumers and the working conditions of people in the fashion industry.”
http://environment.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=environment&cdn=newsissues&tm=19&f=00&tt=2&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.stepin.org/
* ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS? Send them to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881
e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com.
www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/
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