Here at The Word Forest Organisation we’re all about planting trees that grow fast. Fast in this instance is good. The faster the tree grows the more quickly it can absorb large amounts of CO2. We all know now that reducing carbon in the atmosphere is one of the keys to addressing the climate crisis.
As an organisation and as individuals, in addition to the main work we carry out in Kenya, we also look at areas that affect CO2 emissions and try to reduce our impact wherever possible. Lifestyle choices such as eating less meat, driving less, reducing, reusing and recycling as much as possible all make a difference. Planting more trees and growing more in gardens also helps. One other way we are committed to helping our planet is by avoiding fast fashion.
Fast fashion, as the name suggests, focuses on a fast turnaround; trends change frequently which drives the need to create items at a low cost. Because of this, an estimated 10,000 items of clothing are sent to landfill every five minutes in the UK. The UN considers the fashion industry to be the second most polluting industry in the world [1].
It’s particularly bad for the environment due to the pressures to get the product from design to shop floor as cheaply as possible. This usually means that environmental concerns are not even considered, issues such as the high volume of water used, pollution, use of toxic chemicals and increasing levels of textile waste that our planet has to absorb. There are terrible humanitarian issues too.
Many of the colours, prints and fabric finishes which we have all demanded are often achieved with toxic chemicals and no consideration of the full life cycle of the product.
However, there is good news; the number of sustainable shoppers in Britain has increased by a third in 12 months, threatening to disrupt the fast fashion industry. Sustainability has been firmly placed on the agenda in the last year with the likes of Greta Thunberg inspiring millions to make changes to their lifestyles. [2]
Image: CleoGrimaldi / CC BY-SA
Research in March 2020 by the Fashion Retail Academy reveals that as a result, there has been a large shift in shopping habits in the UK, with millions more choosing quality over quantity.
Findings show that 51.4 per cent of British people are choosing long-lasting clothes over cheaper fashionable items, up 33.8 percent on a year ago. [3]
So, what does this have to do with The Word Forest Organisation? Well we’d like to help you avoid those fast fashion options by offering you a slow fashion alternative with our new fundraising campaign #TreeMendUs to plant trees and mend our planet Visit our shop here.
We’ve teamed up with ethical manufacturers Teemill to create a new range of organic cotton clothing and lifestyle products. We searched high and low to find the most ethical suppliers possible. Our clothing comes with a lifetime guarantee that the manufacturer will take it back at the end of its useful life and recycle it.
For every item you buy we can plant a tree in Kenya and help to mitigate our climate crisis. Please invest with us.
Here’s how we can all help the planet with our top tips to avoid fast fashion and reduce our carbon footprint.
- Buy less and buy better – our organic range of clothing is high quality and made to last. When you’ve worn it to death you can return it to our manufacturer and they’ll recycle it. They are made in factories that are safe to work in, have good eco-credentials and pay fair wages to their employees.
- Take the 30-wear pledge – well-known names such as Livia Firth and Emma Watson endorse the 30-wear promise. Before you buy something, ask yourself will I or the recipient wear this a minimum of 30 times? Only if you answer yes, can you buy it and enjoy it or enjoy gifting it. This works with every type of item you consider buying.
- Shop ethically online – look for products that are ethically sourced and, where relevant, organic, or products which raise funds for causes. Every time someone buys one of our lovely items we’ll all do a happy dance too. If that isn’t enough to convince you then maybe the fact that all our products are sustainably and ethically produced will.
- Help us spread the word – please tell your colleagues, your friends and your family. Convince your comms teams at work that they need to add this link https://www.wordforest.org/shop/ to their internal and external newsletters. We’d love your support and can make a huge difference to our planet with the funds we raise.
If you’d like further information about The Word Forest Organisation and how supporting us can help you reduce your carbon footprint then please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.
References
1: https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/03/1035161
2:https://dailybusinessgroup.co.uk/2020/03/gretas-green-plea-turns-shoppers-against-fast-fashion/
3:https://www.just-style.com/news/uk-shoppers-opting-for-more-sustainable-clothing_id138229.aspx
Helen Molyneux and The Team
