It’s probably too late to order from the sustainable gift guide in time for Christmas. You do however have time (although time IS running out) to help save the planet. Brands like Boohoo are filling the news with huge sales volumes but also with questions over staff conditions and pay. As a fast fashion monster, they benefit from our desire for the latest looks at discount prices. Just imagine the environmental and economic impact of producing and transporting billions of pieces of cheap clothing across the world. 10% of CO2 comes from clothing.
Instead, why not pick up a few of the eco-friendly and elegant looking garments below and make a real fashion statement?
Low Carbon Clothing
Rapanui
Using modern technology like robotics, renewable energy, on demand production, and organic materials, Rapanui have become a recognised and respected supplier of circular fashion. I say circular, as Rapanui clothing is designed to be sent back when worn out and then recycled and reused for new clothing. I can’t stress enough how much I am impressed with Rapanui and I’m even thinking of using their clothing supplier arm, Teemill, for my own conservation project.
Watch this video and then check out some of the items below, using my code to get a whopping 20% off when you spend over £50.
T-shirts
Whether it’s collaboration pieces from Sea Shepherd, Surfers against Sewage and the WWF or your own custom design, Rapanui have you covered. My own preference is for a collaboration with an organisation I support (read my blog here), the Marine Conservation Society. I loved it so much, I bought it.
Made with organic cotton and water-based inks, this t-shirt was only printed once I completed my sales order and it will be packaged in eco-friendly paper rather than plastic. At £20 each, these tshirts are a great gift for the nature lover in your life.
Pact
Shopping sustainably has never been easier and we’ve never had more choice. Brands like US based Pact sell eco-friendly clothing for women, men, kids, and even babies. They have a great range of organic and fair trade bathroom towels and bedroom sheets. There’s free delivery to the UK for orders over £40 and if you use this code you’ll get 20% off your first order.
For my readers who like wearing dresses, they have a great range of dresses and skirts for a night out or for the office. Or you might want a shirt dress for working from home.
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Pact clothing requires less water, uses less energy and they’ve even made a pact with SimpliZero to offset the carbon footprint of every Pact item sold through reforestation programmes, renewable energy, and community projects that sequester carbon from the atmosphere. These are slightly more expensive than you might be used to, but what price would we pay to protect our planet?
Mammut x Unless
Eagle-eyed readers of the Ultimate Sustainable Gift Guide Part 1 will recognise Unless from my shoe recommendation while readers of One Day in Lauterbrunnen Valley will remember my love of Switzerland and hiking. My next sustainable gift reflects both.
To celebrate International Mountain Day, Mammut have collaborated with Unless to create a commemorative hoodie and t-shirt. Profits from both will be donated to Protect Our Winters Switzerland.
Pact
One of the things I love about this collaboration, other than it is a wonderful example of circular fashion, is that it is opening up sustainable clothing to traditional brands. At £55, it isn’t the cheapest t-shirt in my sustainable gift guide, but I will be rewarding myself with one of these when I drop to size large (maybe by next International Mountain Day). Or I could buy a larger size now and take advantage of the Unless Takeback programme that encourages you to return worn out clothing in return for a credit towards your next purchase.
Neem
If I needed another reason to lose fat, then imagine how smart I could look and feel in some beautifully tailored Neem shirts and jackets. Using regenerative (a combination of using traditional farming methods, less water and cutting edge technology) organic cotton and sustainably certified merino wool, Neem have produced a collection of classically stylish clothing.
And I won’t lie. Neem is also on my watch list as I appreciate that they think about the larger gentlemen with loose fighting hoodies and shirts. Made from merino wool, is there a comfier hoodie on the planet? If you know of any, please let me know.
And if you have enjoyed my Ultimate Sustainable Gift guides and found them helpful, please let me know and I’ll create more sustainable themed content (I think this is my fourth or fifth blog).
I am also putting you on notice. My non-profit project, One Sky Collaborative (yes, I will create a proper blog about it), will be announcing partnerships and supporters in the New Year. I hope that you will join us in helping to rid our oceans of plastic.
Together, we can make a difference, and taking small steps to reduce our carbon footprint can help inspire others to develop sustainable alternatives to plastic based clothing.