Hey Lovers,
PEGOH! and team MP here, celebrating Earth Day with all of you tomorrow! It’s 2023 and Mama Earth needs us more than ever.
Being a part of the big, fat, mean fashion industry, MINDFUL PIGS wants to challenge contemporary practices and is working on raising some awareness towards a brighter future. One in which our fellow species and you sexy humans, can live happily ever after.
First, let’s get a tad more serious for a moment. (I promise we’ll get to some positivity later) The fashion industry is one of Planet Earth’s greatest enemies at the moment. How come? Well, here are some facts that many of you might be aware but some not yet perhaps:
The industry being responsible for an alarming part of carbon emissions is mainly due to overproduction. According to the fast-fashion model, clothes need to be made quickly and cheaply. Most brands have relocated their factories in countries that have large production centres that produce insane quantities in no time, which costs much less. Clothes then need to be shipped and reshipped constantly, and transportation (+ from far-away countries) means extra pollution.
Widespread textile production techniques need A LOT of water. Depending on the water usage cycle used by the factory, and depending on the purpose of that water, it can then be contaminated and might even get illegally dumped into important water sources. (Yes, ew!)
Ever since synthetic textiles got commercialized, the Fashion world has taken a bad turn. Clothes used to be made out of natural fibers that would safely slowly age with time. Synthetically composed clothes, now produced in mass, ahem, I mean, way overproduced*, are sitting in landfills, or anywhere they end up, to disintegrate very slowly into microplastics. When quality is bad, which has become the norm in this fast-fashioned world, clothes are used half as long as they were 50 years ago. That means, more clothes are thrown away each year, and more badly-made pieces are bought as replacements for those not-so-old other badly-made pieces. (hear it..?)
We haven't even scratched the surface yet and It's starting to get heavy on my sensitive heart here!
Sooooo.. on a more positive note, how can we be part of the change??
Take power as the consumer!
We, as consumers, are the very base of the cycle, we often don’t realize how much power we hold in the industry. Hey, business 101, offer has to follow demand. ;p Let’s get together and demand a change in practices! (oops, did somebody say ‘boycotting’??)
Those old jeans you’ve outgrown? Turn them into a tote bag! You suck at sewing? Cut them up into coasters! (yes, for real! just try it.) Possibilities are endless.
Support ethical brands
Buy less - Buy better, Share your clothes with your lover, Gender-less looks are way cooler! More and more interesting, ethical, high-quality fashion brands are appearing (hello.. hehe), surely you can find a few that work with your personal style! ***Buttttt be careful with greenwashing!*** No, a fast-fashion store’s ‘conscious’ collection flashing a big green label does not make them sustainable nor ethical.
Do your research and make mindful purchases for a better future. Let your clothes become a voice for you. Exchange and Donate what doesn't fit anymore.
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The MP team also wants to announce that, for Earth Day 2023, we have decided to partner up with One Tree Planted. This continuous partnership and tradition starts today with the planting of 100 trees in 6 different countries, each of our team members choosing their country of origin or choice. Spreading some love and planting a seed of consciousness, one tree at a time. :D
P.s Let’s be kinder to one another and to our only true home..
On that note, meditate while you contemplate, peace out!