Day 1 of Back to Basics Blog Series

The Basics of Eco Fashion: Or 7 Ways to Be a Conscious Shopper 
with Annching Wang

Welcome to Day 1 of the "Back to Basics Blog Series" here on Green Home Today!  I am certain that you will be thrilled with the lessons you will pick up in the next two weeks.  I decided to start the series with something we all love and know very well: fashion.  I was drawn to Annching Wang's message on eco-consuming several months ago because it just made plain sense:  "We need to buy less of what we think we need, more of what we truly want."  I asked her to be a part of the series because I wanted the world to begin thinking a little differently about clothing before hitting the malls.  I encourage you to have a notepad nearby as Annching's lessons are so valuable.  And, when you're done, you need to visit her website to see her new and exquisite fashion collection!  All details below.  Enjoy!

Image provided by Annching Wang

Living a conscious lifestyle can not happen if you don’t take care of the thing that’s closest to you every single day: what you wear. Many people recycle, bike, eat organic, and are otherwise at least trying to live in a way that is better for the environment, but seem to be missing out when it comes to our closets, which are often overbrimming with stuff, or lack the love that our expression of personal style deserves. Fashion can be intimidating, and it is a world that some would rather not associate with, so instead you just pick up the cheapest thing you can find at the mall to get it over with, or you just end up hating your clothes and “giving up”. At the end of the day, living a green lifestyle is all about awareness and making conscious decisions as a whole - but remember that perfection is not the aim (progress is). 

There is a whole world of conscious fashion out there waiting for people to discover, so here are 7 ways to start dipping your toes in conscious fashion: 

1. Buy local.

Did you know that .68 of every dollar spent in a locally owned business stays within the community, while only .43 stays when you spend at a chain? Might not add up when you’re counting cents, but when you think about the millions of dollars consumers spend, it really makes millions of a difference in the local community. Aside from the obvious economic benefits, buying locally made fashion means that your one item did not have to travel all the way around the world to get to you. Just because it’s made locally, doesn’t mean that every part is - but the point is, at any step in the process, if you can offset the cost of emissions caused by transportation, it’s better than your one item jumping through hoops the entire world over to get to you. 

2. Buy organic.

The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the entire world. Put together a society that buys way more than we need, and crops such as cotton that require a lot of pesticides to grow, and we get hazardous risks to both our health and our planet. Toxic chemicals used in the production of apparel end up in the water, and are extremely hazardous to the people who rely on that water source. Literally, what we buy here can be killing people on the other side of the world. Choosing organic cotton and other fibres that require fewer pesticides (such as hemp), and buying natural fibres whenever we can (instead of synthetics that are often coated with hazardous chemicals) makes a difference. 

3. Buy independent.

Some of the biggest players in the fashion industry are also the worst when it comes to their impact on the environment. Putting our dollars towards small businesses with a commitment toward change is a vote towards social responsibility, and collectively if enough people send this message, the big players will have to sit up and take notice - after all, they want our money. Etsy has cropped up as one of the best places in my opinion to find independent designers. What I like to do is figure out what I want first, then search it up, and go from there - instead of wading through pages and pages of stuff. And remember to favorite companies and products you like, otherwise, you might never find them again!

4. Buy fair trade.

Fair trade fashion is a business model that’s transparent in their supply chain, and relies on a relationship between supplier and manufacturer that includes fair living wages, working conditions, and often, ongoing community support. Sounds infinitely better than the way most apparel companies are run today, which is focused on bringing as much as possible to people, as cheap as they possibly can - which often means sacrificing things like basic human rights. 

5. Buy secondhand/vintage.

Recycling works for fashion too. I recently went on a shopping trip with one of the directors of Eco Fashion Week here in Vancouver and we hit up a secondhand fashion market, a vintage sale, and two secondhand shops in one day. I spent $63.55 and came out with my entire summer wardrobe. The key is to check for quality, spend a little time going through the racks, and buy pieces that you can incorporate into your existing wardrobe. I am now an official convert!

6. Buy less.

The biggest problem I see in today’s world is that we consume too much. The funny thing is, we convince ourselves that it’s the norm to do so. Do you really need another tshirt? Do you really need that top all the magazines say is the season’s hottest trend? Maybe. But maybe not. Look into your closet: how much is still hanging there, with the tags still on? And to go beyond that, what we don’t see are the massive landfills, much of which is filled with clothing, many times perhaps only worn once. And worse, many of the clothes that are being made now don’t even biodegrade - meaning once they’re thrown away, they stick around, as waste. 

7. Buy slow.

Fast fashion reigns our fashion landscape, and it parallels the way many of us live life today: always on the go, with a mindset of disposability. It’s cheap, convenient, and there’s lots of it. As a fashion designer, this may seem counterintuitive to say, but I think if we practice awareness, find ethical brands that we love and will wear, and buy less, we would actually save both time and money - and gain more freedom from the lifestyle of shopping or the constraints of not feeling our personal best when we’re wearing clothes that don’t look or feel good. So take the time to find brands that really resonate with you aesthetically and philosophically - you’ll find that when you really love what you have, you don’t need a lot of it, and you’ll stop paying attention to “trends”. And the world starts to slow down, in a good way. 

So there you have it. 7 ways to do it, all different, none better than the rest, all ways of being more conscious about what you put on your body. What I like to do is challenge myself. First I cut out all fast fashion. 10 months and counting - check. Then, I start actively looking. I’ve been amazed at what I’ve found. One of my favorite new sites is Fashioning Change, a company that promotes ethical fashion designers and brands and compares them against brands most of us know well and wear, demonstrating that ethical fashion can be stylish and often cost less than designer brands.

Start there, start anywhere. But start. The question isn’t “Can I afford to shop consciously?” It’s “How can I find ways to take steps towards shopping consciously?” Sometimes, it starts with one real, good hard look into your closet.  

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Annching Wang is the girl behind fashion label Avery By Wang, maker of classic yet playful wardrobe essentials, with a design philosophy of making clothes that are both must-haves and must-wears. A Huffington Post blogger on ethical style, Annching has been seen on Evernote and Forbes, and listed by Ecosalon as one of the top conscious fashion designers. She is currently developing a web TV show on conscious style, launching this summer. Keep up to date by joining her on Facebook, or signing up for exclusive updates via her mailing list - for tips on ethical fashion, personal style, new product updates, and exclusive promos. 

Questions?  Comments?  We'd love to hear from you in the section below!

Join us again tomorrow for a lesson in eco-decorating and go ahead and spread the word!