The Stylish Environmentalist: A How-To (543)

Posted on December 19, 2015 by Guy Atkinson

Showing Mother Nature that well-deserved loved doesn’t necessarily mean that you would deprive yourself the chance to look presentable. The label ‘environmentalist’ has unfortunately grown to instantly provide the mental image of the quintessential hippie: dirty bohemian clothing, a disdain for any personal belongings, and a blatant lack of personal hygiene. There’s nothing wrong with making sure that you look good. There’s also nothing wrong with being aware of the consequences of our actions on the environment. Here are some basic guidelines to rocking the tree-hugger mentality with style:

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Rock The Basics

Fashion trends and cyclical seasons have been the underlying cause of the fashion’s industry’s behemoth size and influence. With people buying clothes for every season of every year, chasing after ‘the next best thing’ in fashion will ultimately sap our planet of much needed resources.

There is an understandable need for self-expression, but sticking to timeless pieces and basic apparel will cut down on the potential spending you might do on joggers, freshly launched sneaker models, and designer bags that you would only wear once before chucking into your closet. If you are feeling the need to buy something new, then you can look to finding upcycled or recycled clothing to help continue the fight against fast fashion.

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If need be, you can still indulge in fashion trends by buying an accessory here and there that reflects it, like a floral scarf.

Less Is More

Most of us have closets full of clothes that we don’t wear to optimum use. It’s usually stockpiled with impulse buys, out-of-trend pieces, and clothes that you can’t wear anymore (formal cocktail dresses with a Gatsby theme come to mind). Start by aggressively cutting down the number of items in your closet. Once it starts to look more like an actually container for clothes and not somewhere you’ve shoved an entire wardrobe for a B-list movie, practice the art of buying only what is essential. Yes, we know that caramel topcoat is cute, but will you really wear it while helping out with re-greening projects?

Paring down on your clothing and embracing a mindset of being content with what you have will not only save your wallet, but also the natural resources normally tapped to satisfy your clothing wants.

Know Your Brands

To tie things together, you will need to do a whole of research. Since fast fashion and designer labels have the lion’s share of the fashion industry’s market, eco-friendly brands do not necessarily pop up like magic. You would need to do a bit of sleuthing on your favourite brands before buying any more clothes from them. If they have a history of using artificial brands and are known for outsourcing labour to very poor countries, chances are they are not an eco-friendly brand.

A very significant indicator of an eco-friendly brand is their use of natural material for their products. Woolovers, for example, uses only the most natural fibres in creating their cardigans and pullovers. This coupled by the company’s penchant for making basic pieces that are excellent for everyday use make it one of the best choices for the budding environmental fashionista you are turning out to be.

So, those are our top tips on loving the environment while still looking awesome! What are your thoughts on this? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.

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I’ve just re-read Richard Denny’s fantastic book ‘Selling to Win’, in which he mentions a time management technique that I learnt many, many years ago from an old boss of mine.

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