Environmentally Conscious Fashion and Beauty

It’s Earth Day today, and in the past I’ve done things like spend an evening with friends not using electricity (backyard candlelit BBQs are so much fun!), but this year I wanted to take a moment to think about how we could be making more environmentally conscious fashion and beauty choices. It might seem like a small thing, and it might seem silly to some, but the choices that you make as one person or as a family, they add up.

PACKAGING

Packaging seems to be a huge deal in our world. For the most part, beauty and skincare products that we get come with a lot of packaging, so as well as making sure I recycle and reuse packaging when I can, I make sure I actively seek out things that have reusable or no packaging. For example, a lot of Lush’s products come “naked” aka without packaging and instead of giftwrap, you can get knot wraps – scarves to wrap your presents in – that can be reused in many ways. Check out some of these ways to tie and retie your knot wrap.

GET THRIFTY

Rather than buying new clothes all the time, check out your local thrift store. Yes it can be hard to find plus sizes sometimes (especially when you’re on the bigger end of plus), but you can also get some amazing bargains. This goes both ways as well – if you’re clearing out your closet, consider donating your pre-loved clothes to be sold. I donate mine to a local SPCA shop, because that’s a charity I support, but pick the one you love most and share the love. You could also have a clothing swap, shop on TradeMe or check out Facebook sale groups.

SHOP LOCAL

Shopping online is so easy these days, and it really has opened up a whole new world for us plus size babes. It is important to remember though – when we shop online there is an environmental cost to shipping clothes across the world. If and when you can, try and shop with local retailers (even if they’re online but based in the same country as you). Not only are you supporting local businesses, you’re also cutting down on the distance your clothes/beauty products have to travel to get to you.

WHAT’S IN YOUR BEAUTY PRODUCTS?

There has been a lot of talk about microbeads lately, and they’re being banned in New Zealand. They’re really small pieces of plastic that are included in beauty products like face and body scrub (and even some toothpastes!), and they often act as an exfoliant. What happens after you’ve washed your face/body/teeth? Those microbeads go down the drain and because they’re so small our wastewater systems can’t catch them and they end up in the ocean being eaten by our marine friends. Same goes for the glitter in some products – glitter is usually made from small pieces of plastic, which … you guessed it – ends up in the sea. There’s a good bit of info from Lush around this, which is how I found out that glitter is made from plastic (I don’t know what I thought it was made from, I guess I never thought about it?) and I’m happy to report that the sparkles in Lush products won’t have a negative impact on the environment. Bring on the shimmery mermaid baths!  There are plenty of other biodegradable options available for scrubs and sparkles, my favourites are from Lush (let me know if you want recommendations because I’m more than happy to share them!).

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

I have written about investing in your clothing and buying the best that you can afford a few times, and I think it comes in to play here as well. Well made garments in quality fabrics will last longer and are worth it (especially when you consider cost per wear). Rather than spending small amounts of money often on fast fashion, save up and invest in good quality pieces where you can.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

How much do you know about where your clothes are made or how your beauty products are produced? This is something that I started to think about when I decided to stop using products that were tested on animals, because there are lots of companies that say they’re cruelty free when they’re really not (like the ones who say they “don’t test on animals” but still sell products in countries that require animal testing by law). I try to shop with smaller brands and designers where I can, especially ones that are really clear about their policies and values – check out Lush, High Society (Obi, Chocolat), Lost and Led Astray, and SmartGlamour to name a few. You should also check out the Ethical Fashion Report published by Tearfund, which grades brands available in New Zealand on the levels of visibility and transparency across their supply chain with regards to worker rights, policies and practices.

Do you make environmentally conscious fashion and beauty choices or is it something you haven’t really thought about? Let us know any other ideas you might have, or how you’re planning to be more environmentally conscious in the future.