As big business struggles to adapt to customers wishes for more eco-friendly products, small businesses are starting up. Here's a list.
BuyMeOnce (uk.bymeonce.com)
Founded in January 2016, this is a website that research and sell the longest lasting products "to save time, save money and save the planet". Cover clothing, kitchenware, electricals, leisure, beauty and zero waste.
Urban Green Company (urbangreencompany.co.uk).
Eco-friendly beeswax wraps to replace clingfilm # eco-friendly kitchen sponges # re-usable bamboo fabric pads.
Huski Home (huskihome.co.uk)
Natural grass straws made from bulrush stems (normally a waste product), so they are renewable and compostable.
Lush (uk.lush.com)
Started small with one shop in Poole, now have nearly 1,000 stores in several countries. A range of bath and shampoo products that don't need packaging. They neither test products on animals nor buy ingredients that have been tested on animals. 2020: they are trialing Fresh beauty products (fresh for only a couple of days) in their Paris store.
Sources: in Good Housekeeping, Nov. 2019 and March 2020.
Sunday, 23 February 2020
Sunday, 16 February 2020
Fabric Types
There are now a multitude of fabrics used for clothing, soft furnishings and upholstery.
Natural Fibres
Made from naturally occurring plant and animal fibres. Environmental consequences are monoculture, crops displacing food crops, over-use of pesticides, and effluents from chemicals used in the manufacturing process.
Cotton ~~ Wool ~~ Silk ~~ Bamboo
Derivatives of Natural Materials
Made from cellulose (which occurs naturally in plants) which undergo a number of chemical processes.
Rayon (including viscose, modal and tencel)
Other fabrics
Natural Fibres
Made from naturally occurring plant and animal fibres. Environmental consequences are monoculture, crops displacing food crops, over-use of pesticides, and effluents from chemicals used in the manufacturing process.
Cotton ~~ Wool ~~ Silk ~~ Bamboo
Derivatives of Natural Materials
Made from cellulose (which occurs naturally in plants) which undergo a number of chemical processes.
Rayon (including viscose, modal and tencel)
Plastics
Fibres which are made from chemicals, including petrochemicals. It is now known that microscopic threads from these materials are increasingly found in the oceans, where they are ingested by fish and other sea creatures.
Acrylic ~~ Acetate ~~ Lycra/Spandex ~~ Nylon ~~ Olefin ~~ Polyester ~~ Vinyl
- Smartweave: a 2 layer fabric that wicks moisture from the skin and enhances evaporation, preventing sweat marks. www.smartweavestore.com
- Peshtemal towels: a thin fabric (originally from Turkey) that dries you well.
Sunday, 9 February 2020
Sustainable Fabrics
Brands are now looking at fabrics, packaging, factories and reducing waste going to landfill. While more needs to be done, here are some notes on what is currently happening.
H&M Conscious Exclusive is a premium range that focuses on increasing the options for sustainable clothing. Fabrics include organic silk and cotton, recycled polyester and Pinatex (a natural leather alternative made from cellulose fibres from pineapple leaves).
People Tree is an affordable range of Fairtrade clothing, that feature artisan skills.
Matt&Nat are a vegan accessories brand. Handbag linings are made from 100% recycled bottles and materials such as recycled rubber, cork and cardboard are used in their designs.
Levi's has focused on the large amount of water used in denim manufacturing. Their Water
Lindex make more than half of their garments from sustainable materials, and aim to reach 80% by 2020. The company also supports many charities and WE Women, an initiative that takes action for gender equality inits global supply chain.
Ninety Percent gives 90% of distributed profits to charitable causes. The customer can choose the charity after buying something. The remaining 10% is split between those who make the clothes and shareholders.
Allbirds has developed a wool fabric for footwear. The process uses 60% less energy than footwear synthetics.
Lark & Berry are a sustainable jewellery company. All its diamonds are made using cultured stones, grown in a lab.
Veja footwear brand, works with small producers in Brazil, with a focus on respecting the environment and human rights, as well as producing trainers in the most ethical way possible. Veja also has a vegan range.
Fabric recycling
Econyl: regenerated nylon composed of used carpets, old fishing nets and fabric scraps.
Evernu: takes old cotton t-shirts and jeans and recycles them into pristine new fibre for cloth. Can also use pre-consumer waste (the scraps on the factory floor) and deadstock (leftovers that brands typically burn or shred).
Frumat: uses apple-waste to make pleather.
SeaCell: produces a seaweed cellulose blended fibre.
Worn Again Technologies developed a patented process that separates, decontaminates and extracts polyester and cellulose (from cotton) from pure and blended fabrics and converts the cellulose into virgin-quality polyester.
What else you can do
H&M Conscious Exclusive is a premium range that focuses on increasing the options for sustainable clothing. Fabrics include organic silk and cotton, recycled polyester and Pinatex (a natural leather alternative made from cellulose fibres from pineapple leaves).
People Tree is an affordable range of Fairtrade clothing, that feature artisan skills.
Matt&Nat are a vegan accessories brand. Handbag linings are made from 100% recycled bottles and materials such as recycled rubber, cork and cardboard are used in their designs.
Levi's has focused on the large amount of water used in denim manufacturing. Their Water
Lindex make more than half of their garments from sustainable materials, and aim to reach 80% by 2020. The company also supports many charities and WE Women, an initiative that takes action for gender equality inits global supply chain.
Ninety Percent gives 90% of distributed profits to charitable causes. The customer can choose the charity after buying something. The remaining 10% is split between those who make the clothes and shareholders.
Allbirds has developed a wool fabric for footwear. The process uses 60% less energy than footwear synthetics.
Lark & Berry are a sustainable jewellery company. All its diamonds are made using cultured stones, grown in a lab.
Veja footwear brand, works with small producers in Brazil, with a focus on respecting the environment and human rights, as well as producing trainers in the most ethical way possible. Veja also has a vegan range.
What else you can do
- H&M. Drop off unwanted clothing, materials and shoes in store and get a £5 discount off a £25 spend.
- M&S. Put unwanted clothes into one of its Shwop Drops in exchange for store points. Scheme run with Oxfam.
- Other Stories. Collects unwanted clothing and empty containers from its own-brand beauty range to be recycled. You get a 10% off recycling treat voucher valid for three months.
- Zara. Take unwanted clothes to certain stores, which are donated and delivered to British Red Cross.
Source: Feature in Good Housekeeping, April 2019. Fashionopolis: the price of fast fashion and the future of clothes by Dana Thomas, Apollo 2019.
Sunday, 2 February 2020
Avoid Dating Fraud
Dating fraudsters seek lonely women and men and play on their emotions to try and persuade them to part with money. The type of crime is on the rise. Here are the ways you can protect yourself.
- Always communicate via the dating site. Be wary of anyone who tries to quickly move your conversations to WhatsApp, Skype, email or any other platform. Dating sites have in-built anti-fraud systems which monitor suspicious activity.
- Do not give too much away. Never divulge too much information, send compromising photos or give money to someone you haven't met.
- Use Google's Reverse Image search tool. On Google Images, there's a camera icon next to the search box. Click this to upload a picture and Google will search the internet to see if it matches other images. If it brings up a profile of someone with a different name, you can prove the fraudster is not who they say they are.
- Google phrases from their profile. Does the text appear elsewhere with different information, such as a different photo, age or location? Does it appear on anti-scammer sites and forums?
- If you are suspicious, report it; even if you haven't lost money. Speak to someone you trust first; if they are worried too, contact Action Fraud. The more reports received, the more they can see the methodology being used. If it goes under-reported, fewer police resources will be dedicated to it in future, so it is imperative members of the public come forward.
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