I've gone a little off-piste with my blogging this week! It may not be about sustainable sewing but it is about how businesses can make themselves more sustainable, and I find this particular question is one I ask every time I stay at a hotel! The results are amazing, so here I am to share what I've found!
Are you living sustainably? But what does that even mean? For me, what that means is looking after our mental wellbeing to ensure we have the energy to fulfil our lives well. Maintaining our wellbeing to prevent burn-out.
We desperately need to re-evaluate our relationship with the ocean. The ocean connects, sustains, and supports us all. Yet its health is at a tipping point and so is the well-being of all that depends on it. As the past years have shown us, we need to work together to create a new balance with the ocean that no longer depletes its bounty but instead restores its vibrancy and brings it new life.
We must shift from harming the planet to healing it. For World Environment Day 2022, the United Nations have developed "A Practical Guide to living sustainably in harmony with nature". From the guide, I share with you here the importance of the crisis, and what we can all do as individuals to help.
Urgent policy action globally, regionally and nationally is required to transform economic, social and financial models so the trends that have exacerbated biodiversity loss will stabilise by 2030 and allow for the recovery of natural ecosystems.
"There is no sustainable fashion without fair pay[...] We know that both people and nature are paying the price of the fashion industry's unregulated exploitation and waste. Brands are avoiding the realities of climate breakdown by continuing to pursue extractive business models and greenwashing their way to sustainability."
Hosted by the lovely sewists, Crystal @MySewcialThread, and Adele @Sew4Serenity, a new challenge for April is in place with a plethora of prizes to be won! Post your makes under #selflesssewapril22 on the 30th Aprilonlyto be enter the competition.
Soybean protein fibre is from soy pulp, which is an insoluble part of soybeans, and a by-product of tofu and soy milk production. This makes the fabric fibre both environmentally friendly and biodegradable: a sustainable fabric.
One of my aims when opening A KIND CLOTH was in creating awareness in how we treat our planet, and to make sustainable fabric more accessible to home sewists. We have made the decision to hold our prices for the time being. In full transparency, it is not sustainable for us as a small business to absorb all these increased costs for a long time,
As we all know, the fashion industry creates too much too fast. To eliminate this problem, we should be creating less waste, and look at the circularity of a textile piece. If deadstock fabric is now sought-after, then it becomes a demand.
Using what is already in existence, we have the technology to develop and explore what our amazing planet has to offer us. This is just a small list of exciting ventures currently in processing, or already in execution, and just a snippet into what the future holds for us. The possibilities are endless!
I attended The Stitch Festival on Thursday 3rd March on it's first day, hampered by a tube strike, but not enough to stop fabric and craft lovers in abundance! If you're ever losing your 'sew-jo' I recommend talking to other sewists, touch some fabric, and see what other people are making!
