Aust Conserv

A Look at How You Can Be Fashionable & Eco-Friendly at the Same Time

Are you a fashion aficionado who is an advocate of saving the environment at the same time? If you are, there's no better way for you to do your part in helping save the Earth than by purchasing eco-friendly fashion items. The good thing about being into eco-fashion is that you can let your personal style shine through the clothes that you are wearing, without adding undue harm to the environment with the fashion items that you are purchasing.

How to Buy Eco-Friendly Fashion Items

Although the manufacturers of clothing and fashion accessories do indicate the fibers used in a particular fabric, it is still quite difficult to distinguish which ones are eco-friendly and which ones are not.

To help you out, here is a quick list of some of the things that you need to consider when purchasing fashion items which are supposed to be eco-friendly:

• One of the most sustainable types of fabric is made of bamboo. If you think that this would not feel as good as silk against your skin, think again. Clothes made from bamboo are breathable, soft silky and most importantly, environment-friendly.
• If you need to purchase clothes for your baby, make sure that the fabric is made of 100% organic cotton.
• Ditch the animal-skin handbags and go for ones which look and feel like leather - but are actually 100% vegan that even PETA will approve.
• When purchasing jeans, look for the ‘green seal' which means that the denim clothes are made from organic cotton, recycled zippers and buttons and are coloured with natural dyes.

Eco-Fashion: A Myriad of Environmentally Fashion Products to Choose From

Don't think that just because you are going the eco-friendly route in your choices of clothes, it automatically means that you have to end up looking like a hippie. This is not the case at all. These days, there are a lot of clothing companies and even independent fashion accessories distributors who operate with environmental-friendly principles.

Check out the following eco-friendly fashion items that you can choose from:

1. Eco Handbags from Teresa Cowley

Bags, clutches and purses are another fashion must-have as far as women are concerned. If you don't want to fill your closet with non-environment-friendly accessories, then you should try going the eco fashion route.

There's one designer in Australia who specializes in manufacturing handmade clutches, purses and handbags which are made from eco-friendly materials. Teresa Cowley is a designer based in Bellingen and she now spearheads this eco-friendly fashion company which has a niche market for beautifully crafted fabric handbags.

Teresa Cowley Handbags and Accessories started as an idea ten years ago born from her love of creativity. "I found a hole in the market for beautiful handmade fabric handbags," says Teresa Cowley.

The creation of the collection of handbags, shoulder bags and purses has always involved using refashioned materials to some extent. The focus is now to use refashioned materials or organic fabrics where ever possible.

Teresa Cowley Handbags represent Handmade, Australian made sustainable fashion accessories.

Currently, you can take your pick from the designs included in the Isabella range, Bebe range and Tara range of handbags - which are all intricately designed and are 100% eco-friendly.

The 2009 collection is available online at teresacowley.com.au and at teresacowley.etsy.com.

2. Eco Jewellery from Utopian Creations

Did you know that even the way that jewellery is manufactured can cause undue harm to the environment? This is the reason why you should make sure that the company where you are getting your jewellery items from have a sound eco-friendly principle.

Utopian Creations, a company which began their operations in 2005, is one such company. In fact, it is a pioneering business in Australia in the sense that they are the first one to offer a line of fine and fashion eco-friendly jewellery.

Let's take the rare, hand cut vintage diamonds which is Utopian Creations' specialization. They manufactured it in such a way that there is sustainability in the design. Even the office where the main operation of the company lies is 100% eco-friendly, so you can rest assured that the diamond ring decorating your finger is eco-friendly if it's under the Utopian Creations label.

3. Eco Underwear from Ambra Eco Style

Whoever said that your underthings cannot be eco-friendly? These days, even your most intimate apparel can go the environmentally-friendly route, and one of the most trusted brands in Australia for this is Ambra Eco Style.

Founded in 1992, the line of eco-friendly underwear that they offer is manufactured by Ambra Corporation which is the largest importer of women's hosiery, seamfree bodywear and underwear in Australia.

When you visit their website, you will be glad to know that there's a complete line of tops, bras, bandeaus, bottoms, killer figure shapewear, legwear, body wear and other underwear to choose from.

Ambra Eco Style's intimate apparel products are made with 100% organic cotton. They are stylish, comfortable, sexy and eco-friendly - so there's really nothing more that an environmentally conscious fashionista can ask for.

4. Other Eco-Fashion Items

You can visit the eco-business directory of AustConserv.com to look for more companies which are currently manufacturing eco-friendly fashion items.

Why sacrifice the sake of the environment for fashion when you can have both? By patronizing only 100% eco-friendly companies, you can be as stylish and as fashionable as you want without contributing to the further harm of Mother Nature.

More Information

• Utopian Creations - Sustainable Jewellery Design and Manufacture
• Teresa Cowley - Uniquely created Eco-friendly Vintage fabric Handbags and Shoulderbags
• Ambra Eco Style - Eco Underwear
  

Comments (3)

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written by T , May 04, 2009

unfortunately not all clothes labeled as 'bamboo' are eco-friendly! There are certifications you have to look for here as well to be sure including Oeko-Tek Standard 100 Certification.
Organic Cotton is also a misleading claim if there is no certification - it is the only know a product is truly organic as there are no labeling regulations.
Fair trade is another important consideration here. See our website for more info.

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written by aesha , May 05, 2009

Does anyone know how bamboo is made into fabric. I have heard that some (if not most) industries use harsh chemicals to breakdown the bamboo fibre to pulp. The truly "green" method is a mechanical process that doesn't involve chemicals, but it is more costly to use this method. If a chemical process is used, what happens to the chemicals, where do they go? Bamboo is a sustainable crop and the fabric feels divine. What is of concern is how the bamboo is processed. Any knowledgable input would be helpful.

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written by Kelly-Ann Wickham , May 06, 2009

Good question Aesha. Bamboo fabrics are often criticised not being as green as "they" say they are. They aren't perfect but very little is and, like many green things, people can be more critical of a product that tries to be greener than those that aren't. There's a brief article on the National Geographic's websitehttp://www.thegreenguide.com/ but I can't get the link to work (Try searching for "How Green are Bamboo Clothes?").
One of the principal chemicals used in sodium hydroxide (caustic soda). High levels of it can cause breathing difficulties with workers and can affect aquatic wildlife BUT low levels of it are used in food such as olives and pretzels. So, just because the process uses a chemical, doesn't necessarily mean it is nasty and it's important for all of us looking for greener clothes to not just say "it uses a chemical so it must not be green".
To sum, Nat. Geog. write "bamboo has the capacity to be one of the greenest materials on earth... Despite the environmental shortcomings in production, bamboo still has a much lighter environmental impact than pesticide-laden conventional cotton and petroleum-derived synthetics."

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