How to Wear Your Values for a Sustainable Future

You wear your values on your sleeve – or at least you try to. But sometimes, whether it’s out of ignorance or just an oversight, you end up buying something that goes against what you believe in, or you buy something because it was the cheapest option even though it was made with slave labor and unhealthy practices. There are certain steps you can take to ensure that you’re actually living your values in everything that you do, and that starts with what you put on your body each day.

Invest in Quality

When it comes to fashion, ask yourself what is most important: wearing stylish clothes, or showing your values? If you care about sustainable style (and we hope you do), then don’t compromise. Pay more for quality products from brands that make sure workers are treated well and environments aren’t harmed by fashion. Look into making your own – from eco-friendly shopping bags to knit sweaters – if you can’t afford it.

Buy Less, Choose Well

When it comes to clothes, your value system should be focused on quality and longevity, not quantity and seasonality. Instead of filling your closet with cheap seasonal purchases from fast fashion chains, work with timeless, sustainable brands that make well-made pieces you’ll keep for years. When you invest in high-quality basics—like denim and white T-shirts—you can wear them over and over again instead of buying new ones each season. Another way to think about sustainable clothing is considering who made your clothing and under what conditions they worked. Look for brands that are transparent about their supply chain so you know where and how your clothing was made. Buying less and choosing wisely also means thinking about fibers.

Purchase natural fibers whenever possible; cellulose textiles (cotton, hemp) will have a much smaller environmental footprint than synthetic fabrics (polyester). Switching to natural fibers isn’t always feasible depending on your lifestyle (we don’t all live in climates where we can walk around shirtless year-round), but if you do have some flexibility here, take advantage of it. Rather than investing in items that are cheaply made or harmful to the environment, purchase sustainable and ethically made clothes.

However, even just switching up where you buy your clothes can bring more sustainability into your wardrobe. With every product you buy, consider: How long will I really use it? Do I need three of these instead of one? Will I still be wearing/wearing out/using it after five years? Does my purchase support companies or labor practices that align with my values?

In addition to buying less, it’s important that what you do buy is quality. Don’t be swayed by trends and marketing—if you’re going to invest in something, make sure it will last and that you love it.

Ditch Fast Fashion

It seems almost too obvious to mention, but your wardrobe is one of your biggest carbon footprints—and it’s definitely one of your most significant contributions to pollution. If you want to minimize how much clothing impacts our environment, make sure it’s truly sustainable and has been made with an eye toward environmental responsibility. Read clothing labels carefully; if they don’t include words like organic or eco-friendly, think twice before you buy.

Be Original and Stay Aware

Start by choosing pieces that reflect your personal style and values—and don’t stop there. Keep track of fashion industry developments, then seek out companies that are working toward bettering human lives and reducing their impact on our planet. These companies may still be around when you're ready to buy new clothes again! It might take some trial and error to figure out what kind of piece suits you best, but once you discover your own sense of style, it'll be easier than ever to incorporate sustainability into it. This is also a great way to begin thinking about ways in which your style can change over time as well. Maybe you love an eco-friendly shirt now, but will hate it in five years; maybe you love dark colors right now because they help hide wrinkles and bags under your eyes! Once we begin evaluating our clothing based on factors like these (instead of just how much they cost), we really start doing something truly great with fashion. Just remember: being more mindful isn't necessarily about being less frivolous; if anything, being thoughtful makes looking good feel even better . The first step towards buying sustainable clothes is to find outfits that speak to your personal style and values – after all, you're going to want to wear them again someday. And while every person has different aesthetic preferences (some people prefer bright colors, others stick with neutrals or earth tones), there are certain things many people do seem drawn to regardless of taste: comfy fabrics , natural dyes , bold graphics or silhouettes , styles that mix high and low fashion elements , etceteras.

Conclusion

Wearing your values on your sleeve is not just trendy, it’s also good business: By pledging allegiance to an eco-friendly fashion brand, you are putting your money where your mouth is. With sustainability and ethical clothing being at epicenters of consumer consciousness nowadays, it makes sense that customers want brands they can trust. If a brand doesn’t do what it says it will do, we are all out of luck!

We would love to hear from you! Was this helpful? What would you like us to write about next? Drop us a line at hello@positivefibers.com or leave a comment below!

3 Big Ways to Make eCommerce More ECO in 2022: Circular Fashion

‘Circular fashion’ – we’ve heard of the phrase, but how important is it and in which ways is it being achieved? To give some context, the Council for Textile Recycling has said that the US alone produces 25 billion pounds of clothing waste within 1 year – less than a fifth of that is recycled or reused.

A recent report that has been published by The Biomimicry Institute suggests that rather than recycling being the solution, the way forward is through creating clothes that are high-quality and long-lasting, but that are able to be composted once discarded.

This is made possible through sourcing biodegradable raw materials that are able to be changed into textiles that can be used to create great clothing. Positive Fibers is thorough in its sourcing to ensure that we are able to create clothing that doesn’t compromise on our values of high standards of ethics and compostability.

We are all becoming increasingly aware of the environmental issues that face us and our planet heading into 2022; it is a time when nations across the world made pledges for sustainability and goals to achieve net zero in COP26 this year.

We know that we are each witnessing a global discussion around the ethics of the ‘norm,’ and how we can traverse these norms in order to create harmony, synchronicity and systemic change in order to achieve a shared destiny – sustainability and prosperity for both humanity and the Earth’s community beyond ourselves.

We are looking to help contribute to this shared philosophy and endeavours towards a zero waste through something that is pretty critical to all of us – our clothes.

Positive Fibers seek to put the ECO into eCommerce one positive product at a time though circular fashion

Let’s explore how we can bring together ethics and fashion for a future founded on justice, human rights and harmony with nature.

1. One human initiative

We aim to be part of a world human initiative that chooses materials that are sustainably and ethically sourced, often organic, and that contribute positively to people around the globe, for a fairer world vision. As well as looking to source our materials from places in which the workers are treated well, we have also partnered with an organization that traceable aids to to feed people globally. Stay tuned to learn who they are as our Kickstarter campaign goes live !

2. A brand with vision

Current industrial methods of dyeing clothes have terrible consequences for the water chain. Just as the Amazon is the lungs of the world, our ocean has a far-reaching power to change and reverse the damage sustained to the world’s ecology. For this reason, we have also partnered with an NGO that works tirelessly on restoring nature, to help create a circular fashion future in line with net zero. Stay tuned to learn more soon !

3. Circular fashion

Through creating high quality, made-to-measure garments, durability has been prioritised in everything that we create. We are anti-fast fashion and believe in the phrase ‘garbage in = garbage out’ – when garbage is avoided altogether, we are able to create products that stand the test of time.

We believe in aesthetics meeting ethics. We are Positive Fibers.

What do you think of the jacket worn on the right? What if we told you this is in fact the world's first 100% compostable designer jacket? Made to wear your values in !

We are launching our first Kickstarter campaign soon to make this garment available for sale. To be notified and receive early access to exclusive discounts and perks, register for the waitlist below :

The Circular Fashion Detective gives first podcast interview on Bold Brands

"...in order to choose better, you need to know what that means."

I am a "fashion culprit". Every time I made a fashion purchase, I supported exploitation of people and planet. However, I did not do this intentionally. I did not know where my clothes come from, how they are made, and what consequences those processes have on the environment and society.

Now I know and now I choose better.

This and more is what I spoke about on my first podcast interview I gave recently.

Highlights of the conversation include:

- What is circular fashion and how can it impact consumers looking to buy better?

- What the industry can do to build trust without greenwashing.

Listen to the episode here.

Image description : Seated by the Maas River in Rotterdam. Dressed in white linen blouse and white denim twill jeans. Hat borrowed from friend. Hair styled by Dutch wind.

For Nearly 3 years I have been rigorously investigating what it means to create Aesthetics that meet Ethics. As a fashion industry outsider I first needed to learn the rules before breaking them. I quickly concluded that the industry is in dire need of a makeover and everyone can make a positive impact in this space.

Easier said than done.

The big goal for society is to establish and nurture a global circular economy. What if fashion production and consumption were a major catalyst behind achieving this state?

That is my vision and why I became the Circular Fashion Detective as well as, of course, the founder of Positive Fibers. To make fashion a force for good, we must start with the ingredients.

It was absolutely wonderful to speak with Jeff Mergy, VP of Product and Strategy at Bold Metrics as well as the host of their podcast called BOLD Brands.

To discover the world's first 100% compostable designer jacket, look no further but scroll down.

Cheers !

The Flaxible™ Jacket

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