The giving tree
Greetings fellow Earth dwellers!
Our last week of April and Earth Month is upon us and it has me thinking about Mother Earth. Yes, Earth, in the feminine – because she’s strong and she doesn’t give up easily! However, just like the tree in The Giving Tree, there might not be much left of her when we are through.
Today, the morning news greeted me with the stark reality that the fire season in North America has already started – news that does not bode well for the upcoming summer. When faced with bad news, I tend to be solutions oriented – what CAN be done? What can I do that will make a difference? What can we ALL do?
And, as usual, I turn to our closets. Because we all have clothes and we all need clothes. And they (clothes and closets) are a great starting point for sustainable living.
Three easy actions that make a BIG difference for greenhouse gas emissions are below – join me in reducing our carbon footprints!
Quality over quantity – buy fewer clothes that are made of better quality (with natural fibers, in transparent supply chains, with ethical working conditions, etc)
Care for your clothes – wash them in cold water and line dry whenever possible.
Repair them – taking the time (it is less than 10 minutes usually!) to fix a hole or take repairs to the tailor could add more than 2 years to the lifespan of a clothing item AND lengthening the life of our clothes from 1 year to 2 years decreases their carbon footprint by 24% (goodonyou.com).
A reminder that shopping your closet is the best way to shop sustainably and I’m here to help you! With the seasons changing, use your 30 minutes of styling time to rediscover the clothes you already have – sometimes a fresh perspective (mine!) is all you need to make getting dressed easy.
Until next week,
Kevin xo