So today is Earth Day, a day when 192 countries join together to educate and activate environmental movement worldwide. It aims to encourage us to be more environmentally friendly, whether this be by recycling, growing our own produce, going paperless, planting trees and so on.
As a parent in this world, I feel that it is my/our job to help educate our children as to the importance of caring for our planet. I try where and when I can to provide examples to them of how as a family we can be more environmentally friendly. We recycle everything we can, have low energy lighting installed, grow our own produce, shop locally where we can, encourage our children to switch lights off, used washable nappies, the list goes on.
As a small business owner, I have also given thought as to how Gooseberry Fool can be more environmentally friendly. The fashion industry is the world's second most polluting industry after oil (Soil Association.org), it uses more water than any other industry apart from agriculture. Did you know that our cotton vests are now 100% organic GOTS (Global organic textile standard) certified cotton? Organic textiles are kinder and cleaner, they are made from fibres grown without using harmful pesticides or genetically modified organisms. They don't allow use of harmful chemicals in production, so its better for wildlife and workers. Social conditions are also high in organic textile factories.
We have also begun to use recycled cotton yarn where possible. The yarn is made from loose ends of cotton fabrics collected from mills that are then spun into yarn. Since Gooseberry Fool has been established, our ethos has been to design and produce pieces that are durable and timeless. We therefore aim to create long lasting quality products that can be passed down through the family, thereby reducing the effect on the throwaway society. Several of our products are unisex as we believe this is also a more sustainable approach (as they can be worn by more children!). By using recycled yarn, we are further supporting our ethos to be as environmentally friendly as we can.
Since starting Gooseberry Fool, and indeed since becoming a Mum, I have come across some wonderful brands and retailers who also support this ethos and that of Earth Day so I thought I would take this opportunity to share them with you, please do check them out! I will leave you with this image and wish you all a Happy Earth Day, lets work together to protect our beautiful planet.
xxx
NB I have also come across this great article that I thought I would share with you.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2017/apr/06/want-to-teach-ethical-fashion-to-kids-heres-how
http://www.wolfieandwillow.com/
http://acornandpip.com/
https://www.instagram.com/thekidsloungehackney/
https://hopeandfortune.com/
https://www.backtobeyond.com/
https://lilcubs.co.uk/
https://www.buffaloandbear.co.uk/
https://www.katequinnorganics.com/