Since 1970, April 22 has marked the celebration of Earth Day. Set to coincide with Arbor Day — a day dedicated to planting trees — Earth Day was initiated as a way to bring together the various groups that were working on environmental issues and create a day focused on putting sustainable living ideas into action. 

Whether you’re reading this article ahead of Earth Day or simply want to do your bit to help the planet, here are our top seven sustainable living tips for celebrating Earth Day, every day.!

Sustainable Living Tip #1: Get Out in Nature

Sustainable living ideas start with a love for nature and a desire to protect it. But you can’t love nature if you spend all of your time indoors. As the Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu said, “Love the world as your own self; then you can truly care for all things.”

The single best thing you can do to help this earth flourish is to go outside and take a walk, visit a national park, adopt an area as your own, and really get to know it. As the seasons pass and the landscape changes, you will become much more attuned to the cycles of nature and find that you start caring more about the local environment as well.

Sustainable Living Tip #2: Watch Wildlife

The second tip on our list of sustainable living ideas is an easy way to derive even more benefit from your time in nature. Whether you choose a kind of animal to watch (birds, insects, etc.) or simply wait and see what crosses your path, spend some of your time in nature simply staying still and watching. 

When you go outside, take a bird-identification book with you or make a sketch to look up when you get home. As you learn to recognize several species, you could even keep a log of the wildlife that you see on your wanderings. These logs provide valuable information about the wildlife in your area and how the numbers change over time. If you would like to promote sustainable living ideas in your community, you could volunteer with a conservation group that documents wildlife sightings for the purpose of advocacy and planning.

Sustainable Living Tip #3: Pick Up Trash

Ultimately, spending time in nature will open your eyes to the impact that humans have on the environment. For some, sustainable living ideas might mean taking a bag and pair of gloves to pick up trash in your local area. For others, it could mean taking shorter showers, turning off the lights at home, and only printing things out when you really need to. 

Every action counts, and not just because of the cumulative effect that enacting many sustainable living tips can have over months and years. Each action you take is also serving as a reminder to live lightly and thoughtfully — and that has benefits for your own well-being as well as your relationships with others!

Sustainable Living Tip #4: Plant a Tree

Seeing as Earth Day falls on the same date as Arbor Day, what better excuse to plant a tree? Trees provide oxygen, shade, soil stability, habitat, and can transform a barren area into a lush retreat. Whether you have a yard of your own or only a small balcony, adding trees of any size to your space will improve the air quality and can even lower the ambient temperature. It can also provide important nourishment for local insects, including bee populations and other important pollinator species.

Make sure to see these sustainable living ideas through by caring for your trees until they are well established. Planting a tree is one thing, but you will also need to water, mulch, prune, and fertilize each tree at the right time to help them grow healthy and strong.

Sustainable Living Tip #5: Grow a Garden

Food transportation accounts for around 11% of our carbon footprint, and the actual production of that food accounts for 83%. If you’re looking for sustainable living ideas to help the planet, growing a garden is a fantastic thing to do. By growing some of your own produce, you are cutting your food miles to essentially zero, and you will be eating pesticide-free, seasonal produce. Besides, who doesn’t love the taste of a homegrown tomato? Yum!

Sustainable Living Tip #6: Green Your Diet

Those of us who don’t have a balcony or the time to care for a home garden can make a difference with sustainable living ideas like shopping organic, seasonal produce and reducing the amount of red meat that we include in our diets.

According to experts, high-meat diets produce 3.3 tons of CO₂ emissions per year compared to 2.5 tons for an average diet, 1.9 for white meat only, 1.7 for vegetarians, and 1.5 for vegans. By switching from red meat to free-range chicken and fish, you can lower your food emissions by nearly a third overnight. By going from meat-loving to vegetarian, your food-print is slashed almost in half!

Sustainable Living Tip #7: Choose Conscious Consumption

Everyone needs to buy things in order to live, and there are very few people who don’t love a bit of retail therapy! Enjoy the fun without the harm by implementing sustainable living ideas into your shopping habits. Here are a few sustainable living tips for the conscious shopper:

• Choose FSC-certified and recycled paper and wood products.
• Look for the fair trade symbol when buying coffee and chocolate.
• Buy reusable bottles and containers for packaging take-out food.
• Use washable diapers and sanitary products instead of disposables that end up in landfills.
• Opt for eco-friendly women’s and men’s clothing.
• Wear recycled jewelry to avoid strip mining practices.
• Purchase eco-friendly gifts for friends and family.

Be Inspired at Faerie’s Dance

Whether you’re looking for sustainable living ideas or wanting to browse cute, eco-friendly clothing, you can find endless inspiration at Faerie’s Dance. We go to great lengths to source the most socially and environmentally responsible clothing, ethical lingerie, jewelry, and eco-friendly accessories and offer each item to our customers at less than the recommended retail price.

Browse our collections this Earth Day and enjoy knowing that by following these sustainable living tips and purchasing ethical, eco-friendly items, you’ll be doing something great for the planet we all share!

As the end of another year approaches, toy factories and shopping malls are working overtime to prepare for the onslaught of anxious shoppers. With 28% of gifts returned after the big day and 25% more waste thrown into landfills between Thanksgiving and New Year, it’s a good time to be thinking about ways to be eco-friendly over the holiday season for a happier (and healthier!) planet. At Faerie’s Dance, we’re here to help redefine how people think about eco-friendly shopping. Here are our top 5 ideas to consider for making your holidays more eco-friendly!

1. Ditch the Tinsel and Disposable Knives and Forks

Tradition and convenience are attractive go-to’s when the family is coming over and there’s way too much to do. Fortunately, there are several ways to be eco-friendly and prevent the huge amounts of plastic that are purchased and disposed of around holiday time each year.

Instead of plastic tinsel and baubles, consider opting for the more nature-friendly pine cones and rose hips, decorating your home with pieces of brightly colored organic cotton and homemade bunting. For ways to be eco-friendly with your holiday meal, think about switching your single-use plastic cutlery for compostable bamboo disposables or preferably make a fun activity out of washing dishes by turning up the holiday music and laying out the leftovers for helpers to help pack up. With the treats off the table and the party in the kitchen, you’ll soon have a team of eager volunteers!

2. Purchase Gifts that Give Twice

With so many birthdays and holidays in a lifetime, finding the perfect gift for each person can be a challenge. Make your presents meaningful as well as sustainable by shopping local and giving preference to eco-friendly gifts for the holidays.

Organic cotton children’s toys are free from flame-retardants and other chemicals making them a safer, softer option for bringing a smile to the kids’ faces. Organic women’s clothing or sustainable men’s styles are other ideas for ways to be eco-friendly when buying gifts for the whole family. The styles available in organic and sustainable fabrics means you won’t have to sacrifice on fashionability, and your purchase will help small family businesses make a decent living in countries around the world.

3. Wrap Your Gifts Without Killing Trees

According to a study from Sundale Research, Americans spend a whopping $7 billion on wrapping paper every year. Keep gifts a surprise without damaging our forests by looking for alternatives to brand-new “virgin” wrapping paper. As an item that is used once (or at most twice) and then thrown away, this holiday tradition can easily be replaced with gorgeous tree-free gift bags that can be folded back up and used again. The red cloth stocking hanging from the mantelpiece is a similar idea and brings back the nostalgia of centuries past.

If you must wrap with paper, there are ways to be eco-friendly while still giving the kids the fun of ripping each package apart. Create a rustic feel by wrapping gifts with newspaper and securing it with twine or colored cloth rather than plastic-coated sticky tape. When you’re done unwrapping, compost your newspaper wrapping paper to return the goodness to the earth. For those who like a sea of color in their living room, swap the newspaper for some colorful pages from used magazines. While this option isn’t as great for your compost pile, it can still be recycled for more eco-friendly holidays!

4. Gift Experiences Rather than Toys

Creative gifts can be a way to be eco-friendly and counter the excess of consumption that pollutes our homes and our hearts. Whet the appetite of curious kids with a science clinic or cake-making workshop and give the older ones the thrill of a lifetime with a voucher for a tandem skydive or white-water rafting. Is there a couple on your list who could do with a romantic getaway? For ways to be eco-friendly at the same time as showing some sacrificial generosity, consider gifting a hotel, restaurant, or movie voucher and offering to watch the kids!

5. Give Them a Choice

Having someone guess the exact gift we want is a rare pleasure that is usually preceded by 12 months of hint-dropping. Avoid the problem of gift-return and reduce waste by giving your loved ones a gift card printed on recycled paper or charity-based “gift” that plants trees or “adopts” an endangered animal.

Looking for ways to be eco-friendly with a sustainable holiday budget that won’t put you in the red? Time vouchers are a creative idea for eco-friendly holidays that only cost you an hour (or two or three) and leave the details up to the recipient. You could make these vouchers fun and attractive by including a few suggestions and decorating the page by hand. A time-voucher for your teenage son could offer activities such as:

• An afternoon of go-karting
• Putting together an engine for his future car
• Going on a camping trip together to the local state park
• Helping him practice his basketball shots
• Spending time together during something he enjoys

While this gift could seem like more effort than checking out an iPhone and calling it good, it will create unforgettable memories that last for a lifetime.

6. Change Your Mindset to Transform the World

Although looking for ways to be eco-friendly with our celebrations can make an enormous difference, changing the way we think has benefits that extend far beyond the holidays. Take a moment to step away from the hustle, bustle, lights, and music, and ask yourself these important questions:

• What am I trying to achieve with this year’s festivities?
• Which gifts have I received from others that really changed and enriched my life?
• What will I do this holiday season to build relationships with the people in my life?
• What can I let go of this holiday season?

When you step back and look at the big picture, you might realize that the most important thing is spending time with family, making memories, taking time to rest, and filling your home with joy. Ready to make your holiday more eco-friendly? Explore the best eco-friendly gifts in our collection.

Happy Holidays from Faerie’s Dance! We wish you a healthy, prosperous and, most of all, joyous New Year!

In 2009 we started The Eco-Fashion Philosopher with this very question. By 2019 the terminology has gotten more complex rather than less. Is “eco-fashion” the same as “sustainable fashion”? What about “Ethical Fashion” or “Slow Fashion”? Ten years on, and the need to clarify is more prevalent today than when we started. Let’s take a look at these terms and what they all mean.

“Eco-Fashion” Explained

Eco-fashion describes clothing produced with minimal environmental impact.

When people talk about “eco-fashion”, they are generally referring to the ecological impact that fashion has in the world. At Faerie’s Dance, we look at four factors when determining if a garment meets the “eco-fashion” label:

1. How was the input material grown or made?
2. Are toxic chemicals required for the transformation of the input material into fabric?
3. How much production waste is generated?
4. Which dyes or finishing agents are used in the final garment?

Just to be clear, though, conventional fashion is a dirty business. Exactly how dirty is hard to quantify because fashion touches so many different things such as water chemical pollution, ocean plastic pollution, soil pollution, carbon emissions, petroleum usage, desertification, and on and on. Entire movies have been made about fashion industry pollution. Check out this documentary preview on river pollution for a quick look into some of the main issues with the fashion industry.

RiverBlue – Official Trailer from RiverBlue on Vimeo.

“Ethical Fashion” Unpacked

Ethical Fashion ensures the well-being of the farmers and factory workers.

The creation of fashion is extremely labor intensive. Sewing machines are about as high-tech as things get in the fashion industry, and there are actual people who operate them. The USA once had a booming clothing manufacturing industry. In 1960, 95% of clothing sold in the U.S. was manufactured in New York’s Garment Center. With rising wages in the USA, companies started outsourcing clothing manufacturing.

Initially China was the place to go for cheap labor and minimal regulations. Sweatshop working conditions and child labor became the norm with profit margins skyrocketing for western companies that could still charge a premium. As the world became focused on the plight of the Chinese garment worker, conditions slowly improved and wages started to rise. In some ways, the problem became worse. In the never-ending “race to the bottom” western companies started leaving China to set up garment manufacturing in even poorer areas, with even fewer regulations. Fashion industry workers were increasingly being paid less and less for working longer and longer hours.

In 2013, the Rana Plaza garment building in Bangladesh collapsed killing 1134 people who were making clothing for western companies. The building was not zoned for manufacturing. The upper floors had been built without permits. Worst of all, the workers had been threatened with job lose and pay withholding if they did not come to work even after cracks were spotted in the building. This disaster really shone a spot-light on the plight of the garment workers around the world. The Fashion Revolution was started to counteract this type of worker abuse.

Today, the hashtag #WhoMadeMyClothes is used as a call to action to ensure people in the fashion manufacturing chain are treated with dignity, while Fair Trade standards and certifications ensure they are paid fairly and receive living wages.

“Slow Fashion” Sorted

Slow Fashion emphasizes quality over quantity and lasting appeal over trendiness.

Once fashion production was moved to places with cheap labor, the industry realized that more money could be made by offering lower quality goods, thus reducing prices even further. Moreover, if prices were cheap enough, producers could sell significantly more. The pace of fashion trends picked up significantly in the 1980s and 1990s. Instead of collections coming out seasonally, suddenly new items were being introduced monthly, and then weekly. The strategy was to get fashion from the catwalk to the consumer as fast as possible.

Planned obsolescence became the standard for fashion rather than quality. A shirt no longer had to last season after season. Wearing an item 2-3 times and then tossing it became the norm. The term “fast fashion” was born to describe this new model of production. And the pileup of fashion waste increased exponentially.

After a few decades of rampant “fast fashion” the toll on the environment, the buildup of landfill, and the emotional weight on people owning all this “stuff” became too much. Books like Marie Kondos “The Life Changing Magic of Tyding Up” became international best-sellers as people have become bogged down in a sea of over-consumption. An entire industry of decluttering grew out of the mess. Frustrated consumers and fashion designers are fostering a new movement towards “slow fashion,” in an attempt to find a path back to quality, timelessness and sanity in fashion.

So What is Sustainable Fashion Then?

Sustainable Fashion is the all-encompassing term for fashion that is ecologically sound, ethically produced, and high quality. In other words, both environmentally and socially sustainable as well as well-made and stylish.

We’ve learned a lot since we opened our little online fashion boutique in 2005 with just 70 or so styles. We continue to educate ourselves about fashion, style, ethics and sustainability. Our research into new garments and manufacturers is extensive, and our verification methods have become increasingly sophisticated. Today FaeriesDance.com offers more than 1200 items, each one curated to be sustainable from every point of view.

Adrienne: Most fabric production does have some waste products.  A closed-loop processing system captures the production waste and recycles it for reuse in the next round of fabric production.  Companies like Lenzing, who make both Tencel® and Modal® have achieved near 100% waste recycling.  So there’s no waste or runoff at all into waterways or oceans.  Closed-loop production is really the future of fashion.

Richard: Those are the kind of solutions we like to hear about. Clothing dyes also impact waterways and the ocean. So, can you tell me more about what you have found about those impacts?

Adrienne: ​As I mentioned before, conventional dyes can have really harsh, and in some cases, carcinogenic chemicals.  Unfortunately, the dyeing process creates a lot of waste.  The single biggest improvement of low-impact dyes over conventional dyes is the enormous reduction in waste output.

Richard: It is deeply concerning that fibers from plastic based clothing come off in the wash and end up making their way through water treatment plants, eventually flowing into waterways to the world’s ocean. These plastic fibers are also found in our drinking water. Would you say it’s better to have plastics go to a landfill than to be made into products that will end up in the ocean?

Adrienne: ​Actually, a huge portion of non-recycled plastic do end up in our oceans.  So RePET fibers keep a lot of plastic out of the ocean rather than just out of landfill. So I guess the question would be is it better to have a lot of plastic in the ocean (a lot being defined as an entire garments worth) or a little plastic in our waterways (a little being defined as the small amount of the garment that leeches away during the wash)?

Richard: ​What’s worse? Is it a large piece that gets churned over time, or the piece that’s microscopic that we can’t see? The answers to these questions may be filled in over time by researchers, but until then we can keep cleaning it up and your company can keep making our footprint as light as possible like you have been doing. One thing that I really love about Faeries Dance is that you are offering solutions for a One World Ocean.

To learn more about the Ocean Blue Project, checkout their Mission Page.