How are you eco friendly?
Any thing we produce uses up precious resources and sometimes creates nasties for the environment. Here are some of the things I do to minimise the impact of my work on the planet.
Buy local wherever possible.
Reuse, refuse, recycle.
Source dye stuffs sustainably from windfall, prunings, food waste and weeds and NEVER from endangered plants.
Use biodegradable packaging.
Stay away from nasty chemicals.
Conserve water and power usage by working smartly.
Never use single use plastic (it's evil).
Plant trees.
Support other slow fashion initiatives.
What is ecoprinting?
Ecoprinting, or botanical printing was discovered by textile artist India Flint. Look her up, her eco principles are solid and her work is inspiring.
The art of ecoprinting basically involves bundling up plants with fabric and applying heat. So the images you see on the fabric are a direct result of contact from leaves, flowers or seeds. Which is why every piece is unique.
Why do you upcycle clothes rather than make new?
Fast fashion is having a bigger impact on the planet and on the labour workforce than you can imagine. In New Zealand alone we throw away 100 million kilos of clothing into the landfill each year. Upcycling supports a circular economy to keep things in the system longer and out of the rubbish. It's not ideal of course. Many people buy poorly made cheap clothes and then chuck them out to the op shop after a few wears because they think someone else will use them. Better not to buy it in the first place. However, until humankind cottons on to this, we do what we can to reduce, reuse and recycle.
