5 tips for choosing sustainable fashion

In a world of online, shopping and fast fashion, picking up a bargain quickly and cheaply has never been so tempting. Whilst many of us get a buzz from buying another tee shirt or pair of shoes at a rock-bottom price, the sustainability of our choices often doesn't cross our minds.

The COP21 climate change talks in Paris in December highlighted that we must all play our part in protecting the planet. Being sustainable with our fashion choices is just one way in which we can all make a positive impact.

Zady’s cofounder and CEO Maxine Bédat is championing this change. Combating the craze of fast fashion, Zady provides a platform for only those companies that care about timeless style and solid construction. From everyday basics to something special, Zady's is worth checking out!

Maxine is sharing her top five ways in which we can get our fashion fix in a sustainable way- take a look at her great tips below!

1.       Choose alpaca over cashmere. 

It takes five cashmere goats to make one sweater whereas you can create five sweaters from just one alpaca. Furthermore, cashmere goats eat grass by pulling it from the root, thus leading to desertification in China and Mongolia.

2.      Buy only what you love. 

Americans throw away 65-70 lbs of clothing each year. Invest in products you love and will own over the course of a lifetime.

3.       Buy fewer, and better. 

More than 150 Billion garments are produced every year. That’s enough to provide more than 20 new articles of clothing to every person on the planet, every year.

4.       Avoid clothing produced in countries with coal-based power grids. 

The top two countries for fashion is China and Bangladesh. Both of these countries rely heavily on coal, the fossil fuel for their power supply. And our fashion factories are not any different. These factories, are plugged into that coal supplied grid pumping out all that clothing that we end up wearing, on average, only seven times.

5.      Choose organic cotton and natural fibers over synthetics. 

Polyester, a plastic material made of crude oil, is now the most commonly used fiber in our clothing, and the trend is only increasing. Nearly 70 million barrels of oil are needed to make the world’s polyester fiber each year-- enough to fill the Empire State Building 10 times. Polyester takes more than 200 years to decompose.

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