Vaishnavi KhengareThe world is fast pacing towards activities that are rapidly creating an imbalance in the ecosystem. The fashion industry is responsible for a magnanimous amount of discarded materials. More than a million brands sell fast fashion and try greenwashing products to expand their sales which in turn leads to overexploitation of resources. Every year 85% of our clothes end up in landfills.
But there exist brands who practice environmentally friendly processes to make sustainable and at the same time stylish fashion. One such brand is Four Birds Nest by Patty Moonbeam based in Rainbow, Connecticut (US). Her Instagram profile describes the name of the place she is based as it displays polychromatic clothes, colorful bucket hats, and bags. She beautifully tailors multicolored vintage towels, tablecloths, and napkins into slow-fashion jackets, sweaters, hoodies, and so on. What she does is called upcycling which means reusing in a way that would create a product of a higher value than the original. Upcycling vintage clothes helps in not only reduce waste but adding value to the final product contributing to sustainability. She has been doing this for 6 years and aims to keep things out of landfills. The designer doesn’t even leave scraps of clothing materials, instead, she turns them into eco-friendly ribbons! Patty gets the raw materials from thrift stores, estate sales, online estate sales, IG sellers, etc. turning all the deadstock into ergonomic body warm sweaters and hoodies.
There is an evolutionary change that can be brought through upcycling. Fashion changes and so do trends but upcycling clothes should not just remain a trend but a continuous practice that can save clothes from entering landfills. Four Birds Nest and all others who are creatively designing such clothes are practicing a remedy that would also diminish consumerism and its harmful effects. Overconsumption has become a trend that only we as consumers can put an end to because it’s unimaginable how much waste we are producing wearing an attire just twice and never using it again. Consumerism is one of the major reasons for the fast depletion of resources. According to reports, 45% of global greenhouse emissions are caused due to production of things we use and buy every day.
- Taylor Swift’s 287,000 KM Tour Sparks Debate: Environmental Activism vs. High-Flying Lifestyle
- Avian Flu Outbreak Hits 33 U.S. Dairy Herds: FDA Ensures Milk Safety Amid Rising Concerns
- NASA Sets 2028 Launch for Dragonfly, A Nuclear-Powered Drone to Explore Saturn’s Moon Titan
- Cicada Invasion 2024: Millions Per Acre, Two Broods Emerge in Historic Overlap
- New LiDFOB Electrolyte Promises Lower Costs and Increased Sustainability for Batteries
However, there is an emerging slow fashion and handicraft niche for consumers who are aware and contribute their part in avoiding the wastage of clothing materials. Emma Watson says, “As consumers, we have so much power to change the world by just being careful in what we buy.” We all as consumers can give our share by turning towards eco-fashion.
You can check out her Instagram and website for amazingly stylish and cozy hoodies!!
