Our Ethical and Eco Friendly 2019 New Year's Resolutions

2018 has been a steep learning curve for us: we’ve become so much more aware of ways in which we can become more eco friendly and make more ethical decisions in our day-to-day life, so we're making the resolution to shop more consciously in 2019. Read on for our top three tips for a more eco-friendly and ethical New Year.

We were taught some very valuable lessons in 2018…

As ever David Attenborough’s wisdom captured the world’s attention when telling us about the dangers of plastic. The main lesson we all took away is that if we don’t change our behaviour now there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans by 2050.

Stacey Dooley let us in on Fashion’s Dirty Secret, and the shocking impact our appetite for cheap clothes is having on our environment. Ultimately we discovered that the fashion industry is one of the top five most polluting industries in the world, not forgetting its many human rights costs.

We also vowed to #stopsucking and purchase re-usable coffee cups for our favourite hot drinks.

But what more can we do? We have put together a list of easily achievable resolutions for the upcoming year. Will you be joining us?

1. Not so fast fashion…

This year it’s all about less is more. We’ve learnt of the dangers of fast fashion so we want to slow down the whole process: invest in key pieces rather than impulse buying from the traditionally low price point shops on the high street, and spend time rummaging around in vintage boutiques and charity shops instead. We also want to curate our wardrobes more consciously; for example, when you add a garment to your wardrobe how about deciding upon a piece to donate?

2. Stop monkeying around…

I think its safe to say everyone saw and was touched by Iceland’s advert about reducing palm oil. But what can we do about it? Well put your money where your mouth is: the best way to do this is shopping with supermarkets that have pledged to go palm oil free or are consciously reducing the use of palm oil products in their stores. Check out this cohesive list of best performing stores and the products to look out for.

3. Plastic power…

So many of the products that we use day to day are plastic, our Tupperware, razors, cling film, toothbrush and even phone cases. When we actually sit down to look around us it can be a bit overwhelming how much plastic products run our lives. However a site that we have found is really useful in helping you out with this is ‘Anything But Plastic’ – they sell a great selection of plastic alternatives and give great advice on how to limit your consumption of single-use plastic.

So our 2019 New Year’s Resolution is to consciously make more eco-friendly and ethical decisions more often, and to truly realise our powers as consumers. Each time we remember our reusable water bottles and refuse a plastic straw in a bar adds up to something more significant!

As a company we will also continue to explore and research all we can do to minimize our environmental footprint, as well as continuing to support the awesome work of Vision Aid Overseas. If you’ve bought a pair of upcycled vintage glasses from us you’ll have noticed that we send them in recycled cases, and we reuse our packaging for postage as much as possible – however, there’s still lots of room for improvement and we love hearing your ideas, so if you have any please do get in touch!

Shop our fantastic range of upcycled glasses here!

Article courtesy of the wonderful Paris Richardson. Thanks Paris!