Back home with a bump from a sunny sojourn, reading our exhibition visitors' sustainability tips has certainly brightened up the relentless rain.
Over the past 15 months, Fashion & Fairytale, has aspired to inspire a new generation of sustainable fashion designers and although we've witnessed the creativity and imagination of 300 young people, we have also been delighted to sift through the hundreds of tags that our visitors so kindly tied to our tree of sustainability.
From "make your own clothes," "organise clothes swaps," "buy clothes with less plastic content to reduce microplastics getting into water when washed," to "teach our children that one lovingly and sustainably made garment is better than 10 cheap ones," we think the sustainable fashion message has certainly sunk in.
Alongside glowing feedback about the exhibition and the individual BANES students' designs, we received some fabulous sustainable tips, so although the project has now drawn to a close, we couldn't wait to share some of them with you here and on our social media.
We'd love to see these tips travel far and wide, the further they go, the bigger the audience and the greatest potential for change, so feel free to share them with as many people as possible.
"When people welcome new lives into the world, they should plant a tree to grow with the child and live on after them."
"Instead of using Google, sign up to Ocean Hero or Ecosia - eco-friendly search engines that remove plastics from the ocean."
"Ask yourself: do I really need this or do I just want it?"
"Sustainability is about retaining skills and passing them down to future generations: Use them or lose them."
"Carry a water bottle."
"Teach more sewing at schools."
"Ban having more than two bonfires a month."
"Use glass milk bottles."
"Use environmentally friendly gift wrap."
"Grow food and eat locally."
"Ban synthetic fibres and demand complete supply chain transparency."
"Make your own deodorant from coconut oil, bicarbonate of soda and arrowroot."
We were delighted to receive over 200 sustainable tips, so if this blog has whetted your appetite, head over to our Instagram account to read more and keep the sustainability message alive.
Anne Suddick and I have loved working together on Fashion & Fairytale; we have met some wonderful people and been amazed by the number of eco-preneurs doing their bit to consciously create products and services that help our beautiful planet.
