Category: Blog

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I was inspired to research more about NFTs and cryptoart since the topics were recently trending in creative industries. What I found wasn’t pretty at all…

HERE IS THE ARTICLE YOU CAN SEND TO PEOPLE WHEN THEY SAY “BUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES WITH CRYPTOART WILL BE SOLVED SOON, RIGHT?”

Article by Everest Pipkin

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One of my favorite sweaters is from Garden24 by artist & poet Morgan Harper Nichols. She reminds us that: “You are worthy of new beginnings.”

I couldn’t have expected those words to ring more true this year. Here are my Fashion Eco Score goals & resolutions for 2021! I decided to come up with twelve – one for each month of the year:

1. Fall in love with new small local businesses (and feature them on my page!)
2. Mend or upcycle an item of clothing (and hopefully pick up sewing)
3. Repurpose old t-shirts into blankets, pouches, cleaning cloths
4. Start emailing brands
5. Promote & support SB62
6. Sign more petitions
7. Become an active sustainable fashion ambassador through a national or international program
8. Cultivate a Fashion Eco Score community online and connect with new friends ❤️
9. Listen to a sustainability podcast
10. Finish the Climatepedia program and earn my certificate in climate literacy! Once finished, I hope to complete Fashion Revolution’s free course Fashion’s Future: The Sustainable Development Goals.
11. Write an article about Fashion Eco Score for an online publication
12. Complete a Winter & Spring 2021 Fashion Eco Score Challenge and do an annual reflection on Fashion Eco Score’s one-year anniversary!

Resources mentioned:

• Sign the Petition: Pass the Garment Worker Protection Act (SB62) – https://garmentworkercenter.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/petition/sign?sid=2
• Climatepedia – https://climatepedia.org/
• Free Climate Literacy Program by Climatepedia.Org – https://climatepedia.org/about/certificate/
• Fashion Revolution – https://www.fashionrevolution.org/
• Free Course – Fashion’s Future: The Sustainable Development Goals – https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/fashion-s-future-and-the-un-sustainable-development-goals-

We Need Courage, Not Hope, to Face Climate Change by Kate Marvel is part of the optional reading in Climatepedia’s week 1 curriculum on climate basics. During my weekly discussions as part of the climate literacy certificate program, our facilitators praised this post as one of their favorites. I highly recommend the read. Check out Kate Marvel’s writing featured on onbeing.org.

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Some creative gift ideas for the holiday season!

Free or DIY gifts

1. Write a card or a meaningful letter to someone. Some inspiration on what to write:
   • How this person has helped you this year
   • Write 5-10 things of what you admire about them
   • Create an A-Z list inspired by them
   • Write a poem. Haikus are always easy and fun!
2. Illustrate a comic, book, or drawing for them
3. Create a playlist(s)
   • Create a playlist based on shared memory or event
   • Think of what activities this person does or what moods inspire them. Example: working out, starting your new business venture, finding the love you deserve
4. Create a slideshow or video
5. Write a song
6. Compile a recipe book
7. Create a mood or inspiration board for someone
8. Assemble a craft from something you already have
9. Plan an adventurous trip, date night, or camping/hiking
10. Donate your time
11. Make a meal or dessert
12. Regift (thoughtfully, please!)

Zero Waste Gift Ideas

1. Gift a service
   • Spa, Massage, Manicure, Pedicure, Beauty
   • Professional Organizing or Cleaning
   • Personal Training
   • Psychic Reading
   • Life Coach Sessions
   • Stylist
   • Teaching or Babysitting
   • Planner or Assistant
2. Gift knowledge or an activity
   • Entertainment program or subscription
   • Fitness program or subscription
   • Learning program or subscription (Masterclass, Udemy, Coursera)
   • Art, cooking, dancing, pottery classes
   • E-Book or Audible Book
3. Gift an experience
   • Concert or movie tickets
   • Museum
   • Game or sporting event
   • Escape Room
   • Outdoor activity, garden, or park
4. Electronic gift cards, Cash, Venmo
5. Make a donation in their name to an organization or kickstarter campaign that’s meaningful to them
6. Buy a thrifted, antique, vintage, or upcycled item. Or buy a gift card to a secondhand shop!
7. Commission a piece of art
8. Gift a plant, seeds, or something for their garden
9. Adopt a star, coral reef, or something to support nature & wildlife
10. Sponsor them or an individual on their behalf
11. Gift a membership to an organization
12. Get something that will help them live a low or zero waste lifestyle (reusable straws, water bottle, handcloths) from your favorite eco-shop.

For even MORE inspiration, check out our marketplace!

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This post has been a long time coming! The last time I stepped into Ross Stores was back in July and I don’t plan on returning soon, unfortunately.

Here’s my story—

It was Day 5 of the inaugural Fashion Eco Score Challenge in the middle of Summer 2020 (quarantine edition). Bright-eyed with a new vision to exclusively support sustainable and ethical fashion, I knew this was the ultimate test. I love shopping at Ross. It’s pretty much a joyous pastime of mine. Growing up my fellow budget-savvy friends and I would regularly humblebrag about the items we scored for a deal at Ross. It’s my preferred discount store among Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and Nordstrom Rack. So know that my disappointment in Ross feels like a tragic betrayal (keep reading until the end!). My father wanted to go to Ross that day, and I went to provide him some company. 

Browsing around as I usually do, I started with the shoe section towards the front of the store. Immediately, I found the perfect black mules that I had been searching for for what feels like forever. The shoes were durable, modern, understated, with a little detail to keep things interesting. Equipped with my newly created fashion-scoring skills, I proceeded to look up the brand, DKNY, on the Good On You app. It was rated We Avoid…yikes. Could it be true? 

You know when it’s been a few days into a new diet and you want to say f**k it and eat the damn donut? Well, that’s how I felt about those black mules. You see, I’d been searching for months if not years for the perfect design (it all started with Tory Burch mules that were too expensive for me at the time). After trying on the shoes, I carried them in my hand and went to go and find my Dad, reasoning with myself how I could make an exception “just this once.” 

For the longest time, I don’t think I was even trying to find my Dad in the store. I just kept walking around, thinking about my purchase. I read through the entire Good On You rating and description, reviewing when it was last updated. I double-checked donnakaran.com and did a Google search just to be sure. Reluctantly, I agreed with the rating. I kept inspecting the shoes, thinking about when I was going to wear them (we were in quarantine after all so I guess I could hold out), thinking about disappointing my future Fashion Eco Score community, and dreaming about telling this exact story about how I triumphed over the decision to support an unethical and non-transparent brand.

It wasn’t until I had done about two laps around the store that I found my Dad. Shoes in my hand, I was still determined to buy them and forgive my own humanness. As I reckoned with this decision, I noticed a little piece of plastic in the shoe design. What if that little piece breaks? I wouldn’t want the shoes anymore. And then like magic **POOF**—my problem was solved. If only by a miracle, I decided not to buy the shoes. And as my Dad finished up his shopping, I told him to wait up for me so I could return them back on the shelf. 

I’m grateful that I can write this story about how I ultimately chose virtue over my personal fashion agenda, but I admit it was a close call. If it were not for Fashion Eco Score, however, I would have easily purchased those shady black mules without a second thought. If it couldn’t get worse, earlier this year Ross Stores “canceled completed and in-process apparel orders and demanded extended payment timelines from suppliers on orders already shipped from its suppliers…[leaving] suppliers, in turn, unable to pay workers, potentially resulting in mass layoffs and undue hardships on workers in a time of crisis.” (Source: https://www.workersrights.org/updates-and-analysis/#May08Ross). Ross Stores is currently on #PayUp Fashion’s brand tracker list. The company has made no progress to #payup, no commitment to protecting workers’ wages or freedom of association, or has provided any transparency on the matter.

You can take simple action as I did by taking 1-2 minutes each to sign the #PayUp fashion petition, sign the petition to pass the Garment Worker Protection Act, and read more about how #RossExploits on GarmentWorkerCenter.org or Remake.

In the meantime, I’ll be staying away from Ross and spending more time at secondhand shops. It’s a small sacrifice for me to make in order to ensure Ross’s garment workers are being heard and protected.

Resources to take action:

• Sign the #Payup fashion petition: https://payupfashion.com/#actnow
• Sign the petition to pass the Garment Worker Protection Act: https://garmentworkercenter.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/petition/sign?sid=2&reset=1
• Read about the Garment Worker Center’s recent #RossExploits campaign: http://garmentworkercenter.org/rossexploits/
• Read Remake’s article on #RossExploits: https://remake.world/stories/news/pay-up-ross-what-the-retailer-doesnt-want-you-to-know/
• Learn more about Fashion Eco Score: https://fashionecoscore.com/help-feedback/

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When I have a new idea, I do what I or anyone usually does…I google it. I ask myself– does this already exist? Is a name already taken? Are there organizations already doing the same thing?

While no one had come up with a method of scoring an outfit, Good On You was a resource that greatly helped build the foundation of my education and knowledge of sustainable and ethical brands. I highly suggest downloading the app and checking out their website. 

Founded in Australia in 2015, Good On You strives to “make it as easy as possible to buy products that meet your needs, from brands that live up to your expectations in relation to their environmental and social performance and how they impact on animals.” You can learn more about their rating system here. 

Supported by well-known stars like Emma Watson, Good On You was instantly exciting and appealing, but I quickly realized that ethical and sustainable fashion could use more support in my local area and in the United States. It seemed that most thought leaders (in the form of agencies and/or consumer organizations) were based in Australia or Europe. Therefore, I experienced some frustration when I couldn’t find some mainstream US clothing brands in the Good On You directory. I acknowledged, however, that I couldn’t let that stop me (see: why self-scoring is important). After all, I needed to be sure that I was equipped at all times with the right tools and knowledge to be responsible for my choices (an incredibly American approach, probably).

After a few days of scoring, I’ll admit…things got pretty depressing! I grew up loving the mall and shopping at traditional fast fashion brands (Old Navy, Victoria’s Secret, Express, and more). I knew plenty of others would be in the same boat so I knew that I needed to dig deeper and refine my process to make the Fashion Eco Score more flexible and realistic for all to participate.

Enter the 30 wears test. In an April 2020 article on “10 Steps to Being More Sustainable” in Harpers Bazaar UK, Amy de Klerk writes about the #30Wears campaign started by Livia Firth (founder of EcoAge). Firth says, “The biggest message is every time you buy something, always think, ‘Will I wear it a minimum of 30 times?’ If the answer is yes, then buy it. But you’d be surprised how many times you say no.” The 30 wears test encourages us to only buy an item if we really know that we’ll wear it.

After some experimentation, the 30 wears test was the perfect addition to the initial Fashion Eco scoring system because 1) it accepts imperfection and ensures not all hope is lost and 2) it can help motivate you to make sure you’re wearing what’s currently in your closet!

So a few days into my new journey, I added a new rule: For 0 or 1 point items worn at least 30 times, you may add a bonus point (+1) to that item.

Happy scoring! Don’t forget to let me know how it goes.

I have always loved clothing and fashion. I would often tell people jokingly that my dream job would be a personal stylist/shopper. There’s nothing quite like helping someone look their best, expressing their personality through clothing, supporting passionate designers and business owners, AND staying within or under budget of course (or splurging when you need)!

Something about planning and coordinating an outfit has always brought me peace and excitement to look forward to the next day.

Here in sunny Southern California, we’re four months (six months as I publish this) into quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two months earlier, I had been furloughed from my job in live music. As I spent a lot of my free time walking outdoors to get out of the house, I was craving purpose and inspiration, just like everyone else. 

One day during one of my morning walks with my Dad, it hit me. A unique idea that supported my passions, helped the planet, and filled a gap between sustainable fashion and aspiring conscious consumers like me. They say ideas and inspiration hit you like a lightning bolt, but for me it was like a butterfly landing on my shoulder–unexpected, quiet, subtle, and miraculous. The Fashion Eco Score journey officially began.