Photo by @williamdavidson___
We all have experienced wearing a sock that has a hole, at least once in our lives. Socks are kind of having it rough: you walk in them for hours, you run in them, and they keep getting friction. That is why we want to share to you how to keep them last longer.
This kind of applies to most - if not all - of your clothing items. By turning your socks inside out, the outside part will then receive less friction - which means less damage.
You can get laundry bags from your nearest supermarket. Even better, you can put them in a microfibre laundry bag, to minimise the release of microplastic down the drain. But other than that, putting your socks in a laundry bag protects the socks better from friction - thus they will last longer. Also check out our washing instructions here.
We have put our "care" instructions on each of the product page, as well as on the hang tag of our socks. Basically there are a couple of things that you need to do: wash cold when you can, or 30°C max. We recommend air dry for your socks. But if in the case you need to tumble dry, make sure you set it to low. Read our washing instructions in full here.
Clothing soap/detergent that are made for wool or delicate fabric would be your best bet. That way, the soap would be more gentle to your clothing. Do not use bleach for your socks, it will ruin them. Fabric softener is also not necessary, as our socks are naturally already soft. Check them out for yourself!
Unfortunately, your socks will pill overtime once you wear and wash them. That is totally normal! In fact, it is a sign that your socks are made with natural fibre. Our socks are made with organic cotton, so they will pill overtime. The most important thing is that they aren't prone to wear and tear so quickly! If you follow the above tips, hopefully you can keep your socks a tad bit longer. Best of luck!
Shop our sustainable, edgy socks here!
]]>Photo by Naja Bertolt Jensen on Unsplash
Plastic was probably one of the groundbreaking inventions back then when it was first founded. It's durable and cheap. But as years go by, we all know that they're really bad for the environment. They're especially bad for the ocean and the wildlife.
When people think about "plastic", they tend to think of plastic bags or plastic bottles. But clothing contains plastic too. Plastic is everywhere and it's almost unavoidable. Every single one of you would have an item in your home that contains plastic. Even though it is hard to completely avoid plastic, for now, there are a million ways you can do to minimise the use of plastic.
In celebration of plastic-free July, we thought we want to share some tips on how to reduce your plastic waste. Here we go:
1. DITCH SINGLE-USE PLASTICS
These are probably the most obvious ones, and many people have already been used to the idea of ditching single-use plastics. Single-use plastics are products that are made of plastic that you would tend to discard after one use. This includes (but is not limited to) plastic straws, plastic bags, plastic bottles, cling wrap, and more.
As an alternative, you can bring your own reusable water bottles, or bring a smoothie cup when getting your smoothies. Ditch the cling wrap, and invest in silicone food covers or beeswax wrap instead. A common practice is to bring your own reusable grocery bags. The good thing in some places plastic bags is banned now. This has pushed people to use their own bags instead. So if you've done this, that's great! You should pat yourself in the back.
Shops like Go For Zero or Seed & Sprout sell these kinds of plastic alternative, reusable products.
2. OPT FOR NATURAL FIBRE WHEN YOU BUY CLOTHING
We have said this before, and we are going to say it again: opt for natural fibre when you buy clothing items. In the case that it's difficult, opt for the highest composition of natural fibre as much as you can.
What is natural fibre? Natural fibre are fibres that are derived from natural resources. So fibres like cotton, hemp, bamboo are natural. Even wool and is natural. Natural fibre will biodegrade over time, unlike synthetic fibres. When choosing natural fibre, make sure you also opt for organic fibre. So instead of going for conventional cotton (usually just labeled as "cotton"), opt for organic cotton. Organic cotton generates less energy and uses less water than conventional cotton. They also don't use hazardous pesticides or synthetic fertiliser. Our socks are made with organic cotton that is OCS-certified.
Socks are generally a bit tricky to get to 100% natural fibre. At the very least they would need elastane or spandex to hold the socks up. Without elastane/spandex, your socks would just fall off your legs all the time. Most socks would have some nylon/polyamide/polyester in them too. The reason being is for strength and durability, typically in the toes or heels area. Furthermore, if the socks have patterns and have many different colours, socks become more vulnerable. Thus polyamide adds strength to the socks with complex patterns.
We maximise the composition of our socks to 75% OCS-certified organic cotton. The rest is 24% nylon and 1% elastane.
3. WASH YOUR CLOTHES WISELY
When you wash your clothes, they will create and shred microfibres. Although some washing machines and tumble dryers catch some of these microfibres, some of them will escape down the drain. Now if your clothes are made of plastic (polyester etc), they essentially shred microplastics - which is very bad for the environment.
Eventhough our fun socks are mainly made with organic cotton, they contain a bit of nylon & elastane, and most likely some of your other clothing items too. There are a couple of ways you can minimise microplastics going down your drain: The first one is to fill up your washing machine before running a cycle. When your machine is filled up, there will be fewer frictions - meaning fewer microfibres will be created. The second one is to use a microfibre wash bag to trap these microfibres. These bags collect microplastics and do not shred fibres out of themselves. The third one is to wash colder. Colder water gives less damage to your fabrics - thus it creates fewer microplastics and keeps your clothing last longer. Next is to line dry your clothes instead of using tumble dry, when you can. Or you can use low tumble dry instead. The last one is a bit controversial but: wash less, when you can.
4. SOAP REFILL STATIONS!
Instead of buying new bottled home products every time (e.g. bottled hand soap, bottle detergent, etc), get your home products refilled! This way, you will minimise the use and purchase of plastic bottles. Thankfully in Australia, there are so many refill stations where you can bring your own container/bottle to fill in your home products.
Shops like The Source Bulk has a range of different zero-waste products. The idea is for you to come into the shop with your own bag/container, and choose the products to fill in. They then weigh the products. They have so many options from liquid hand soap, to laundry detergent, to quinoa.
Other brands like Pleasant State or Happy Human offer dissolvable refill tablets. You can order these refill tablets, put them in a bottle and mix it with water, and voila! It'll turn to soap!
5. HAIR REMOVAL
Instead of keep buying disposable plastic razors that you'd throw out after one or two times uses, you can either: invest in reusable razors OR you can get hair laser removal.
Laser hair removal is the best way to reduce waste or products. You essentially go in to get treatments around 10-20 visits (everyone's skin tone and skin condition is different), and you will not see those hair coming back out! Or at least they might just grow very minimally. I can personally vouch for this. And they're not as expensive as people think. In some places, you can get underarm hair removal for $10 each visit!
6. REUSABLE PERIOD PRODUCTS
This is is for you all who are having periods. Let's face it, we can all agree that periods suck. But your products don't have to be.
Reusable period products such as menstrual cups or period panties like Modibodi are getting more popular these days. They're reusable which means you can say goodbye to throwing away your tampons or period pads every day! I can personally recommend period panties. They're not just good for the environment, but they're super comfy!
7. PUT YOUR VEGGIES STRAIGHT INTO YOUR GROCERY BAG
You know when you go grocery shopping, you already have your own grocery bag, but then you go to the veggies & fruit section and they have this plastic bags on a roll that you can take? Yeah, ditch that. You don't really need those. Just put your veggies & fruits straight into your grocery bag. If that's not your thing, then you can reusable mesh bags to put veggies and fruits in. But in all honesty, you don't really need that either.
8. NO TO CHEWING GUMS?
Did you know that most chewing gums are sold at supermarkets contain plastic and synthetic rubber? That's why they are chewy and that's why you're not supposed to eat them! So maybe lessen your chewing gums munch.
Thankfully enough, there seem to be natural chewing gums out there that don't contain plastic/synthetic rubbers. We haven't yet to try these though!
9. GET BAMBOO TOOTHBRUSH
This is actually quite easy swap because bamboo toothbrushes are everywhere now! Bamboo is biodegradable. All you need to do is once you're done with your toothbrush, snap the head/bristles off, and you can home compost the bamboo handle.
Again, shops like Go For Zero have this.
10. REUSE YOUR PLASTIC OR OPT FOR RECYCLED PLASTICS
Sometimes, life happens. You forget your cotton grocery bag, or you left your water bottle at home. Or there are some instances where plastic swap is almost impossible to get. Then you'll have no choice but to get the plastic option. We get it, we've been there too. Don't beat yourself up. As long as you are aware, and try to implement it in your habit - then you'll get there.
If this is the case though, try to go for recycled plastic (if you can). You can also try to reuse the plastic items that you just bought. For example, you can reuse your plastic bag as a bin liner or for your dog's waste bag. For plastic bottles, you can use them to propagate your plants or as a bottle to refill your home soap products into (which is our point number 4).
For this plastic-free July, let's try to be plastic-free or at least minimise your plastic use. And hopefully, this becomes a habit, then it won't be plastic-free July anymore, it will be plastic-free all year round (we wish!). Any effort is meaningful. If there are a million of us trying to do sustainability imperfectly, then it is already much better than one person doing it perfectly.
]]>Can you believe that what you wear matters? That the t-shirt you wear today has an effect on someone, somewhere on the other side of the world? That the choice you make when you hit the "add to cart" button could change someone's life and the environment?
If you are here reading this, chances are you are aware or know of the sustainability and ethics of fashion. Or maybe you want to learn more? I have summarised 5 easy ways for you so you can shop and dress more consciously:
Natural fibres (e.g. cotton, hemp, linen etc) are your best bet, cos they are biodegradable. It’ll be even better if these fibres are organic. Organic cotton is probably one of the famous ones, but there's also organic linen and organic hemp. There's also recycled natural fibre such as recycled cotton, which seems to be one of the best ones.
Recycled synthetic fabric (recycled polyester etc) are also a good option. There are two types of recycled fabrics: pre-consumer recycled fabric and post-consumer recycled fabric. Pre-consumer recycled fabric is made of textile waste or excess from the manufacturing process. Post-consumer recycled fabric is made of actual clothing items that have been used and discarded.
Avoid virgin synthetic fibres (polyester, nylon), or find clothing that has a few of them as possible. Socks usually are a bit tricky to get to 100% natural fibres.
Our socks are made of 75% organic cotton, and the rest is nylon & elastane.
For sustainable fabrics, you can look for GOTS, OCS and OEKO-TEX.
GOTS checks for the organic content of the product. It checks for the management of the production, but also other stuff like the chemical use, water treatment and social responsibility. OCS checks for the organic content of the product and it only checks for the production management. OEKO-TEX checks for harmful substances that might be used in the process of making the fabric/yarns.
You can also look for vegan certifications, such as PETA-Approved Vegan or Vegan Society.
On top of that, you want to make sure that the workers of the label/brand are paid a living wage and treated fairly. For that, the certifications you need to look for are BSCI, Fair Trade or Ethical Clothing Australia.
Our socks are OCS-certified. The manufacturer we worked with has OEKO-TEX and BSCI certifications.
Livia Firth, the founder of Eco Age & activist, launched the campaign #30Wears to encourage people to only buy items that you’d wear at least 30 times. If you think that’s a small number, then amazing! You'd be surprised how some (if not a lot) people use their clothing items less than 30 times. *honestly I am one of the culprits*.
We are hoping that you could wear our socks more than 30 times! This brings us to the next point:
Clothing items usually have a care label, attached to the item itself, or on the packaging. You can also check their website, sometimes they have it there! It’s best to follow these instructions so your garment can last longer.
For our socks, put them in a wash bag. Put them in a cold machine wash (or 30° max). If you can handwash them, even better. Don’t tumble dry, line dry them instead. That way, you can re-wear them more than 30 times!
Stay away from fast fashion as much as you can. We understand that sustainable/ethical fashion usually cost a lot. I have personally heard from people who said as much as they'd love to opt for ethical brands, they can't afford it. So there’s no judgment if that’s what you can afford right now.
However, the best solution is to buy less. Just because the item is cheap, doesn’t mean you have to buy it, nor if it's on sale. I think that is a mindset that more people need to have.
Otherwise, secondhand shopping is always an option!
Source:
http://aboutorganiccotton.org/organic-certification/
http://en.sa8000cn.cn/article/172.html
https://wearme30times.com/#first
https://goodonyou.eco/most-sustainable-fabrics/
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