Accessorizing your conscience

So many ways to accessorize and so many options to do it in a way that relieves eco-anxiety. For those of you who are new to the green space, let me break it down for you… Eco comes in many shapes, sizes, prices, fabrications, ways to be repurposed, and there are even people that pay close attention to the social aspects of fashion – meaning – they care about the people that are creating the products they purchase. This is where Fairtrade, Triple Bottom Line (People, Planet, Profit), and Anti-sweatshop rallies stem from.

Ex. Each member of the Walmart family is worth $18 billion. The Head of Walmart in 2007 made over $28,000,000. An average American that works retail was paid approximately $13,000 a year (and may not have been given the option to have health insurance or benefits.) What’s even more difficult to swallow is that the employees that create the products are not in America, but instead they are in China, and they are lucky if they make $1,000 a year working overtime 7 days a week.

I will however acknowledge that ever since the release of Walmart “High Cost for Low Prices”, that the company has made an effort to create somewhat better working standards and they have implemented several Environmental Initiatives. Including, but not limited to greening their commercials, greening their stores, purchasing Organic foods such as Stonyfield Farms Organic Yogurt.

In a market that “demands” low prices…for every non-organic product that can be replaced by something organic, I feel this deserves a gold star and public acknowledgement. Mom’s often expect more and better for their children and can drive the need for organics to become accessible.

So, now that I’ve made you really depressed, let me show you the light at the end of the tunnel and a slew of different designers that are making amazing and diverse efforts to create super hot products that will appease your conscious, wallet and stylish side. And as consumers, the more you learn about your options, the more you expect better products, the more you share with your peeps (friends), the faster the shift of consciousness will happen in the main stream. Then the large corporations will see your needs as a marketing tool to get more conscious consumer to buy their products.