Slow Fashion & Reducing Plastics

What is Slow Fashion and Why It Matters To Your Wardrobe?

I am sure you have all heard of Fast Fashion. It is the wasteful cheap fashion industry, such as Primark & Shein for example, plus many others, that churns out cheap mass produced low quality clothing, with devastating working conditions and environmental impacts. 

Slow Fashion is the opposite. Slow fashion is a growing movement working to raise awareness of the awful fast fashion industry. It is an approach to fashion that is eco-conscious and gives consideration to the processes and resources required to make clothing. Slow fashion advocates for environmental and social justice in the fashion industry. For better working conditions, payment and reducing the waste associated with clothing manufacture. Slow fashion is an aspect of sustainable fashion and a concept describing the opposite to fast fashion, part of the "slow movement" advocating for clothing and apparel manufacturing in respect to people, environment and animals. 

Slow fashion is about buying fewer items of higher quality that will last longer and provide you with options to create a timeless capsule wardrobe of sustainable clothing. 

Sarah Lou Crafts

When I created my small handmade business I was already well into living a more eco-friendly lifestyle and reducing plastics in the family so naturally wanted to have the same ethos within my business. 

My focus is helping others to start a new mindful lifestyle by offering handcrafted clothing and apparel with sustainable materials and natural fibres for a long-term slow fashion approach to thoughtful purchases and eco-conscious gift giving.  

The majority of my customers are women who are conscious about slow fashion and looking for quality but funky handmade garments and capsule wardrobe attire. However all of my items are gender neutral and fit a range of sizes from children to adults.   

All my packaging uses cardboard or paper envelopes, most of which I re-use from packages that we have as a family and I use eco-friendly, unbleached, recyclable tissue paper for wrapping and paper tape for packaging. 

Sustainable Materials

Finally I am transitioning to more sustainable yarns and materials for my creations. I use natural fibres such as British Wool, sustainable Cotton and recycled polyester yarns. I also use cork fabric for my Notebook Journals. The covers are made from cork fabric and have a coordinating faux suede wrap tie to keep the notebook closed when not in use. Inside the journal, you will find five inserts of pages each with 16 sheets carefully bound together with hand-sewn binding using strong waxed cotton thread to ensure the durability and longevity of your journal. The pages are made from plain white EU Ecolabel FSC paper that is sustainably sourced, and you can also choose ruled lined paper or a mix of both depending on the purpose and preference of your Notebook. 

I have also used handmade paper Lokta paper from the Anglesey Paper Company. It is a sustainable resource made from the Lokta bush. The inner bark of the plant is stripped away then pulped to make the paper and as the root system of the bush is not damaged the plant regrows from the same root system. Lokta paper is acid-free and has a low environmental impact. It is regarded as one of the world's finest papers and is perfect for eco-conscious minded people. 

Making Slow Fashion Affordable

When we think of handmade, eco-friendly, sustainable materials we think “oh that will come with a premium price” but I am working to make slow fashion, fashionable and affordable. I am able to offer competitive prices by buying bulk yarns and material wholesale and by having low overheads with no production factory, workers or retail outlets. 

Small Steps to Reducing Plastics

First of all, I do not live a 100% plastic free life. I am not a plastic free professional. I am a wife to one husband, mother to two boys and servant to three 'pawsome' pups. What I do want to do though, is try to reduce the amount of single-use plastic my family uses and produces through waste. I have been making a conscious effort over the last few years of small manageable steps and am ready to share some of my top tips with you.  

Perhaps you are thinking about making a change to your lifestyle or are already well on the road to living plastic free. Either way I am sure this post will help you start or refresh your practices. 

Do not try to do it all at once

Even if you change just one thing each month to begin reducing the plastics in your home that will add up to 12 items in a year. That is a great start to make. 

When my youngest son was diagnosed with a rare cancer in 2016, he and I lived at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff for nine months, as he underwent 7 operations and a gruelling treatment regime. I lived in the parents' accommodation within the hospital, provided for by the charity LATCH. 

The flat was home from home, with a laundry room and fully functioning kitchen, but I found myself grabbing take out food and coffee from the café and concourse shops at the hospital and it dawned on me, just how wasteful I was being. 

I decided, even in the hospital, I could make some quick and easy changes to my routine to reduce the plastic and waste that I was contributing to. 

I bought myself a gorgeous hessian bag from a charity shop to carry my food in, either from the hospital accommodation or from the shops in the hospital concourse. 

A reusable metal flask that the coffee shop at the hospital was happy to fill for me with my daily (hourly) caffeine boosts. I also purchased a lovely travel mug from LATCH too. 

A lunch bag and reusable cutlery for using in the canteen or with take out foods that I bought. 

R. has now been in remission since 2020 and here are some more of the items I have worked on changing in our family over the last few years. 

• Wooden and Bamboo Toothbrushes

• One Green Bottle, reusable metal drinks bottles

• Kaupilka Dishware and Cutlery for our hiking trips

• Bags for life for everyday and shopping

• Glass & Metal Cooking Trays and Dishes

• Bar Soap 

• Shampoo Bars

• Cream Deodorant

• Washable Dish and Cleaning cloths, I crochet my own and also use old towels that I cut down to size. 

• Reusable Feminine products like cloth pads and menstrual cups. 

• Buying clothes and homeware from Charity Shops and Family & Friends

• Using 'hand-me-down' tech, like mobile phones, laptops and tablets. 

• Plastic Pledge

National Geographic UK are campaigning against single use plastics and they aim to prevent 1 billion items from reaching the ocean. 

Their social media campaign #IChoosePlanet invites you to make new resolutions such as: 

‘Quit drinking...from plastic.’ 

‘Kick the (plastic) habit.’

‘Lose weight plastic.’

‘Save money the ocean.’

‘Lose the (plastic) baggage.’

You can pledge to achieve one or all, in your own time. You can find out more from the Nat Geo website.

Over To You

If you have made any attempts to reduce your plastic usage and live a more sustainable lifestyle, I would love to hear from you and any top tips you might have. You can join the discussion on Instagram & Thread tagging me @SarahLouCrafts.

Read The Sustainability Pledge