5 Sustainable and Ethical Fashion Brands College Girls Can Afford
photo via Baggu
*Updated April 16, 2021
by Hannah Haghighi
Lets face it. It is undeniably on trend to be ethical and sustainable. Fast fashion is under fire. We are seeing less and less people wearing brands that pump out graphic tees and cheap skirts like they grow on trees, and are increasingly seeing pants made of some kind of recycled plastic. This is a great movement for the fashion industry toward taking care of our planet and building toward a sustainable future for the generations that follow us. The only thing that buying from eco-friendly and sustainable doesn’t help is our wallets. It is expensive to be ethical, and that is just the sad truth of life. The cheap way isn’t always the moral way. So, what’s a girl to do when she wants to be environmentally conscious but also not break the bank? Luckily, there are brands out there on the internet that hear our struggle. Ethically and sustainably produced clothing may not be as out of reach as one might think.
First and foremost, it is necessary to speak to one of the cheapest ways to be ethical: buying second hand. Not only is it widely known that buying secondhand is a much cheaper alternative than buying a brand new item (one of my favorite crop tops is a shirt I bought secondhand for $5!), it has a positive environmental impact as well. There are millions of pieces of clothing that are discarded yearly. Because the average person creates about 82 pounds of clothing waste per year, it is important to stop the cycle of clothing waste before it gets any worse. We can do this by shopping secondhand.
If you have scoured your favorite thrift store and still can’t find what you’re looking for, Everlane has you covered. Speaking to the issue of discarded clothing that was mentioned earlier, Everlane designs their clothing to last in order to avoid clothing waste. On top of this, they boast price transparency on all of their items, stating that they, “believe our customers have a right to know how much their clothes cost to make.” Everlane states that they mark up their products up to three times less than the average retailer, which makes them appealing to those of us trying to be wallet-friendly.
Now that Everlane has our everyday outfits covered, what about what goes underneath? Azura Bay carries many ethical and green undergarment brands such as Cosabella, Sokoloff, Paper Hearts, and Iris London, to name a few. The founder of Azura Bay wanted to create a space where it was easy to find plenty of eco-friendly brands all in one place. The great thing about Azura Bay is that they use 100% recycled boxes for their packaging, complete with biodegradable packaging tape. No more guilt over factors you can’t control when ordering online, such as excessive packaging that is not recyclable.
Another great eco-friendly intimates brand is Nisa, that also works as a social enterprise, employing women from refugee and migrant backgrounds. On the sustainability factor, they use GOTS certified cotton, which simply put, means that their cotton meets the worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibers.
In terms of footwear, one ethical and eco-friendly brand worth checking out is Po-Zu. Their shoes, “contain no pesticides, bleaches or toxic dyes and are locally sourced wherever possible.”, and use organic cotton and chromium-free leather in their shoes as well. The name “Po-Zu” comes from the phrase, “ポーズ”, which is Japanese for “to pause”. This is because the brands mission is to, “provide your feet with unique respite from the frantic pace of busy lives, and to halt the damage that modern footwear manufacturing often causes to people and the planet.” Po-Zu has a variety of different textiles that they use to produce their shoes, such as linen, Piñatex (which is made from pineapple fibres, how cool!), organic cotton, wool, cork, the list goes on and on.
The last, and arguably the most important, part of every outfit- the bag! Baggu is an ethical and environmentally responsible brand that carries just about any bag you could dream up (and in pretty much any print, too!). The bags start at as low as $10, which holds up to the brands claims of wanting their bags to be “functional, affordable, and nice looking”. Their “Standard Baggu” comes in a variety of seasonal prints and are big enough to tote around groceries, laptops, notebooks, and so much more. On the higher end side, Baggu has gorgeous leather bags as well as trendy patterned totes.
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