Happy Earth Day!

in my job it's hard to forget about the environment and the impact we humans have made. living in Nepal has definately opened my eyes to this because now a days i have to look really hard to see the snow on the top of the himalaya's which i cannot believe because they are so high in the sky, and instead of experiencing temperate weather, i am sweating like i'm on some island situated right on the equator.

so in mark of this important day where we should all start new habits of using less electricity, walking to work (which i did while still having bugs in my tummy), wearing more layers of clothes to save the heater or a/c and trying to plant at least 1 tree a week - - i am going to tell you how your wardrobe can save the environment.

no i'm not going to tell you to stop shopping, instead i'm going to tell you to spend more.

you may be a little surprised at that but from reading my India Grazia mag, it's what we should do.

the idea is, when you see a t-shirt on sale for $10, you don't just want 1, but 2 because HELLO! they're cheap as chips! but by buying 2, that's double the amount of cotton tees gone off the shelves that will be in demand for and therefore need to be replaced.

so out to the cotton fields we go, lets say, in Nepal (haha just coz i'm here) and there are 10 or so ladies collecting cotton for many clothing manufacturers. now these Nepali's want more cotton so they get more money, then they begin to cut down the nearby forest to expand their land for growing cotton. this is generally how it works in third world countries as they have limited awareness or care for the environment - because to them, they are just trying to survive by getting as much work as they can.

so by spending more money on a shirt you decrease the chance of buying more, because most of our money is limited...well for most anyways!

and that $10 shirt was probably bad quality anyway which would lead you to buy another one soon because it has fallen apart, but, in theory, spending more money on a shirt would mean that you are investing in quality - therefore not putting so much demand on the cotton industry and the environment.

so that's it ladies! just a couple of tips on how your shopping trends can save the environment!
here is a really useful website that talks more about the textile industry and what they are doing to stop it's effect on the environment...check it!