Podcasts for Environmentalists & Conscious Consumers

Looking for a new podcast? Here’s a few to try…

Discovering a new podcast can sometimes feel a bit like dating – hours of searching followed by excitement, disappointment, and occasionally the right fit! Sometimes you know it isn’t going to work out right off the bat and other times it may be a slow start to a great relationship. Occasionally, if you’re really lucky, you’ll find a great podcast completely by accident.

In any case, finding a podcast that resonates with you isn’t as easy as it should be. With all the podcasts out there and not enough time to vet them, a good recommendation can go a long way. Whether you want to get serious with some actionable tips about being more sustainable, or you’re just looking for a good time and want to stay up on the latest eco news, the right sustainability podcast is out there waiting for you.

Think Sustainably

Think Sustainably is a new podcast that has started off strong. The Australian duo keeps the show moving at a fast pace and does a great job of packing in a lot of info into their weekly 30 minute show. Think Sustainably is produced very well which is why this podcast is at the top of our list. They clearly research each topic they discuss, bring on well informed guests, and the sound quality is top notch.

Their show line, “practical solutions for a better planet” is a surprisingly accurate description of the show. This podcast will make you re-think your everyday habits and how they fit into a sustainable world. In their latest episode they started with ethical supply chains and ended with a discussion on the question of which pets are most sustainable.

The issues they cover reveal the seriousness of some of the problems we face, but they also highlight the innovation individuals and groups are working on to solve them. There are some intense moments of the show when discussing the hard facts, but their use of pop culture references and sound effects provide creative comic relief.

Sustainababble

This sustainability-related podcast is appropriately classified as a comedy. The hosts Dave and Ol work for environmental charities and come together weekly to joke about the environment, politics, and sustainability. With a vibe that resembles This Week Tonight, this pair of UK based environmentalists use a dry humor to highlight the reality of our environmental degradation and the lack of action taken to address it.

They are remarkably well informed in the politics of environmental issues and they do a great job of breaking down common misconceptions, greenwashing techniques, and generally misleading eco babble. To give you a taste of their style, one of their segments is titled “Inhofe Time” named after the American Senator Jim Inhofe who is a known climate change denier famous for proclaiming global warming is a hoax. In this segment they take an example of someone who has made an absurd statement, point out why it was so ridiculous, and poke fun at it.

Episodes are about 30 minutes and are released every Sunday which positions this podcast perfectly to help you kickoff the work week. It’s one of the few podcasts I’ve listened to that actually makes me lol. A few other segments in the show include “reasons to be cheerful”, intended to offer a break from the environmental cynicism, and of course, “sustainababble”, the core of the show that mocks fluffy sustainability talk around the world.

Science Vs

This podcast isn’t specifically environmental, but they’ve covered several environmental topics that are hot button items in the environmental field like organic food, fracking, and GMOs. The host does a great job of presenting the facts and sticking to scientific research to answer questions like “Is organic food really better for you?” and “Does fracking cause earthquakes?”.

Yes it’s science. No it’s not boring. The host does a great job of building a story as you follow her investigation into the depths of each topic. The production quality is top notch and I’m a fan of a few other podcasts from this group too (Gimlet Media).

Costing the Earth

Costing the Earth looks at how humans are impacting the environment. It questions our accepted truths and reports on progress toward improving the world. Episodes cover a wide range of topics like big oil, reducing our carbon footprint, litter, and acoustic ecology.

How I Found Ethically Made, Custom Shoes

Overcoming one-size-fits-all…

It seems like we have so many choices today, but the more I look the more I find the same low-quality cookie cutter shoes, the same starchy shirts, and the same pair of artificially worn jeans. In a race for returns, companies have ramped up and outsourced production leaving many of us with full closets, yet nothing to wear.

As a millennial and a conscious consumer I have a few problems when it comes to shopping for new shoes…

My Problem:

Finding ethically made shoes is difficult. After my recent trip to a Vietnamese garment factory I’m even more devoted to fair trade.
Finding shoes that fit right, that I can walk more than a few blocks in, is insanely frustrating. It’s frustrating because I have very average feet and I expect it to be easy to find comfortable shoes. Yet, pair after pair just aren’t quite right. A blister here, a weird rub there… I’ve left style behind, wearing my running shoes everywhere.
Settling for shoes that are “okay” happens too often. I buy a pair, wear them for a few days before realizing they aren’t comfortable or I was suckered into buying them by a pushy salesman. Then they sit around for a few months until I finaly donate them to Goodwill.
Can I be original for once without paying $200 for shoes? Everywhere I go I see the same Vans, Nike, and Topsiders that have outcompeted all other brands.

…but I also have a solution.

My Solution:

Go to the source. Find out who’s making my shoes so I know where my money is going.
Go custom.
- Have shoes made for my feet. Not the average shape of a 27 year old’s foot. My actual foot.
- Chose my own style… no compromises.
Enjoy the unique experience and value my shoes more for it.

So here’s how I found my custom, ethical shoes at a very reasonable price:

One small detail: I had to travel half way around the world to do it…

Highlighted in travel guides as a must see tourist destination where you can get a tailored suit at bargain price, Hoi An was an easy choice for me to start my search for custom shoes, but it wasn’t quite what I expected.

From the capital city I flew to Da Nang in the middle of Vietnam, rented a scooter, and made the 30 min ride along the coast to get to the “ancient city” of Hoi An. It’s a historic port city that was a hub for traders coming as far away as Portugal, India and Japan. This UNESCO World Heritage site has been preserved for its cultural as a South-East Asia trading port from the 1400’s… and today it’s still somewhat of a trading port, dominated mostly by Americans and Europeans on their Southeast Asia tour.

As soon as I arrived my shield went up and I assumed my defensive stance against buying anything. There was a high density of tourists and pretty aggressive vendors selling everything from trinkets to tailored suits and I was a little overwhelmed.

I wasn’t expecting to get the same feeling you get when you walk into an outlet mall and I was dissapointed when I did. So, I did what I always do when I feel overwhelmed – I made my way to the fringes.

Away from the ferver and feeling a little more comfortable, I started my search.

In an older building on the outskirts of the local food market I met Cam. Cam is a shoe vendor who owns her own custom shoe business. Her store front is basically a 6×3 foot space with custom shoe designs on display.

I had a lot of questions about who made the shoes she sells, where the materials came from, and how the whole process worked. Cam was happy to explain the shoe making process with me over a plate of rice and vegetables at her sister’s food stand -I try not to make decisions on an empty stomach (rule #2).

Before I agreed to buy a pair of custom shoes from Cam, I had to see where my shoes would be made. I was afraid I would put in my order only to find out later my shoes were mass produced behind the scenes. So, I got on the back of her scooter and she drove me to her house to show me the process.

This is what I found:

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I jumped on the back of Cam’s scooter and was whisked away. But after a couple main streets and a few sketchy alleys later we popped out here:

I quickly realized this shoe making operation was quite literally taking place in a converted home.

When I entered the “shoe shop” I was relieved to find that it was nothing like the garment factory I had been in a few weeks earlier. The atmosphere was relaxed. Her family (and friends) welcomed me in and were excited at the opportunity to practice their English. A few men worked casually on different pairs of shoes, while others watched, relaxed, and did what we all do with every free second – killed time on their smart phones.

Cutting the sole… not everyone in the operation is an artist.

Here are the main panels of the shoe in their infancy. Using a stencil he outlines the panels of the fabric with a silver pen before cutting them out with scissors and punching holes with that weird-looking hammer, nail, and cutting board you see at the top of the picture.

About half of the guys working were shirtless… and I can’t blame them. I was drenched in sweat after my first 15 minutes of walking around Hoi An with my backpack on. It’s f’ing hot and humid in Vietnam this time of year.

Trimming panels for the right fit and sewing the panels together.

After the body of the shoe is formed and sewn, the sole is added. This giant sewing machine is the only part of the process that seemed industrial.

Getting My Shoes

I decided to put in my order for my dream shoe.

I picked a style she had on display and began making my modification requests, going over the whole shoe. I knew what I wanted in my head and did my best to describe to her my perfect shoe. Using a few other shoes as examples I showed her what features I wanted for each part of the shoe and then picked the fabric.

Cam proceeded to measure my feet in a few different ways. She measured the length (obviously) but also the circumference of my feet at the base of my toes and my arch, as well as the back of my heel to the base of my ankle. Coming from my typical experience of only choosing the difference between size 10.5 and 11… I was already impressed with the customization.

After putting in my order I had to wait two days…

With my specific modification requests I was a little nervous, but… my new shoes turned out great.

What’s special about these shoes?

Besides being shaped to the length, height, and width of my foot, I also had a few other modifications to make them more comfortable:

No metal – This type of shoe usually comes standard with metal in the heel and toe to give it a tight rigid look. It also makes the shoes really uncomfortable.
Soft heel – Shoes like this usually have a hard wood heel. I opted for a soft sole throughout to make it more comfortable to walk in.
These shoes have a story.

What’s Next?

The transparency of my shoe buying experience was a breath of fresh air and I doubt I’ll ever walk back into a retail outlet to buy shoes again.

But even though I’ve taken a step or two in the right direction, my journey for the perfect shoe isn’t over.

The next step is to integrate environmentally friendly materials. The materials in this shoe are largely petroleum based and I don’t have much insight into where they were sourced. As I work toward creating a positive impact shoe, my next pair will have to come from sustainably sourced or repurposed materials.

If you have some advice, ideas, or tips to help me find sustainable materials let me know! And, if you have had similar experiences please share so we can learn from them.

How Money Can Buy Happiness

If you think money can’t buy happiness, you’re not spending it right…

In this TEDx Michael Norton explains his fascinating research on how spending affects our happiness. We’ve all heard it before “Money can’t buy happiness”, but this research reveals a different answer… and it doesn’t take as much as you might think.

Highlights from How To Buy Happiness

The ways we spend money that DON’T make us happier.

When people win the lottery they think their lives will be amazing, but actually this sudden wealth ruins lives. When people win the lottery they 1. spend all the money and go into debt and 2. All of their friends and everyone they’ve ever met find them and bug them for money. This ruins their social relationships. More debt and worse frinedships than before they won.

Apart from making us anti social, money also has a tendency to make us more selfish. Michael Norton and his colleagues thought, “maybe we are spending our money on the wrong things” and developed a study to test this question:

What would happen if we made people spend more of their money on others?

The Study:

Make some people spend money on themselves
Make some people give money away
See who is happier

Details of the experiment

Assess the happiness of each particpent
Give them one of two envelopes
- Envelope 1: By 5pm today, spend this money on yourself (personal)
- Envelope 2: By 5pm today, spend this money on someone else (prosocial)
Afterward, contact the participants and ask them:
- What did you spend your money on?
- How do you feel now?

What Participants Bought

The Results

People who spent money on other people: got happier

People who spent money on themselves: nothing happened

Another finding: The amount of money doesn’t matter that much.

Expanding the study outside of Canada

Michael and his team took this same study and replicated it in Uganda to see how cultural differences would impact their results.

Cultural differences dictated the way people spent their money, but didn’t change the results. For example, in Uganda one of the participants gave their money to a family who needed help with medical bills, while in Canada a woman bought a gift for her mother.

The Result: The specific way that you spend your money on other people isn’t nearly as important as the fact that you spend money on other people in order to make yourself happy.

Key Finding: You don’t have to do amazing things with your money to make yourself happy, you can still do trivial things and get these benefits.

Expanding the Results Globally: Gallup Poll Data (136 Countries)

What’s the correlation between these two:

Did you donate money to charity recently?
How happy are you with your life in general?

Guess what? These two are positively correlated. People who give money to charity are happier people than those who do not.

Looking At Teams

Michael and his colleagues expanded this study once again to see how personal and prosocial spending impacted teams.

They studied pharmaceutical sales teams, asking them to 1.

Spend money on themselves OR
Spend money on their teammates.

The teams that are prosocial performed better than the teams that spent the money on themselves.

Then… they studied dodge ball teams with the same parameters.

The dodgeball teams that spend money on themselves saw no changes – their winning percentage stayed the same. The dodgeball teams that were prosocial became different teams, performed better, and went on to dominate their leagues.

The Takeaway From This Research: Think less about how you can spend money on yourself and more about what you can do to benefit other people.

How you can participate: Donorschoose.org

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Guide To The Most Eco-Friendly & Ethical Sunglasses

prch Guide: Eco-Friendly & Ethical Sunglasses

Look good, do good, feel good…

Go Right To The Guide

There are two main ways sunglasses are becoming sustainable. 1. By being socially conscious 2. By being environmentally conscious.

Eco-friendly sunglasses decrease your environmental impact and are pretty cool… but if you’re looking to do the most good with your purchase, choosing a highly ethical brand will have a bigger impact. The environmental impact of producing sunglasses is pretty low compared to industries like textiles, but some social contributions from companies are changing lives.

How To Do The Most Good (when shopping for sunglasses):

This guide ranks sunglass companies from the most beneficial to society and environment to the least. Companies that are both environmentally and ethically responsible are the highest, but there is a higher emphasis placed on ethical contributions. Here is a quick breakdown of how you can do the most good when shopping for sunglasses:

Best – Shop from ethical and eco-friendly sunglass brands.

Almost as Good – Shop from ethical brands. Ethical brands are rated pretty high in this guide because they have a considerable impact on the areas they work in, like providing glasses or sight restoring surgery for those in need.

Still Good – Shop from eco-friendly sunglass brands.

Just Don’t – Shop from brands that are neither socially or environmentally responsible… or are under the Luxottica monopoly umbrella. (Yikes)

About Eco-Friendly Sunglasses

Eco-friendly sunglasses are made with recycled or eco-friendly materials. This is almost exclusively limited to the arms of the sunglass but some companies are using more eco-friendly materials for the lenses. The most popular materials for eco-friendly sunglasses are:

Recycled or repurposed materials like plastic, metal, and wood
Bio-based materials
FSC Certified wood
Bamboo

About Ethical Sunglasses

Ethical sunglasses come from companies that do good with their profits. The most common method of charity for sunglass companies is a 1 for 1 model where they provide a service to others in need for every pair of sunglasses purchased. Some common 1 for 1 ethical business models include:

One pair of glasses – for every pair of glasses you purchase, the company will provide a pair of eye glasses for a child in need.
Eye Surgery – for every pair of glasses purchased the company will provide a needed eye procedure for a child in need.
Plant A Tree – a tree is planted for every pair of sunglasses purchased.

There are also ethical companies who openly provide charitable donations. Donations and recipients vary, so this should be judged on a case by case basis.

Guide To The Best Ethical & Eco-Friendly Sunglass Brands

If you’re looking to maximize your good and minimize your impact the best thing to do is buy from a company that is both environmentally and ethically responsible. The most ethical and eco-friendly sunglasses are:

Solo Eyewear – San Diego, California

Ethical: Each pair of SOLOs purchased funds eye care for people in need through prescription eyeglasses and sight saving eye surgeries. Solo Eyewear states that they have restored vision to 10,000 people in 32 countries.

Eco-Friendly: Solo has a recycled plastic line (they don’t state what % is recycled) and a repurposed bamboo line.

Proof – Boise, Idaho

Ethical: Proof has donated over 12% of its profits to its Do Good Program which intends to give back on a project by project basis. They have worked with:

The Nature Conservancy
Boarding for Breast Cancer
HELP International

Eco-Friendly: Proof uses sustainably sourced woods and repurposed/recycled materials for their frames.

zebra wood
lacewood
ebony
mahogany
walnut bamboo and stained bamboo
old skateboard decks
cotton-based acetate
recycled aluminum

Panda

Ethical: Panda is another brand that has adopted the one for one model of charity.

Gift of Vision – At the end of each month they tally the number of sunglasses sold and donate enough to their nonprofit partner to cover the cost of that same amount of prescription glasses and medical eye exams for those in need.
Gift of Education – Panda also sells watches… and they work with the international non-profit Pencils of Promise to provide educational opportunities for children in need. Pencils of Promise builds schools, provides teacher support, student scholarships, and water and health programs in underprivileged areas.

Eco-Friendly: Panda sunglasses are handcrafted from sustainably sourced bamboo.

The Best Ethical Sunglass Brands

Ethical sunglass brands are almost as responsible as eco-friendly and ethical brands. These sunglass brands are highly ethical and also a little eco-friendly.

Toms – Los Angeles, California

Ethical: We all know about their shoes, but Toms has also launched an ethical line of eyewear.

One for One – For every pair of sunglasses purchased, Toms provides sight-saving surgery, prescription glasses, or medical treatment for someone in need.
Impact – Toms has helped restore sight to over 400,000 people in 13 different countries.

Eco-Friendly: Toms is known to be an environmentally conscious company, but they do not offer specific information about the environmental impact of their sunglass line.

Modo – New York, New York

Ethical:

Buy A Frame – Give A Frame: for every Modo frame purchased, they donate a frame to someone in need (working to help those in need in Nepal).

Eco-Friendly (honorable mention): Their eco-collection utilizes environmentally friendly materials (Note – this is specifically on their ECO line, not all of their sunglasses)

Bio-based materials (63%)
Recycled materials (95%)
One Frame – One Tree: Their wording is a bit unclear on their site, but it can be interpreted that a tree is planted for each purchased from from their ECO line.

Westward Leaning – San Francisco, California

Ethical: For every pair sold, Westward Leaning donates $10 to select charities.

The Best Eco-Friendly Sunglass Brands

These sunglass brands are eco-friendly but not as ethical as some of the other brands covered in this guide. You’ll drive more change by shopping from more ethically minded brands, but you can still feel good about supporting these companies because they do work to be more eco-friendly and some of them also make ethical contributions.

Zeal Optics – Boulder, Colorado

Eco-Friendly: Zeal Optics uses plant-based materials in all its sunglass frames and lenses.

M49 Biodegradable Acetate – M49 is a natural material produced from cotton and wood pulp fibers. It is free of toxic substances used in most plastics and will begin to biodegrade if left under water or in soil after 18 months.
Ellume – Used in Zeal’s lenses, ellume is constructed of plant-based materials rather than petroleum-based materials.
Z Resin – Z-Resin is a plant-based alternative to plastic, derived from the castor bean.

Ethical (honorable mention): Zeal donates a portion of it’s profits to charity via partnerships and projects that aim to “bring inspirational adventures to those who might never have felt the thrill of a running river or the calm of a mountain top”.

Woodwear – Hermosa Beach, California

Eco-Friendly: Woodwear makes handmade frames from bamboo, which regenerates 8 times faster than hardwood, it matures rapidly, and isn’t killed during harvest.

Ethical (honorable mention): Woodwear donates “a percentage of each sale to organizations that are helping others”.

Shwood Portland, Oregon

Eco-Friendly: Frames are made by hand from natural materials:

Wood – Swhood’s woods are all sustainably-harvested from authorized and supervised plantations
cellulite acetate – a biodegradable material made from cotton and wood pulp
Stone
Titanium

Sunglasses: One Company Owns The Entire Industry

The variety of sunglasses we see in stores, from sportswear to designer… is all an illusion.

The truth: One $9B company owns almost the entire industry.

Luxottica makes around 75 million pairs of glasses each year, designing and manufacturing brands like Prada, Tiffany & Co, Coach, Versace, Ray Ban, Oakley… the list goes on.

This once small Italian company got its start in Milan in 1961 but has since grown to dominate the sunglass industry, designing, manufacturing, and distributing almost every major brand we wear. In 2012, the Luxottica CEO estimated that 500 million people were wearing their sunglasses.

Luxottica’s in-house brands include designs like Ray Ban, Oakley, Arnette, which it has absorbed over the years.

sunglass brands luxottica owns - ray ban, oakley, arnette — Note: this list is not exhaustive.

Luxottica also licenses, designs, and manufacturers even more brands. You might recognize some of these designer glasses frequently sold above $200. Luxottica has exclusive agreements with these brands preventing anyone else from manufacturing them.

luxottica licenses, designs, and manufactures these sunglass brands — Note: this list is not exhaustive.

Luxottica also distributes its own sunglasses through its own retailers. In a little known monopoly, Luxottica owns the sunglass industry from start to finish. From the design, to the manufacturing, and even to the distribution and sale of its glasses, Luxottica does it all.

luxottica retailers and distributors — Note: this list is not exhaustive.

What does this mean for the sunglass market? For the environment?

Artificially inflated prices. When one company controls everything from start to finish and overshadows all competition, they control the price. The mark up on many of their designer brands is 20x the cost of manufacturing.

Innovation suffers. Less competition means less innovation. It’s difficult for small businesses to enter the market when they can’t get their sunglasses into retail stores because all of the retailers are owned by one company.

Ethics can suffer. Large corporations are driven to return as much profit as possible for their shareholders which often comes at the expense of an organization’s CSR.

Consumer culture is perpetuated. The latest style and the next fad continue to be pushed on consumers so we pay for overpriced sunglasses we don’t really need. Our overconsumption doesn’t make us happier and the cradle-to-grave model is bad for the environment.

What we can do. Be a bit more conscious.

Buy local. Thanks to the good ol’ internet, small sunglass brands are able to compete (somewhat) with the big dogs and new brands are starting to pop up around the US. Many of them are environmentally conscious and work to have a positive social impact.

Shop for quality. Take your time and do your research to find glasses that are well made and fit you right. You’ll probably find that the more effort you put into finding the right pair, the better you’ll take care of them and the longer they will last.

Have a positive impact. There are several companies adopting the 1 for 1 business model, including Toms, which has expanded from shoes to sunglasses. If you’re going to buy a pair of sunglasses you might as well contribute to a good cause.

Take better care. The fewer pairs of sunglasses you lose or wreck, the fewer you have to buy. Getting a case with your glasses might be a good call if you tend to break stuff.

Why We Need To Rethink Capitalism

Just Index – Another resource for conscious consumers

One of the hardest parts of being a conscious consumer is knowing which companies to support. Luckily, new resources like the Just Index are coming to our aid.

Paul Tudor Jones is the founder of the Just Index, a nonprofit that ranks the ethics of corporations in the US based on criteria chosen by US citizens. This inspiring TedTalk reveals another innovative way we can use the free market to correct the pitfalls of capitalism.

Highlights from Why We Need To Rethink Capitalism

Capitalism – an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

Over the past 50 years, we as a society, have come to view our companies and corporations in a very narrow, almost monomaniacal fashion, with regard to how we value them.

We have put so much emphasis on profits, short term quarterly earnings and share profits, at the exclusion of all else.

It’s like we’ve ripped the humanity out of our companies. We don’t conveniently reduce something to a set of numbers to play with like lego toys in our individual life; we don’t value someone based on their monthly income or their credit score. But we have this double standard when it comes to the way we value our businesses and it’s threatening the underpinnings of our society.

US Corporate Profit Margins

This is great news if you are a shareholder, but what about the average American worker?

US Share of Income Going to Laborer vs CEO-to-Worker Compensation Ratio

Higher profit margins do not increase societal wealth, they exacerbate income inequality.

If the top 10% of American families own 90% of the stocks, they take a greater share of corporate profits and there is less left for the rest of society.

Relationship Between Income Inequality and Social Problems

The further to the right you go, the greater the income inequality. The further up you go, the worse the social and health problems are. These health metrics include nine factors such as life expectancy, teenage pregnancy, literacy, social mobility etc.

Where is the US on this chart?

The US is literally off the chart…

The greatest income inequality and the greatest social problems according to these metrics.

History always closes the gap between the rich and the poor…

It typically happens in one of three ways.

Revolution
Higher Taxes
War

There may be another option for us: Increase justice in corporate behavior.

Where are we now when it comes to corporate behavior?…We are so entrenched in a profits mania that we don’t even know how we are harming society…

US Corporate Giving as a Percentage of Pre-Tax Profits

US Corporate Giving as a Percentage of Pre-Tax Profits with Corporate Profit Margins

We can clearly see profit margins have gone up and giving has gone down. Does this feel right?

Good people part of a bad thing

We are so deeply entrenched in this profit mania that well intentioned people don’t even realize they are a part of it.

The Solution: Drive more just behavior.

We can utilize the free market system that got us here to turn things around.

We can help companies and corporations learn how to operate in a more just fashion, but we need to define the criteria for just corporate behavior. Right now there is no widely excepted standard for companies or corporations to follow… but Paul’s non-profit plans to change that.

The JUST Index (independent, third party) plans to offer this framework. By polling the public they define what just performance means to the people and publish the performance of America’s largest 1,000 companies according to these standards.

The Goal

As people begin to see which companies are more just, human and economic resources will be driven toward them. Just companies will become the most prosperous and will lead the way toward sustainability.

“If justice is removed…the great, the immense fabric of human society…must in a moment crumble to atoms.” – Adam Smith

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The Problem with Fast Fashion

The true cost…

Yes, those cheap trendy tees are too good to be true. Our impulse shopping habits have a bigger impact than we think, so let’s take 3.5 minutes to understand the problem with fast fashion and how we can be part of the solution.

Why Your $8 Shirt Is A Huge Problem

The Facts About Fashion:

Every year Americans buy 20 billion new items of clothing.

Every year 10 million tons of clothing go to the dump.

We are basically on a merry go round of making, buying, and getting rid of clothes…

Clothes have become really cheap… but we are still paying the price. That $8 t-shirt may not cost you very much, but it costs the planet quite a bit.

It takes approximately 1,320 gallons of water to produce one t-shirt.

Approximately 9lbs of carbon dioxide are released just to produce one t-shirt. (that’s between production and transportation alone)

Cheap clothing comes at an ethical price as well. Working conditions for those that make our clothes are sub-par, unsafe, and they are paid next to nothing; all of which perpetuates a cycle of poverty in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world.

What we can do about it:

Buy Less

Not buying is the easiest way to decrease your environmental footprint.

Shop Smarter

Look for brands that are ethical and environmentally conscious.

Look for Durability

Be careful about what you buy. Try to buy clothes that you will wear often and will last you a long time.

Don’t Trash Your Fash

42% of cotton fiber is carbon which gets released as it decomposes.

Donate your clothes to organizations like Goodwill or Salvation Army.

Get A Little Dirty

You don’t need to wash your clothes as much. Your clothes will last longer if you don’t wash them after every single time you wear them.

Up to 80% of the energy consumption related to a garment can be attributed to washing and drying it.

Made in Vietnam: A Look Inside A Vietnamese Garment Factory

I managed to make my way into a garment factory in Vietnam and this is what I found…

As you would expect, I was pretty shocked. I’ve heard about factories like this and seen images, but nothing prepared me for entering the machine that feeds our consumption – big brand garments being pieced together at an alarming rate in poor conditions.

Even though I don’t buy from the brands I witnessed being made, I still felt an unbearable wave of guilt just being associated with the culture that feeds this industry.

I won’t mention specific brand names here… but I will say that the four big name brands I saw being produced dominate suburban shopping malls and outlets in the states. With fall around the corner, this factory was pumping out the garments we will soon see in stores this time of year: winter puffy coats, flannels, pants, and children’s wear.

Here is a look behind the scenes…

Entering The Machine

The first thing that struck me was the monotonous hum of a thousand sewing machines and the whistle of compressed air (used to clear loose threads from garments). The warehouse resembled a thriving bee hive, buzzing with activity. Rows of sewing machines stretched as far as I could see and piles of garments were spilling into the walkway.

I had entered a miniature city – pumping out piece after piece of low-quality textile. My stomach dropped a bit as I walked down the middle of the warehouse but I had no one to share my amazement with. Only a handful of laborers looked up, shocked to see a foreigner inside the factory, while the rest remained hard at work.

After a few minutes I overcame my initial shock and took it upon myself to tour the peripherals of the factory. My self-guided tour shed light on each piece of the puzzle, revealing the process by which fabric becomes garment.

A walk though garment production:

Fabric Cutting

As with all areas of production in this factory, the first step of garment production is part man part machine. I was unofficially informed that the fabric is sourced from China, but was not able to confirm this (fabric production and sourcing is on my list of things to uncover).

The Production Line

The production line is the belly of the beast, occupying the majority of the warehouse and humming with the sound of a thousand sewing machines. This is what comes to mind when you think of a garment factory and the mental image I had before this visit was unfortunately accurate. Lines of tightly packed sewing machines were operated by seamstresses sweating as they worked to keep up with what I imagine to be an unsustainable pace.

Without having any prior knowledge of garment production I could immediately tell this is where the pace of production was set. The sense of urgency was palpable and the atmosphere was serious, likely maintained by the managers that paced the isles. Most laborers here didn’t even turn their head to notice the foreigner curiously inspecting operations and snapping photos.

Needless to say, this part of the factory weighed heavy on my mind and remains the image that lingers the most from this experience.

At the beginning of the production line panels of each garment a sewn then passed down the line.

In the last two steps of the production line the garment comes together – in this case a winter coat. The final tags are sewn in place and the QA manager (top left) checks their work.

Washing & Drying

The next phase of production was about forty paces away, in its own building. The washing and drying stations were clean, relatively quiet, and spacious. Workers here had time to relax between loads and were happy to show me around the industrial machinery.

Ironing, Tagging, & Packaging

After the garments have been washed and dried it’s back to warehouse where they are ironed, tagged, and packaged. Workers here are on their feet all day, working around a table, but do seem to enjoy slightly more socializing than the production line workers.

If there is a quality test such as testing shirts to make sure the color doesn’t fade, that will be done at this stage.

Lunch Breaks

Like clockwork, the entire factory stops for lunch at the same time and everyone piles into the cafeteria for a factory-provided meal prepared on site. I was surprised to find the break lasted a full hour, but was not reassured this is standard procedure at all Vietnamese factories.

The lunch break reminded me a bit of middle school. Everyone is released at once, the cafeteria offers a barely eatable meal, and no one can leave campus. Then, after eating, everyone breaks out into their social circles in the lunch area and outside the warehouse where they spend the remainder of their break socializing.

Bathroom Breaks

I was informed through an interview that workers have the freedom to get up and use the restroom as they please. This is a shot of the men’s restroom – a urinal trough and a few stalls.

Heading Home

At the end of the work day the sewing machine buzz was replaced with the chatter of hundreds of workers as they lined up single file to exit the warehouse. Everyone was quickly searched before exiting (presumably to check for any stolen merchandise). After clocking out via the electric fingerprint machine, workers were free to go.

The Parking Lot

Scooters are the main source of transportation here… every space in this covered lot is filled.

About factory conditions in Vietnam

It’s hot. We are in Vietnam, in the summer. Temperatures in Vietnam this time of year average about 85 degrees F (30 Celsius) and humidity hovers around 80%. This factory did not have air conditioning, but they did have several fans which kept temperatures slightly bearable.

This is average. This factory adheres to international standards for working conditions and environmental regulations. While I don’t have other experiences to compare this to yet, my interview with a professional inspector confirmed that this factory is representative of others in the area. I will provide updates to this post as I visit more garment factories.

Pay is low. The average wage for factory workers in Vietnam is less than $1 per hour. Based on my interview with a previous factory worker (now inspection professional), factory workers in Vietnam can make around $5 per day. This is drastically lower than salaries in the US or Europe, but cost of living in Vietnam is also much lower. To put this pay in perspective, here are a few reference points:

A bowl of pho (traditional Vietnamese soup) is +/- $2.00
A Vietnamese sandwich is about $1.00
A Vietnamese beer is about $1.00

Regardless of how you cut it, it’s a depressingly low wage. With the cost of production for many of these garments under $2.00 and a retail price of over $25.00, I have to imagine there is room for higher wages and better conditions these workers.

Any doubts I had about reducing my consumption and shopping ethically have been thoroughly squashed by this experience. I hope my investigation can provide you with some insight and I’d love to hear your story if you’ve had a similar experience.

Prevent Indecision = Reduce Environmental Footprint

5 practical ways to help with everyday indecision (and reduce your carbon footprint)

You don’t always have to know exactly what you want to squash indecision. Most of the time knowing what you don’t want will work just as well.

My process is simple: narrow down your choices, make a good judgement call, and get on with your life.

Here are some of the biggest points of indecision and how you can help yourself make better decisions.

1. Where to eat

Life is better when we spend less time worrying about where to eat and take more time to enjoy what we’re eating. The key to deciding where to eat is setting clear criteria.

Pick a handful of attributes like healthy, affordable, local, and not a chain. Then search your area for options and write down the first three that meet your criteria. Once you have those three, set your timer for 5 minutes and look at the three you’ve chosen. Make a decision at the end of your timer and go! You’ll rarely be disappointed.

If you’re considerate of your environmental impact you should adjust your criteria to include local restaurants and vegetarian options; exclude places that use styrofoam and plastics.

2. What to eat

Finding a place to eat is one thing, deciding what to order is another…

If you’re anything like me, you think about food pretty much all the time. Well, not all the time… but if my daily thoughts were shown in a pie chart, food would definitely be the biggest piece (mmm pie…). Being hungry makes decision making even harder, but these tips should help.

Can’t more restaurants have menus like In-N-Out?

When you find yourself in one of those restaurants with a five-page menu, you can confidently narrow down your choices by following one simple rule. Don’t order meat. You’ve just cut the amount of decision making you need to do by 80% or more depending on where you are. Not only will you be healthier, but you’ll also drastically reduce your impact on the environment.

If you’re still having trouble deciding between vegetarian dishes, try to narrow it down to 3. Then ask whoever you’re with to chose for you. Or, if you’re alone (or don’t trust your friend), ask the waiter. They always know best.

3. What to buy

Sometimes the urge to purchase is more than we can resist. Those marketers sure have gotten good at convincing us we need useless stuff…

And we often ask ourselves, “Am I going to regret buying this?” (The answer is yes)

The biggest rule: If there’s any doubt in your mind, don’t buy it. That thing will still be there tomorrow if you decide it really will make your life better. Limited time offers and clearance sales are just tactics to try to instill a sense of urgency so consumers are compelled to buy. You’re smarter than that!

The next best thing to do is give yourself 24 hours to think about it. If you still think you need it after a day, and it’s worth going back to the store to get it, add it to your shopping list and pick it up next time your out. This applies to online shopping too (which can be more eco friendly), but beware that this convenience makes it much easier to cheat the 24 hour rule.

All in all, the less you consume the smaller your carbon footprint. If you make these purchasing tips a habit you can cut down the amount of useless crap you buy dramatically. You’ll have less junk cluttering your house and your mind. For more tips check out our guide on making smart purchasing decisions.

Impulse buying applies to food too. Food waste is an ugly problem we can all cut down on. The two best ways to prevent impulse purchases when shopping for food is to avoid shopping when you’re hungry and make a list. Eat before you go and make a list of things you need while you are home (and stick to it).

4. What to wear

If you’re having trouble deciding what to wear, you probably have too much clothes. Thinning out your wardrobe might sound daunting to some, but decluttering will clear your closet and your mind.

It’s surprising how easy it is to accumulate stuff over time without noticing. One day you have a nice clean apartment, next thing you know your clothes rack is bending under the weight of all your shit.

Some people like to do spring cleaning, others wait for the neighborhood garage sale. If you tend to accumulate stuff you should 1. Make it a point to stop this problem at the source and 2. Set a reminder on your phone or calendar to do a cleansing of your belongings.

Tip: If you haven’t worn an item in the last month (within the same season) then it’s probably safe to donate it.

5. Should I stay or should I go? (FOMO)

Nobody really cares if you don’t go to the party. Go if you want to, not because you think people will be mad if you don’t.

If you found this helpful (or entertaining) you can get infrequent updates when we publish tips for conscious consumers:

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How To: Stop Accumulating Worthless Stuff (the easy way)

It’s easy if you do it right…

For some reason we have a tendency to hang on to things even when we know we don’t really need them. But those who have embraced minimalism know the feeling of relief and freedom attained by detaching yourself from “stuff”.

The biggest key to decluttering is to stop it at the source. It’s crazy how easy it is to accumulate stuff you don’t need and it’s even crazier how hard it is to get rid of.

In my decluttering I find it most helpful not to concentrate on stuff. Instead, focus on the habits we have that cause us to accumulate stuff. If you change your habits, denying and decluttering meaningless things will become second nature and you won’t even need to think about.

So here we go…

Start today.

If you aren’t willing to start today, you won’t be willing to start tomorrow. The first step is a baby step, so starting today is no biggy.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Drastically changing anything in your life is really hard and therefore the result is a cycle of intense dedication followed by failure to reach your goals. Example: gym memberships of the new year. Changing at a manageable pace will take longer, but you’re much more likely to succeed in reaching your goal.

Remind yourself that this transition isn’t going to happen overnight. Take baby steps and you’ll see how far you’ve come after a few months. If you want to go nuts and clean out your whole house in one weekend that’s fine. If you want to do a room every weekend, that’s fine too. Just remember that it’s more important to be consistent than aggressive.

Tracking.

We do a lot of things unconsciously and accumulating stuff is one of them. We pick up something here and something there, not noticing that our garage has slowly turned into a junkyard of sorts.

Tracking what you buy is one of the easiest ways to make yourself conscious about these decisions and it’s really simple. When you buy something write it down. This act will make you think about what you buy and when you do that you’re much more likely to make better decisions. Within a few weeks your shopping habits will change and you can leave the pen and pad behind.

Your Action Plan:

Actively declutter

Get a box or a bag that you already have at your house. Find 5 things you can live without and put them in it. Do this every day after work or every Sunday before bed… whatever schedule works best for you. Set an alarm on your phone and spend 5 minutes a day/week getting rid of shit you don’t need.

When your box gets full, donate it and don’t look back. If you start rummaging through that box before you donate, you might second guess yourself and reclutter (yikes!).

Passively shut off the source

Get a small notebook and start carrying it with you. Write down everything you buy, whether it’s a stick of gum or a new car.

This will trigger you to think about everything you buy and in doing so will help you make conscious shopping decisions. After a few weeks you’ll have formed your new habit and you can ditch the pen and pad, but you should dedicate at least three weeks to tracking your purchases.

When tracking you’ll probably be shocked at the amount of stuff you buy and be pleasantly surprised with the money you’ve saved.

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