How To Spot GREENWASHING Brands 

Wow that's amazing! Thanks so much for sharing 😊 Really cool the store looked more into them and was willing to reassess the brands they stock! Definitely speaks to their values and not just desire for profit because I'm sure Matt&Nat sells well.

Thrive :)

Dåligt att inte Green Laces slutar säljar Matt&Nat :/ Har du nå tips på vart man kan hitta bra vinterskor här i Sverige som är bra för miljön men ändå varma?

Kolla på Ecosphere(Stockholm), Adisgladis(Stockholm) eller Thrive(Göteborg) om du vill ha nya, annars finns det ju massor second hand :)

Men ingen av dom har ju riktigt vinterskor som är veganska :/

sicparvismagna zee!

Is it something people don't say much aroud the world? I'm shook!

@@erikaplante-jean7745 In the Dutch alphabet we also pronounce it as zed.

When I traveled around Europe and United Kingdom I found that they also pronounced ‘Z’ as zed as well.

Oh man, I can't even imagine how much a waste a hotel must produce! 😬

Suggest and demand recycling containers! Let corporate know.

Not just water bottles but the shampoos and shower gel containers. They must produce a lot of plastic.

3 years later, i found Good on You maybe a month ago but i love them, read their articles all the time!

I completely agree, it's crazy how much these big fashion brands make and also spend on things like marketing - they could pay everyone fairly and still make profits!

It is difficult, but there also are a lot of genuine wonderful brands out there! I think there's a balance to being suspicious because unfortunately the greenwashing brands ruin it for the brands that are doing great things.

@@MyGreenCloset yes I believe so, and I think we all strive (woops I use these words myself) to support those genuine brands! Your tips will help for that, and as you also mentioned maybe it is a good thing to ask brands questions when in doubt :)

Frank and Oak too!

Same. I just saw someone on another video talking about an eco friendly silk blouse that Everlane sell. But I thought that silk came from worms so how can it be eco friendly? Yes, they use less toxic dyes (whatever that means) but still kill worms in the process. Am I missing something?

Noelia when they say "ethical" they're only considering humans, unfortunately :( just like how "ethical leather" exists

Ethical is to do with workers, eco stands for ecological, better for the environment... Regarding animal rights, you might want to look for cruelty free.

Well, even cruelty free isn't really what the word we're looking for is. Cruelty free often just refers to "not tested on animals" but may still contain animal products. The golden word here is "vegan"

It's great, I have it linked in the description! Although with any rating site it's always important to look into how they rate/weigh different areas and remember that all the information isn't necessarily available.

You can find a large list of brands in my shopping directory! mygreencloset.com/directory/ I also keep updating it :)

My local organic grocery store doesn't let you use your own jars and containers for bulk also, it's so frustrating!

Very true. The beauty/ skincare/ cosmetics industry is another area where it’s a huge problem...

And yes, my Kroger doesn’t readily allow reusable containers for their bulk foods. Technically you can but their weight isn’t subtracted so unless you are in the financial position to be able to throw money away - & enjoy doing so - glass jars &/ or anything else w/ substantial weight aren’t a practical option. For some things reusable bags can work, ie mesh or other washable materials, but it’s definitely not set up to encourage more sustainable choices. I’ve also seen some people reusing the provided clear plastic bags, which is of course better than throwing them away each time, but they’re pretty thin & flimsy so realistically won’t hold up more than a handful of times MAX. Last week someone cared to tell me that my not putting my fruits & vegetables in plastic bags was “dirty”, the exact unsolicited comment being “excuse me, but there’s bags over there. I can’t imagine putting anything in a cart without one. I saw a special report where they tested them & they are filthy.” Uh yeah....b/c I’m not going to wash them before I eat them? Another time a presumptuous employee chastised me for putting several different fruits/ veggies w/ different prices in one of my own drawstring (mesh) bags, ie “ma’am you can’t do that. They all have different prices & have to be weighed separately.” I responded cordially that I had every intention of doing just that & simply had them together for transport to the front of the store, as I didn’t have enough mesh bags for each single item to have its own (nor did I care!) I assured him that once at the register I would indeed remove each type of produce from the bag & weigh each separately & he begrudgingly let me be but he still didn’t seem happy about it.😂

Thanks so much! That sucks your bag fell apart so quickly, I've heard so many bad stories from people about Matt & Nat since publishing my post, they seem even worse than I initially though. I actually have a video on leather vs. vegan synthetics but it's a couple years old ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qW5Yfo4amQU.html

oh amazing! Thanks! I figured this is something you would have already covered but mustn't have scrolled down enough - thank you, will watch!

Not all brands will advertise their sustainable practices and a lot of small brands/designers are pretty sustainable just due to the nature of their business (things like focusing on quality over quantity, efficient use of materials etc.) but their focus is on the clothes and designs and that's what they want the brand to be about. I don't think it's at all a bad thing but it does make it a little trickier if you highly value those sustainable qualities and want to get more info. So definitely if you have questions try reaching out to the brand. :)

Nyomi Byle I checked on this app called Good on You that rates brands based on how sustainable and ethical they are, and Pact has 5 stars! I think Pact wrote an article explaining why it's so cheap. Apparently, it has less steps in its supply chain, which makes the clothes cheaper to produce, and also many brands charge extra simply because they know that we expect to pay more for them.

@@sparkle0859 That's really great to hear! I'll definitely check out the app, and article. :)

GOTS and Fair Trade Certifications both mean their factories have been checked by third parties so that gives me more confidence in a brand like that. Although I've never tried Pact's products, the styles look very basic which is A LOT easier to sew and I believe they manufacture in lower wage countries which would help keep costs down too. Also because they are a larger brand I assume they can order higher quantities which really helps with costs. However I have heard that they use an excessive amount of plastic packaging in their shipping (like bubble wrap - why would you need that for fabric?) which is why I've never ordered from them. It depends on what your ethical/sustainable priorities are, but for me I ideally like to support eco brand that are also trying to use eco-friendly packaging.

Cristina Taranu Yes it is fast fashion. According to Good on You, an app that rates how ethical clothing brands are, J Crew only has 2 stars.

👍

What kind of styles do you have trouble finding from conscious brands?

Actually, to me is the sizing. I’m really small (5ft2” and 7st) and I normally take a UK6 petite. The way I go about it now is that I try to alter my existing clothes (like turning dresses into skirts), buy second hand, buy well made clothes from a more expensive shop but that are on sale or buy from a fast fashion shop their better made clothes so I can wear them for years and not just months. I have clothes from H&M that I’ve worn for 5-6 years and have a dress from Zara that is 17 years old and still looks in great condition. I also wear my older clothes at home when cooking/cleaning so I can stretch the life of the newer ones. I feel very guilty for buying from some fast fashion brands but I think that if we all shopped less and “slow” down our purchases we can make an impact. If they can’t turn over their stock fast then they’ll realise that consumers are fed up with their practices. I feel sorry for the garment makers but I worry that not buying from that brand it may make them to lose their jobs. PS sorry for the long post on your thread.

Something different besides the wide crop leg , boxy tops or art teacher vibe. Nothing wrong with these styles, they're just not my style. Also bummed seeing rayon & viscose at such a high price point. Not worth it IMO. For now, I'm sticking to thrifting quality items or just using up & being creative with what I already have. Great topic.

Not sure where you're located but by try checking out brands like Tamga (I did a video with them recently ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-julxMaKWnYw.html), Christy Dawn, Deadwood, Zero Waste Daniel, Armed Angels, Reformation, Thief & Bandit, or Style Saint. There are so many brand that do other styles! If you let me know more about what kind of styles/clothes you wear (ie. colourful, workwear, athletic, etc.) I can give more specific recommendations :)

I hear this a lot and talk more about it in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--SWZYE6mAi0.htmlm40s This is also a copy from a response I've previously given to this argument: It's not about taking away jobs, it's about improving the jobs - having ethical policies, businesses taking responsibility for the well-being and safety of their workers, dealing with human rights and animal abuses etc. Just because someone is willing or forced to work in horrific conditions to feed themselves and their family doesn't make it okay to take advantage of that. Why should someone else be suffering so you can buy $10 jeans? There are a lot of factory workers protesting the low wages and awful conditions. For example garment workers in Cambodia were killed for protesting for a living wage which the increase would likely make clothes cost only a few pennies more... Meanwhile the fast fashion retailers that hire these factories are making billions in profit. How is that okay? VICE news did a piece about how working in the garment industry in Cambodia is so bad that women would rather be sex workers than sew clothes but they're forced to work in factories ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EnXhB1XtL2o.html and there are tons of documentaries and news reports from various countries that talk to garment workers who want better conditions and wages. Providing a job that people can barely live on is not ethical and these practices shouldn't be supported. The environmental impact is massive and the human rights abuses and working conditions can be appalling - not something I am at all okay with giving my money to. I would much rather purchase from companies that pay their workers fairly, provide safe places to work in, as well as support, education, and programs to improve the quality of life of the employees, their families and communities. By supporting companies like that they can grow and provide more fair jobs!

Basically if you care about garment workers jobs than support fair paying, safe jobs! We really need more jobs like that, not abusive work environments and jobs that take advantage of people. You can also watch my video on slavery because clothing is at a very high risk of being made by modern slaves ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BhKdVbjp7cM.html - not great "jobs" to preserve and support.

My Green Closet I agree 100%. I hate it when people buy from sweat shops just for convenience and personal pleasure. I think that we can transform the fashion industry and make it ethical. Thanks for such detailed replies! I will tell this to my dad.

Do they have a "green" collection? I don't know a lot about them but based on the prices and quality they seem like one of the worst fast fashion brands 🙁

yeah they are, right! but their website seems to look pretty promising, but i'm not sure if they are touting it like H&M www.primark.com/en/our-ethics

I agree the Higg index is a great resource, but it also has to be taken with a grain of salt because I don't believe it includes end of life - so does the material sit in a landfill forever, or pollute the oceans or biodegrade, which I think is an important component.

Wow 🤦‍♀️

Oh cool! I really loved them too but I'm going to be shaving all my hair soon and just wanted a bit of a change before doing that 🙃