Yes another post about the environment and our carbon footprint. This is a huge topic and deserves yet another blog post. See my blog post on plastic anxiety. We all need some more guilt right? Wrong, I'm gonna keep this positive perhaps with a little rant...
At Tribalik we are aiming to reduce our carbon emissions and plastic usage, as we have a brain and a conscious, I presume most businesses feel the same although I'm perhaps just living in a social media echo chamber where I presume everyone wants to keep our land green and healthy.
Alas, as we ourselves encourage consumption we are part of the picture when it comes to the issue but we are going to make a change one bit at a time. As our business grows I have had lots of mixed feelings and emotions about our impact and place in the world. I went on a run in nature the other day and had to have a serious conversation with myself as I felt anxious about the future of the world and our role in that and suddenly realised that this anxiety is not helping and that I only have two choices available to me right now, 1) check out from society completely, go off grid and forage for food as apparently farming fucks up the land too (I know my family wouldn't thank me and I'd eat a poisonous mushroom or die of cold within a week), or 2) actually work out how to, from within society, make a change and try and inspire others as a modern day ethical business. So the latter for now is what we've opted to do and we ask for your advice and support through this.
So what are we trying to do;-
Our mail supplies cost triple what they did before, having a massive impact on our costs. We have changed our sending envelopes so they almost never contain plastic and are from recycled materials.
Our boxes are recycled or recycled and recyclable and some of which are made in the UK. Our bubble wrap is biodegradable or is second hand. However our small jewellery bags are plastic and we are trying to wrap instead in UK made recycled paper but it doesn't always work, we are working through this with your feedback to send safely and securely. I am hoping I can one day buy mini envelopes or mini jewellery bags made from corn, trust me I have spent hours searching and we are close.
Our shops are powered by the wind and sun as are our offices. However internationally we do send royal mail and until airplanes are powered by the sun they will produce gas emissions. I do have daily conversations with myself, the team and people in the know to get more input and then pray for the change we need so we can all do better for mother earth. I believe we as consumers are ready for the change, we just need the packaging and travel industries to catch up with our demands.
We are moving away from fast fashion. When we first started trading we did cheaper jewellery made from cheaper materials, now we are working with better materials that last a lifetime and may cost a little more but are of excellent quality, and I still believe we have made these affordable. Slower fashion, lifetime quality and styles.
The other important thing to remember is what difference we can make as brand, as a citizen of this planet and personally. Small steps make big differences. Sounds like a cop out but it's important and I'll explain why. I read an excellent article on this as I feel everyone is constantly attacking small brands like us, other decent people actually making an effort to discuss and make changes, and even Greta Thumberg for eating something from Tesco ffs (how dare they, just because she's a young woman making a difference and is popular, an easy target she makes!!??) The important thing is the article found that two thirds of all industrial carbon dioxide emissions came from just 90 companies, including oil giants like ExxonMobil, BP and Shell. These 90 companies have individually emitted more carbon into the atmosphere than most countries have.
Attacking each other on our suggestions on how to be green is absolute crap. It's just not right, the people who do this are not just the Trumps of the world but also those who live in echo chambers via their social media and are privileged enough to attack those of us who do try to make a change maybe by travelling less or by being vegan. Those attackers need to get out of their echo chambers and see what the Boris Johnsons or Trumps of this world say about climate change and be grateful that at least some of us are in fact having the conversation and making the changes needed to be greener. More importantly attacking each other DOES NOT MAKE US GREENER. Seriously you have to stop this. If you don't you run the risk of making everyone shut down, give up on saving the planet, feel doomed and then have burn out and just stop trying to cut down on plastic, emissions and general throwaway consumption.They'll just start consuming shit again realising the planet is doomed so we may as well go out with a bang, not helpful... So the next time you want to slag someone off for suggesting their changes for the planet, congratulate them, suggest alternatives, be the support we, you, all of us, as fingers of the same palm need....
2020 seems to be the year of change. We have the knowledge, we've had the discussions, we know what we need to do, the excellent expression "if not now, when", is coming into its own this year.
Try not to despair at all the work that needs to be done. We are on this journey together and with more hope and less despair we can get there. Small steps, lists of what we can commit to make that change and achievable steps. Celebrate how far we have come, be the change to inspire others to leap with commitments that make our land greener.
“We have an eclipse this month with the Full Moon and it will be a time of great agitation and irritability if you are not taking action.
And, if you are, you will feel that your tank has been filled with very high-octane fuel."
While consumption is part of the problem with the environment I believe you can make better choices with your spend, choose brands who strive for greener choices. Thinking carefully before you buy and go for the items that will last as long as possible, wear them well, combine them with other pieces and streamline your choices, it's the time of the capsule wardrobe...
Thanks for reading,
Sarah
