Green Fashion Accessories
What’s a girl without her fashion accessories? If you listen to movies and songs, they’re nothing! Accessories can be fun, though, and even very young little girls love draping fake pearls around their necks and grabbing their purses before they head out for a day of shopping with mom and dad. However, accessories can actually be very bad for the environment, and if you’re someone who worries about going green, it’s easy to become frustrated with the idea that all of the accessories that you come across are actually bad for the earth. There are, however, some ways that you can get green fashion accessories, which can make you look great and feel good at the same time!
Buying Green
To start with, you can buy green fashion accessories. There are a number of companies now who make it their business to make fashion accessories that are green for both women and men. For instance, you’d be going green if you purchased a wool scarf, as wool is a sustainable material. There are also companies who sell necklaces and bracelets that are made out of bamboo, which is definitely a green material. If you’re looking to purchase any new accessories, first look online, or at your local boutiques, to see if they are selling any sort of green accessories. You may be surprised to find that even many little independent shops are now selling green accessories.
Look to the fair trade companies before you look to others. Fair trade companies provide the workers with a fair amount of money for their labor and most of them use sustainable materials. These fair trade companies are very good to purchase from, and when you buy from them, even if the price is a bit more than what you’d pay locally, you can rest comfortably at night knowing that whoever made the beautiful ring that you just bought, or the delicious necklace, should have received fair or reasonable proceeds from the purchase.
Other Options
If you’re not in the mood to buy new accessories, or if you’re working within a budget, you can still get green accessories. To start with, try repurposing what you have! Do you have some old buttons that are on a shirt that you’re going to be using as a rag? Take the buttons off first. You can easily turn them into jewelry, such as a pair of earrings or even, if you have enough buttons, a very cool necklace or bracelet. You can also sew them onto the handbag that you already have creating a whole new look. Even zippers can be reused! There are some fascinating zippered necklaces and bracelets that you can purchase, all of which are green and look amazing when they’re worn. You will likely even be asked, if you purchase or make some, where you got them!
Another thing that you can do if you’re trying to have green accessories is to look to your friends. Many people get tired of their accessories quickly. Why not do some trading with friends? If they’ve got a necklace that you love, and you’ve got some earrings that they’ve always coveted, why not trade? If you’re not comfortable trading, you can let each other borrow the jewelry or accessories that you each have. Now you can avoid purchasing new ones and yet can have the perfect accessories for that night out on the town that you’ve been wanting to have.
How many accessories do you have that are broken? Many times we tend to toss out things like purses with a ripped strap, because we believe that we can just purchase a new one. Instead of just buying a new one, try repairing the old one first. It’s not that difficult to repair a purse strap, and you can even get a jeweler to fix a broken necklace for very little money. This helps to save the environment and gives you back the accessory that you really enjoyed.
If you’re going to be purchasing things like diamonds, learn a bit about “blood” diamonds. Blood diamonds are diamonds that are sold in areas where there is war. The rebel side usually uses illegal labor in order to harvest the diamonds and then they’re sold in order to help pay for whatever conflict is going on. Areas like Angola, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are areas that you would want to avoid when purchasing a diamond. Make sure that the retailer that you’re purchasing your diamond jewelry from can provide you with paperwork to prove that the jewelry is from a conflict-free area. If they cannot, it’s a good idea to move on and to go to another jeweler, or, better yet, to the thrift store where you may be able to find that perfect accessory for a great price.