It’s a New year! And as ever, all around us is filled with New promises, beginnings, starts and of course: the infamous Resolutions. And I say Infamous because we all know it is an unwritten rule that you break almost or very certainly all of your resolutions within the first few months and then push them forward until the next new year…and so on and so on.
So, in order to break the loop, we urge you to hear us out. The world is changing; some for the better and some for the worse. One topic we are very passionate about here at F.O.Z HQ is waste. There is far far too much of it and it is literally changing the planet for the far worse. Soon, if we don’t come up with some global waste management solutions – we risk extinction and a non-reversible decline of animals and vegetation which WILL have disastrous consequences for the future of our planet and our own generations of offspring. here are some facts:
Based on estimates, the world cities generated 1.3 billion tonnes of waste annually with Asia accountable for 1 million tonnes per day. With current urbanization and population growth rate, the global waste generation is estimated to rise to 2.2 billion tonnes by 2025 (global waste conference)
Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted.(F.A.O)
The food currently wasted in Europe could feed 200 million people. add to that North + South America, Asia and Australia and the figure closes in on 800 million people that could be fed with wasted food across the world (F.A.O)
Plastic waste is one of the most urgent environmental issues in our time. Billions of Tonnes of plastic ends up on landfills each year with millions of tonnes of plastic ending up in our oceans and become part of the food chain as fish and other sea animals eat and digest plastic and micro plastics. (European commission on plastic waste)
Fashion wise; the famous British high street and global demand for FAST FASHION is contributing to a production of around 85 billion garments / year – 85% of which ends up on landfills. A large contributing factory to “landfill fashion” is the materials used nowadays- with the majority produced in man made fibers which take much longer to biodegrade than natural fibers – they also have no soaking powers and hence are no good in the rag trade (large in developing parts of the world) and hence there are no real use for all our unwanted garments. Furthermore; add to that the toxic emissions into our environment by the garment producers (colour, dye, manufacturing chemicals etc etc). (read more in this brilliant article by The Guardian)
Now- What can we do? How can we be the change? If you care and if you are concerned, there are small steps / changes we can all make in order to make a large global Impact!
plan your meals better to avoid food waste. Call up your local council and join their recycling scheme. Buy a bamboo toothbrush (instead of plastic). Refuse the straw! Bring your reusable coffee cup to your local coffee shop. Reduce the amount of plastic you use – dont buy food in plastic wraps (go to your local market) Wash and re-use your glass jars, cut up old cotton sheets for rags and cleaning cloths; buy recyclable plastic waste bags AND in general: BUY LESS ! Of everything. And when you do purchase- make informed decisions. Think about it- buy what you need as it is not necessarily the same as your wants! In our personal experience- since starting Freedom of Ztyle and dedicating our self to a circular economy- our WANTS have dramatically declined and we don’t buy things we dont need. The joy of our few purchases are so much grater now! WE take much more care of what we buy and it lasts us for years!
In conclusion; if you know about our company you will aso know that buying from us is supporting a circular economy and less wastage. We can also transform your wardrobe into something new if you give us your un-worn clothing; this is a popular service of ours. We will continue to power through and promote a less waste – in particular within fashion. We are of course grateful for all your custom and Thank you all for reading. Hopefully you can start to spread the word. Be the Change!
Namaste.
