Choices

There may not have ever been a time when our choices have been more important than they are right now. We have more information than we’ve ever had about the health of our planet and our humanity, and are blessed with the greatest vehicle of change: the power of choice.

It is no secret that we, as consumers, are manipulated on a daily basis into spending our money. In the amazing amount of choices we have surrounding us, from where to buy our morning coffee to how we’re going to catch up on current events to which lipstick to wear with which outfit to that party we have to go to later that night…we have the incredible ability to choose how we are going to solve each of the problems presented to us. In this case, these problems would be our need for caffeine, our need to remain informed, and our need to present in a social situation. The impact of the choices we make to solve these problems is usually much greater in scope than what we are led (or allowed) to believe.

It is when we consider the impact of the choice in the same way we consider the desired outcome that we regain our power. In many ways, how we spend our money has come to reflect who we are as people. It can start with being more critical about labels – on food, body/beauty products, and apparel – and the general story we are told about what our problems are (some marketing is clever enough to make up our problems for us) and how to solve them. We’ll need a strong sense of what’s manipulation and what’s real – and how those things align with our own values, which we’ll have to be clear about those  too.            

In a blog entitled “Revising Fashion Marketing Terminology” by Sustainability in Style, blogger Katie Roberts addresses some of the issues with marketing terminology, labelling, and identifying our own value system so we may make better and more informed choices. She references an Alice in Wonderland quote which I love, and when used in this context speaks to the paradoxical frustration and hope in this paradigm shift.

“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”   – the Queen

Can’t we all relate?

My mom and I started this company because we were both frustrated with the lack of choices that aligned with our own values – values we are continuing to define and develop – as well as the overwhelming amount of information we felt that we were either a) constantly bombarded by or b) constantly having to search for and wade through internet “muck” to find. We look to use this platform as a place to honestly share clear and distilled information about how we can make choices for  impact as well as outcome, and how we can strive for the best of all scenarios in regard to the planet, the people, and the consumer. If this sounds good to you, please stick around! There’s much more to come.  – Emma *Check back in a couple of days for more about deceiving labels, and what kinds of things to be looking for as well as avoiding. (We’ll also talk about what we’re taking into consideration while designing our forthcoming clothing line!) In the meantime, check out this article from Stylewise, on something she calls “Greenwashing”.