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Living a Sustainable Life

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If you’ve been hanging out with us for a while, you’ve probably already mastered the art of sustainable fashion and already doing your part to make this world a friendlier place. So what’s next?

Well, you’re already on the right track. Switching to slow fashion and recognizing fast fashion for the evil that it is, is in itself a huge step towards a more sustainable life. We know and you know that it is not an easy switch and just the fact that you’ve made this lifestyle change means that you care deeply about how your actions impact the environment and humanity.

Here are some other aspects in your daily life that you can focus on to contribute to a greener, kinder and more sustainable planet. You’d be surprised how easy some of those changes are!

 

Change starts at Home:

– Save energy: You can make a huge positive impact on the environment just by consuming less energy.   Simple habits such as switching off all lights before leaving your house or better yet, turning off the lights whenever you exit a room are a good place to start. Don’t charge your phone overnight, unplug all appliances that you’re not using and hang your clothes to dry instead of using a drier. Switch to LED lights or CFL bulbs as it has proven to last longer and be more efficient in energy consumption. The environment will send you a Thank You note in the form of a reduced electricity bill!

– Reduce waste: The best way to reduce waste is to consume less! If it can be solved with one paper towel, why use two? If a regular towel can do the job, why use the paper towel in the first place? The second best way to reduce waste is to reuse or upcycle. Those empty jars will definitely be of use later on and that wine bottle will make a lovely vase. If it can’t be used, then the third best way is to recycle. Finally, consider donating or reselling any item that you no longer have use for.

– Save water: The biggest favor you can do to Earth is to save water! Every drop of water counts so keep your showers short, check for water leakage and don’t keep the tap running!

 

Shop Responsibly:

– Plastic Who?: Plastic is probably the number one enemy of the environment and most often than not ends up in the ocean, harming the sea life along the way. When heading to the grocery store, bring your own shopping bag with you to minimize the use of plastic bags. If possible, avoid buying plastic-wrapped products and opt for paper bags instead. Ditch the single-use, disposable products and opt for long-lasting ones instead. Always keep with you a refillable coffee cup for those essential coffee breaks!

– Shop fair trade: It’s sad but a lot of the products that we buy are made using forced or child labor. Check for Fair Trade Certifications, this will guarantee that the product  you are buying was made ethically using fair labor.

– Choose eco-friendly products: Bamboo toothbrushes, organic cotton and biodegradable garbage bags are simple examples.

 

Connect with Nature:

– Transportation: If your feet can take you there, then let your feet take you there! Walking or biking to your destination will let you get a feel of nature, escape the stress of traffic, save up on gas, reduce CO2 emissions, get that much needed exercise and daily dose of vitamin D! It’s a win-win situation if you ask us!

– Disconnect: Every now and then, take a break from technology, get offline and spend some time in nature instead! Outdoor activities such as a walk in the park, a little family picnic, outdoor yoga, a swim in the sea, or a good hike can refresh your soul and make you feel more alive, all the while consuming less energy. Don’t worry, Netflix and your online friends will still be there when you return.

– Plant seeds: Gardening, growing your own food or even planting a tree are great ways to contribute positively to nature!

 

Lifestyle changes:

– Go Paperless: Disconnecting from technology may be important but technology can also have a positive effect on the environment, especially when it comes to paper usage. With emails, calendars, notes, reminders, document sharing, e-tickets and coupons, and infinite other apps at your disposal, you can pretty much do without any paper at all.

– Travel Sustainably: Living sustainably at home is not enough! Take sustainability wherever you go and make sure to make your travels as sustainable as possible!

– Eat Well: Less processed food, less home delivery or takeaway, and more organic food!

 

Human Connections:

– Involve your children: Teach your children early on in their lives the impact that their actions can have on the world. If they start at a young age, chances are they’ll carry their sustainable values with them as they grow up!

– Give Back: Help others, be kind and compassionate, donate, volunteer, support causes and charities, stand up for human rights and equality.

– Raise Awareness: Be an inspiration to the people around you and use your voice and your human connections to inspire others to take actions and follow your sustainable footsteps.

Industries Still Using Forced Labor

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As an ethical clothing brand, we at Dulce Salerno make sure to never use any material that was produced using child or forced labor. It doesn’t just sound like the right thing to do, but more like the natural thing to do. In fact, in this time and age, it’s just absurd that forced labor still exists. But the sad truth is that it does still very much exist, in more industries than we can imagine, in common products that we use on a daily basis and by big international companies that make huge profits at the expense of workers. Even when a company does not directly use forced labor, a lot of times the materials it sources was produced using forced labor.

We thought we’d therefore shed some light on some of the industries that still employ forced labor and what you can do to not encourage it.

 

The Fashion and Textiles Industry

It’s only fitting that we start with fashion since this is the industry we are part of and that we are trying to change. Rarely does Fast Fashion and Good Working Conditions go hand in hand together. Too often, a worker was paid close to nothing to achieve that low price tag. And it’s not just the cheap fashion brands that are guilty of the same. Those expensive sports shoes? Made by the tiny hands of a child. Ever bought a t-shirt with smart captions such as “Girl Power” or “Wonder Woman”? A powerless woman was forced to make them. The list goes on but we’ll stop here since you probably get the idea.

How to stop it: Shop ethical brands, switch to slow fashion and encourage handmade fashion. Be vocal: in today’s social media world, it is more difficult for companies to hide scandals or not cave into pressure from their customers. Demand transparency, ask who made your clothes, start a revolution!

 

The Cotton Industry

Speaking of fashion, one of the most common material used in the fashion industry is cotton and as you might have guessed, the harvesting of cotton isn’t done in the most ethical of ways! While forced labor is used in the production of cotton in numerous countries, the most shocking of working conditions come from Central Asia, particularly Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, where the government coerces their own citizens to make huge profits out of cotton exports. The government owns most of the lands and leases it to farmers who are forced to harvest a huge cotton production quota. The state then maintains a monopoly of the cotton, buying all the cotton at a price much lower than production cost and reselling all of it without distributing any of the profits. We bet those soft cotton sheets you’re sleeping on don’t feel so soft anymore after reading this.

How to stop it: Switch to organic and ethically sourced cotton, it’s also more eco-friendly and saves tons of water.

 

The Chocolate Industry

Chocolate is often known as a guilty pleasure because of all the calories that come with it. But if we knew the cruel working conditions that came with the making of chocolate, we’d feel even more guilty. Most confectionary companies buy their chocolate from the same source on the Ivory Coast, where forced labor, mostly by children, is used to harvest cocoa. Most of time, the working force constitutes of children that are abducted from poor countries and even sometimes sold to the industry by their poor parents.

How to stop it: We’d say stop eating chocolate, but anyone who’s ever been on a diet knows that it’s not that easy. Instead, do your research and find out which chocolate companies are guilty of using forced labor and boycott their product and demand change. That might mean you’ll have to give up your favorite chocolate bars but it’s also an opportunity to discover other delicious fair trade chocolate.

 

The Coffee Industry

It’s hard to start any morning without coffee. It’s even harder to get through Mondays without a few extra cups of coffee. Sanity is often preserved thanks to coffee. But sometimes, it’s all at the expense of slave work and families struggling to survive.  As coffee is a commodity, farmers’ living conditions depend heavily on the current market price and demands of coffee. When demand is low and work is slow, farmers do not make enough money to sustain their families. But when demand is high, the high coffee prices are incentives for farmers to harvest as much coffee as possible and even pull out their kids from school to work for long hours in the crops. In certain coffee-producing regions, powerful elites own large plantations where forced labor is used for very long working hours and with hazardous and often illegal working conditions. During peak demand periods, women and children are recruited and paid way below the male workers.

How to stop it: Read the certifications on coffee brands and opt for ethical sourcing. Organic coffee is produced without fertilizers and pesticides so workers are not subjected to all the chemicals. Fair trade coffee is even better because it ensures fair wage to the workers, regardless of the coffee market price.

 

The Tea Industry

If you just read the above and decided to drop coffee and switch to tea instead, we’re afraid we don’t have better news for you. The working conditions in the tea plantation are pretty similar to the coffee industry with child and forced labor in full use. Exhaustion, hazardous conditions, wage theft or even no wages at all, extremely long hours, lack of access to drinking water and in some cases sexual abuse are some of what workers in tea plantation are subject to.

How to stop it: Just like coffee, be a smart consumer and read the certifications on tea brands and opt for ethical sourcing, organic tea and fair trade tea.

 

The Tobacco Industry

We all know by now that smoking is detrimental to our health and to the health of the people we’re smoking next to. But here’s something we haven’t given much thought to: the real victims of smoking are the people working in the tobacco industry, too often in slave-like conditions. Harvesting tobacco requires a lot of seeds, pesticides and fertilizers which are costs that need to be absorbed by the farmers. The tobacco industry takes advantage of the high farming cost by selling the material needed to the farmers on loan, trapping them in a cycle of debt. Workers receive sub-poverty wages for their work, are subjected to long and exhausting work hours without access to clean drinking water or restroom facilities, and face the risk of nicotine poisoning. To be able to meet their tobacco quota, farmers must often resort to the help of their families to harvest the crop without any paid labor. This often requires children to pull out of school, which not only affects their education and future but also their health. Common side effects for children in tobacco fields include increase in hunger and stunted growth.

How to stop it: If you ever needed a new excuse to quit smoking, you’ve got one now. Save your life and the lives of the people working in the tobacco industry and quit smoking today!

 

The Makeup Industry

What if we told you that the glitter you wear on your face is actually made up of little children’s blood, sweat and tears? To add shimmer to beauty products such as lipsticks, eye shadows, foundations and blush, a mineral called Mica is used. Now the problem comes from the sourcing of Mica, where employers take advantage of children’s small physique for mining this natural mineral. In India, the country with the largest production of Mica, children as young as three are ’employed’ and as a result are exposed to highly toxic chemicals and heavy working duties to extract the Mica minerals.

How to stop it: Demand transparency from the cosmetic brands. Know what’s in your products, what was used and how it was sourced. Some cosmetics companies are sourcing their mica from companies with legal practices or from children friendly villages. Try to opt for brands that are tackling the issue.

 

The Diamonds Industry

Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but they’re definitely not an ethical girl’s best friend, especially if sourced unethically.  The diamonds industry, particularly ‘Blood Diamonds‘ (or ‘Conflict Diamonds’), can be the most inhumane and abusive industry. ‘Blood Diamonds’ are the diamonds that are mined in war torn countries in Central and West Africa, usually by slave workers. The industry is controlled by rebels who oppose internationally recognized governments and illegally trade the diamonds in order to fund the cost of war. The ‘Blood Diamonds’ workers are mostly under 30 and include children workers who are preferred for their tiny hands. Working at less than $1 per day for 10-15 hours in extremely unsafe conditions, the workers are exposed to several health risks such as injuries, exhaustion, hernia, malaria  and drowning. And if the health and safety risks weren’t enough, ‘Blood Diamond’ workers are often subjected to physical abuse, sexual abuse and sometimes even murder.

How to stop it: Buy your diamonds from jewelers that are transparent about where they source their diamonds from and that can certify that their diamonds are non-conflict.

 

The Gold Industry

Diamonds isn’t the only material in our jewelry that we should be concerned about. The gold industry may seem shiny on the surface but if you dig deeper, you will find that it is also guilty of having blood on its hands. When you think of mafias and criminal organizations, you probably think of drug trafficking. But what you probably don’t know is that in countries like Columbia and Peru (who, thanks to Hollywood movies, have become almost synonyms with drug trafficking), criminal organizations gain far more profits from labor trafficking and illegal gold mining than from cocaine production. Gangs who run the unregulated mines evade taxes and make huge profits at the expense of workers who are held in slavery, work without contracts or safety gears, are constantly exposed to mercury and accumulate huge debts from having their salaries confiscated.

How to stop it: Make sure you are not buying ‘dirty’ gold by buying only from jewelers that ethically source their gold and who can provide certifications that the gold was fair-mined.

 

The Palm Oil Industry

The palm oil business has already made headlines for its negative effect on the environment, but it should also be making headlines for the abuse of the labor force and violation of human rights. The palm oil industry benefits from the fact that palm oil plantations are hidden in the middle of rural  rainforests, giving them ‘invisibility’ from the rest of the world and therefore allowing them to take advantage of forced labor without being seen. The nature of the work is very physically demanding itself and workers are expected to work for long hours every day in the heat without rest to meet their ridiculously high quota and are often punished for failing to do so or for picking up unripe fruit. Women are paid way below the minimum wage with no health insurance and children often work unpaid hours to help their parents. Health and safety risks involve exposure to toxic chemicals, respiratory damage from rainforest fires, physical pain from operating heavy equipments, bruises and injuries from processing the fruits and risk of falling off the trees.

How to stop it: It’s time for the palm oil plantations to lose their invisibility so that the exploitation of labor workers can be seen by the whole world. Be vocal, raise awareness and pressure the big companies to source their palm oil ethically.

 

The Carpets Industry

We always say handmade is better, but even handmade is not always a guarantee that something was made using fair labor. In India for example, handmade carpets are often weaved by the tiny hands of child labor in merciless working conditions.

How to stop it: Find a trusted rug dealer and buy fair trade and ethically sourced carpets.

 

The Electronic Devices Industry

If you’re reading this, whether through your phone, tablet or laptop, chances are you’re holding in your hands a product that was made using forced labor. The problem with electronic devices and the big companies who make them is not their labor policies, but their sourcing policies. The assembling of your phone or electronic device was probably made using fair labor, but was the material used sourced ethically? We doubt it. The biggest names in high-tech companies source the main components of their products from Malaysia, where migrant workers coming to work in the electronics sector are trapped in a vicious cycle of debt and forced labor. Not only do they earn way below their promised salaries, but they are also forced to pay a huge working fee upon arriving to Malaysia (which often amounts to two years of their salaries) and have their passports confiscated. The electronics companies in Malaysia operate under the radar and there is therefore no minimum wage, no overtime and no inspections. Other materials sourced for electronic devices often include illegally mined metals and gold.

How to stop it: Right now, the best we can do is put pressure on the big high-tech companies to source their material ethically and on governments to impose regulations against the sourcing of electronics made with forced labor.

 

Just because something is happening far away from us in different parts of the world, it doesn’t mean that it’s not happening and it doesn’t mean that we can’t do anything to stop it. As we always say time and time again, change starts within us. So let us be the change and take a step forward in ending forced labor once and for all.

“Fast” and “Slow” fashion: A brief understanding of each trend and how they impact our world

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Nowadays, the mainstream fashion industry counts on mass production in which fashion clothes are designed and created in a matter of weeks. The latest fashion trends are sold by retailers at low prices, which causes the public to buy more than they need. Furthermore, this industry comes at a hidden cost, which includes our environment and labor workers. These are human lives we are talking about, and this is the world that we will leave for the future generations to come. Mainstream fashion is also called “Fast Fashion”, and disturbs our world in numerous ways, which include: the deterioration of fossil fuels and fresh water reservoirs being eliminated for cotton crop farming, entering pesticides into our nature, and putting our ecosystems in risk of destruction. In summary, “Fast Fashion” is correlated with negative effects on our ecological and social environment. I’m sure you’ve heard of the quote that say’s “Today’s Treasures, Tomorrow’s Trash”, as it perfectly fits the end consumer of the fast fashion industry. Disposability plays a key role here, laterally with speed and style. Edith, a thirty-five-year-old HONG KONG consultant, said: These companies [referring to H&M] use designers like Stella McCartney to create limited, one-time collections, which get usually sold out the next day. An effective strategy indeed, which also means that consumers are buying more clothes more frequently due to affordable prices. However, that also means that they’re unfortunately disposable. You may keep an item after ten washes, but the item’s shine will surely fade away literally or will no longer be popular the next day in the fashion world.

The business model of Fast Fashion entails that large retailers reduce large volume of seasonal fashion production and avoid inventory that can’t be sold, also called “unsalable inventory” (Silver-Stein and Fisk, 2008). The business model is based on a “quick response” design, to produce, and distribute on demand. The products then end up being in the market as being “fashionable and affordable” (Caro And Albeinz,2014), which increases demand and turnover of the merchandise. There are four factors in this model that result in profitability in this industry: logistics, technology, flexible value chain, and emerging markets. The more the traditional companies are being aware of increased revenues due to the fast fashion Model, the more they are prone to adopt fast fashion elements and integrate them into their own industry.

I’m sure many of you are wondering what slow Fashion is and how it differs from fast Fashion. Slow fashion embodies everything that is “ethical” or “eco” in one integrated movement. Let’s call it a fashion revolution since it demands that the production of garments is done in an eco-friendly way, gives proper value to the product, and be more environment conscience. The beauty of slow Fashion is that the producers are all interconnected, therefore, they all support each other in the social and environmental system. By switching to slow Fashion, we allow our earth to better rejuvenate and allow its heart to beat peacefully and in a healthy rhythm. Earth has hosted and nurtured us, the least we could do in return is to not damage it for our own greed and desires. Earth aside for now, what about us? What about those poor children being forced into minimum wage labor so they could have the privilege of living? Slow Fashion takes part of campaigns to ensure that workers are treated fairly and ethically. Brands that partook in such campaigns include “Dulce Salerno”, “People Tree”, “Everlane”, “Nisolo”, and many more. Ethical brands tell you the exact process of the cycle of how you can make a difference when you purchase an item. There is a story behind every garment and you are free to take part in the design process if needed. “It’s about the consumer becoming aware of the whole process–from design through production through use and through the potential to reuse,” Hazel Clark, research chair of fashion at Parsons said. The business model of slow fashion differs substantially from the fast fashion model, and emerged in reaction to it. The model’s values are hardly seen in large economy of scale companies, it “saves firms that promote localism and equity, and maximizes the product’s lifespan and environmental sustainability” (Jung and Byoungho, 2014). Recently, many slow fashion companies are using online platforms to do business, which facilitated the process for consumers and making the concept more popular. According to Nielson, a large research firm, sustainable fashion consumers are growing globally in enormous numbers,

You know what is even better? ALL profits go to charity! And yes, you read that correctly, 100%. The whole idea is that you are buying an item for yourself and in return giving back to the world. Sounds too good to be true, right? The price of items in slow Fashion is often higher, that is because they are using delicate materials such as organic cotton or bamboo which cost more to make, and labor wages are at an ethical level. However, there is more to Slow Fashion than the materials, “slow fashion encompasses sustainable fashion, but it takes a broader view than just supporting organic T-Shirts,” said Elizabeth Cline, author of Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion. Furthermore, it is important to note that slow fashion does not only focus on the quality of the product, but rather on the consumer’s quality of life, concepts related to the “slow food movement” (Fletcher, 2014).

Let us be real with each other, till when should we continue with taking the “easy way out”? Join us in our cause and let us heal this world person to person, hand by hand. It all starts with you.

Posted by Dulce Salerno

Dulce Salerno: 2017 Good Brand Award from Sublime Magazine

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It’s award season and we’re not talking about the Oscars or the Grammy’s!

Being a brand that always strives to be ethical, eco-friendly and to use fashion as a force for good, we couldn’t be happier and proud to receive the 2017 Good Brand Award from Sublime Magazine.

The Good Brand award is an endorsement award that has been given by Sublime Magazine since 2007 to businesses whose products and services are both manufactured and delivered in an environmentally and socially friendly manner. The award itself is an indication to customers that the brand is ethical and can be trusted.

At Dulce Salerno, we pride ourselves with our commitment towards a sustainable cycle right from the moment the idea/design is conceived, all the way to the manufacturing process and long after the product is purchased. Whether you are buying one of our t-shirts, belts or caps, you can rest assured that every piece has been carefully crafted with utmost love and care towards both humanity and the environment, and that your purchase has improved the quality of someone else’s life.

Sublime Award

Dulce Salerno Tee

From Dulce, a big thank you to Sublime Magazine for the love and recognition, and to all other like-minded brands who are on the same ethical journey as Dulce to making this world better.

Posted by Dulce Salerno

Bamboo: The Secret Behind Dulce Salerno’s Eco-Friendly Fashion Brand

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At Dulce Salerno, we put extreme care into the making of all our products from our wide variety of organic t-shirts, to our handmade belts and recycled caps. We design and produce each product meticulously to meet our customers’ needs, cater to their taste and satisfy their needs while always keeping in mind our core values: Fair trade and Ecofriendly production. To achieve this, we place great importance on the material we use in our manufacturing process, such as organic and recycled cotton. But our main secret is bamboo.

Why Bamboo Clothing?

You only need to try bamboo clothing once to know why it is so fabulous. Its luxurious feel, incredible softness, gentle touch and the great comfort that comes with it has put bamboo at the spotlight in the fashion industry. Customers also love bamboo for its hypoallergenic, antibacterial and UV protective features, its easy price – compared with silk as cashmere – and not to mention its ecofriendly cachet.

More importantly, Bamboo Clothing is touted as a super-sustainable fabric and is proclaimed as the world’s most renewable material: it is naturally pest-resistant, grows incredibly fast and can actually help rebuild eroded soil. On top of that, it is 100% natural and biodegradable.

All this being said, whenever you purchase a Dulce Salerno product, you are not only getting an Italian design or a UK based brand, but you are also guaranteeing a better environment for generations to come.

Posted by Dulce Salerno

Dulce Salerno: An Ethical Brand with a Deeper Purpose

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If you’re familiar with the Dulce Salerno brand, you probably already know what we do and why we do it. We’re all about ethical fashion, fair trade, supporting the causes we believe in and raising funds for charities. But there is even more to our brand than meets the eye. Dulce Salerno is a symbol of Peace and Hope, and we don’t want to just sell t-shirts and donate to charities. We want to do so much more:

  • We want to inspire and empower the new generation.
  • We want to spread love and kindness.
  • We want you to know that you do hold the power to change and to positively influence the world every day with small daily acts.
  • We want to draw smiles on children’s faces.
  • We want to give a helping hand to those in need and make somebody’s difficult journey a little easier.
  • We want to use art and fashion as a force for good to tell inspiring stories and raise awareness for the causes we support and believe in.
  • We want you to create good habits early on in your children’s lives.
  • We want to take part in a fashion revolution that will hit the world by storm and create a chain of positive actions.
  • We want you to start thinking about who made your clothes.
  • We want to create a conscious community of shoppers.
  • We want to make “doing good” in fashion and “giving back” the new trend.
  • We want you to be kind to our planet, connect with nature and think about the impact your actions have on our environment.
  • We want to build a new generation of change-makers that doesn’t just go with the flow, but stops and thinks, feels, analyzes, questions, refuses, acts and casts a vote.
  • We want to empower artists and craftsmanship, and create beautiful pieces without harming the environment.
  • We want to leave the planet in a better condition for our children.
  • We want to make today better than yesterday and tomorrow better than today.
  • We want you not to lose hope.
  • We want to see a world where injustice, poverty, hunger, child labor and modern slavery no longer exist. A world where all children have access to safe water, education and health care facilities.
  • We want to feel pride in what we do and to know that we stood up for what we believe in.
  • We want to do our part in making this world a better place to live in and we want you to join us.

 

With Love,

Dulce.