Author: jjsesse

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Why Ethical Clothing Matters

You might have heard a lot about terms such as sustainable fashion, ethical clothing, slow fashion, etc. But what it really is and why does this trend so much matter nowadays? We’ve decided to spread the word about this topic because it’s super important for everybody to know what we all wear, how people involved were treated, what affect can these clothing make to the planet? All of these questions should arise when we make purchases and be conscious of everything we have a tight contact with.

Meaning of Ethical Clothing

Ethical Clothing simply means that every cycle of its production from designing, producing, retailing to purchasing was made ethically. This term also covers huge problems such as working conditions, sustainable production, environment, and animal welfare. One of the core values of businesses that make slow fashion should be to treating workers fairly and minimizing the impact on the environment. By saying that, ethical clothing/ ethical fashion means that clothing is both people-friendly and eco-friendly.

Why Is Ethical Clothing Important

As consumers, we’ve become super conscious about all the purchases we make – from grocery to cleaning solutions shopping – to make sure that everything we have contact with makes a positive difference for all the people who made these items; especially when clothing is involved. Our skin is in constant tight contact with fabrics we put on, and that’s why we want to be sure in the quality of things we wear, how they were produced, what material, what conditions, etc.

Also, ethical fashion means that not only workers were treated well, but this term also stands for sustainability. That simply means that production was made using only environmentally friendly practices and a product itself has a low impact on the environment.

At Cozy Stories we believe that eco-friendly, ethical clothing can really make a difference. We can help the environment and improve the lives of people involved by delivering better, unique products to our customers.

What Does Sustainability Stand For?

  • Ethical Clothing means it’s made from eco-friendly materials (such as organic, non-GMO cotton & pesticide-free materials)
  • Ethical Clothing is always safe both for people and for the environment (without using any other materials that can contain toxins, harmful chemicals, or other carcinogens)
  • Ethical Clothing production uses sustainable – environmentally friendly – practices that reduce water consumption and waste production.
  • Ethical Clothing production avoids pollution, by using natural energy that is harmless for the people and the Earth.

Next time when shopping, pay your attention to such phrases as responsibly made, fair trade, eco-friendly, sustainable fashion. By buying this stuff you support ethical brands. Of course, eco-friendly shirts can be more expensive than fast fashion, because their production costs businesses more money, and takes longer, but this all saves the environment, helps fair-trade and makes you feel good!

Fast Fashion Destroys The Planet

Fast fashion can cost us the environment as over 15 million tons of textile waste is generated in US every year, and this number isn’t going to decrease if we keep supporting them. You might compare the prices between our store and their stores, but for them, it takes over 2700 liters of water to make just 1 cotton t-shirt. That equals the same amount of water that a person needs for a 12 year period. By using pesticides in farming, they make the ground infertile, and runoff of chemical dyes pollute the air and local water sources. The clothing industry is the world’s second-largest clean water polluter.

Conclusion

If we keep mindlessly shopping, we, as consumers, create this demand and we are a big part of this problem. This is a time when we have to change our consumption habits. Be mindful in every action you do, when supporting businesses, think about how these products were created. Ethical fashion won’t solve all of our problems with water shortages, toxic chemicals, and energy consumption, but it will allow YOU to support more sustainable and environmentally-safe practices and therefore will help you to reduce your personal impact on the planet.

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How to be mindful in everyday life

Mindful living may sound complicated, something that’s hard to achieve. But in fact, it’s anything but. Everyone can live mindfully and get benefits from day one!

So, What Is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a simple ability to be present, be aware of what we’re doing, and why and think in a non-judgemental way. It can bring a lot of benefits to both mental and physical health.

Why is that important?

When we practice mindfulness, we’re less likely to have stress and anxiety. It helps to focus our attention on positivity and overall well-being, gaining awareness while observing our own mind. Learning how to to be present at the moment is a way of life, which allows you to become conscious of everything you do.

Mindful Eating

The easiest way to start being mindful is to incorporate it into your most frequent activities, habits, and needs. Just notice how you eat! If you are used to eating while scrolling the news feed on your social media or watching Netflix Series, then you eat for emotional comfort. It can contribute to overeating, consuming too much processed food, and sugar, because most of the snacks are made of this stuff.

Mindful eating means paying full attention to your cravings and physical cues when eating.

Try to use the following tips to be more conscious regarding your food and you will see positive results once you start doing it all. And as a great bonus to health and mental benefits, you’ll feel satiety even faster and get satisfaction from the eating process.

  • Eat slowly and without distractions
  • Listen to your body, to your physical hunger cues
  • Eat until you start feeling halfway full
  • Notice the smell, colors, and textures of the food
  • Think about how nutritious your food is, what vitamins it consists of and how this will help your body
  • Appreciate and be grateful for what you have

All these will allow you to be more conscious of your food choices, and help you to live a healthier life.

Mindfulness For Better Relationships

To live a happier life, we need to be mindful not only with ourselves but also with the people around us.

Mindfulness in relationships is about observing others in non-jugmental way and staying present when talking with them.

Pay your attention to people around you, rather than scrolling through your phone. Hear and listen carefully to what they say and be present in conversations. Not everybody can really listen to others, it’s a skill that should be learned. If you don’t agree or there’s a controversy, learn to respond more mindfully.

Take A Pause

In our fast-paced life, waiting can be really frustrating for us, whether it’s a line in the store, traffic, or simply sitting in a subway. But think about how waiting can turn into an opportunity for mindfulness. Notice your breath, pay your attention to the breath flow, how deep it is, where it begins, and where it ends. Let everything that we can’t control just be as is.

Meditation & Yoga

Practicing mindfulness somehow equals learning a new language. And meditation is a guide book for learning this language.

Multiple studies have proven that meditations and yoga help to cope with anxiety and stress, reduce depression, and cut the pain in half. These practices contribute to setting positive thinking, improving memory, self-awareness, and goal setting. People who meditate feel much happier and self-confident than those who don’t. And it actually doesn’t take long to see all these benefits! Just start doing it for at least 10-15 minutes a day and you’ll see how your brain starts thinking differently, how calm you become, and what a great spiritual shift you experience. You won’t understand until; you try doing it consistently.

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Eco-friendly on a budget: ways to go GREEN & SAVE

Today to be green is not just a trend, and in fact, it’s never been, since nothing happens without a reason. It’s important to understand why we all have to be responsible human beings while living on mother Earth that gave us lives. And it’s only our duty to give back to our planet for keeping us all alive and sustain the needs to survive. And to help it go a long way we can start to live eco-friendly that will cost almost nothing!

Personal Eco-Friendly Habits

When you want to change something, start with yourself first. Here are some tips for you to take into account:

  • Re-wear clothes
  • Keep & eat leftovers
  • Use recycled paper products, clothing, bags, coffee mugs
  • Turn off A/C when leaving the room
  • Re-use old plastic bags, bottles (don’t try to buy new recycled stuff and get rid of everything plastic you owned before, use it)
  • Buy second-hand (furniture, bags, clothes)
  • Borrow things like books
  • Read magazines and books online

Home Eco-Friendly Habits

If you start doing some things for a week or two, you will make not only steady savings on your account but also you will contribute to the great mission by saving the planet.

  • Do laundry when you have a full load to wash
  • Wash clothes in cold water (it’s more energy saving)
  • Buy only natural cleansing solutions (most cleaners have a full range of toxic chemicals that disrupt human immune system & pollute the air)
  • Unplug your devices once they’re fully charged

Outside Eco-Friendly Habits

You can go green not only inside your home but also to help the environment being outside! Interested how? Here’re some tips for you to make the world & your soul better:

  • Plant trees in your backyard
  • Start gardening
  • Use more public transport
  • Separate your garbage according to recycling rules of the state you live in

Wrapping All Up…

So, as you see, it’s not so complicated to start going green. Besides, it can really save you a lot of money. We see no reason why you should not adopt one or all of these habits into your daily routine and feel great because by making small steps all together we can really change and save the Earth!