Extinction Rebellion demonstrators at Paris Fashion Week in September
Credit: Getty
Ethical shopping should be getting easier, as awareness grows of fashion’s toxic impact and the industry responds to urgent calls to do better. But with everyone keen to hitch a free ride on the sustainability bandwagon, it can be hard to know who to trust.
From premium labels to some of fast fashion’s worst offenders, brands are out to pull the wool over shoppers’ eyes with claims – whether fraudulent, misleading or wildly exaggerated – to persuade us they’re more ethical than they are. Buzzwords like ‘conscious’, ‘eco-friendly’, ‘clean’ and ‘responsible’ can be bandied about freely without stats to back them up, while token gestures can be spun into PR noise that drowns out the truth.
What’s on TV tonight: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sit down with Oprah
The i 3/8/2021 Gerard Gilbert
Pick of the day: Oprah With Meghan And Harry
9pm, ITV
Well, here’s a scoop for ITV – at a reported price of £1m – as the broadcaster secures the rights to Oprah Winfrey’s interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the day after it airs in the US. Presumably the content will be all over the news and the internet by then, but that should not stop viewers piling into a chat whose highlights (Meghan: “It was almost unsurvivable”; Harry: “My biggest concern was history repeating itself”) have been heavily trailed.
ran berkovich/Unsplash
The average Kiwi home that is carpeted in synthetics is similar to having 22,000 plastic bags on the floor by weight.
This story was published on Haven
Choosing carpet raises a lot of questions about sustainability, but there are better options available – you just have to hunt them out. Fiona Ralph shares her personal reno journey. Replacing the old carpet was one of the most urgent tasks on our reno wishlist, as ours had been tainted by the distinctly non-delightful aroma of cat urine. Unfortunately, most carpet isn’t sustainable, with its glues, dyes and (in some cases) synthetic fibres, plus stain, fire and insect-resistant finishes.