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#WisdomWednesday with Loop Swim - May '24

May 29 2024

A dose of eco wisdom every Wednesday!

☀️ Dear Loop fam, we at Loop kicked off May with our new offering - 🧠WISDOM WEDNESDAY🧩. We know that you align with our goal to reduce the impact of our consumption patterns by making better informed choices and we hope to help you with this - one #WisdomWednesday at a time.

A big thank you to those of you already following along on Instagram and Facebook @loopswim. On the last Wednesday of each month, we will recap all insights right here in a long form post on our website, so they are all archived for you if you want to spread the word.

#WisdomWednesday 05.01

This week we shared a story by Earthsight (click to read the full piece) that sheds light on how H&M and Zara’s parent company Inditex are complicit in deforestation, land conflicts, human rights abuses, and more because of supply chains connected to Brazil’s Cerrado biome. Both companies work with suppliers in Asia who import Better Cotton Certified Cotton from Brazilian producers.

Cerrado, Brazil

This scandal is raising questions about greenwashing. Better Cotton is an initiative that works to improve cotton farming standards by certifying growers and their produce. It accounts for a fifth of global cotton production, and 40% of it comes from Brazil. When brands hide their suppliers and manufacturers, detrimental activities like this occur - and the people, the environment, and animals suffer. While Better Cotton is expanding its due diligence requirements, this situation illustrates how complicated supply chain tracing can be, while also illuminating the scale of systems that materials pass through.

#WisdomWednesday 05.08

For our second 🧠WISDOM WEDNESDAY🧩 of the month we talked about #MendItMay.

Run by The Sustainable Fashion Week team, #MendItMay invites everyone to mend clothing to keep it alive, celebrating repair as an act of empowerment. From May 1 they run an annual digital campaign on Instagram for people to get mending and share their achievements, big or small with the hashtag.

WHY MEND?

Loop Swim co-founder, Itee Soni at NYU Shanghai

- Extending the life of a garment by an extra 9 months reduces its environmental impact by 20-30% (Traid)
- Extending the average life of clothes by a third while reducing the need for new clothing would reduce the carbon, waste, and water footprints from the production stage by more than 20% (Nottingham Trent University)
- 77% of those asked at our clothes repair workshop said that they would keep the item that they had mended for at least another 3 years with a third of people stating that they would keep the item for more than 10 years. (Triad)
- An estimated £140m worth of clothing is sent to landfill every year. (WRAP)

Additionally, even if you plan to donate items to charities or take them to a swap, they require that items are in wearable condition sans holes and missing trims. So, as we change out our winter wardrobe for summer essentials, let’s make time to mend them too. 🪡

#WisdomWednesday 05.15

This week the spotlight was on ECOTOURISM. Separate from green/sustainable travel which involves making conscious choices to reduce your carbon footprint while traveling - think carrying reusable cutlery, offsetting your carbon footprint on flights, taking public transport in the destinations you visit, refusing daily hotel room cleaning service, ecotourism goes a step further.

Ecotourism is a form of responsible and sustainable travel that focuses on conserving natural resources, supporting local communities, and promoting environmental education.

Loop Swim in Chapada dos Veadeiros, Brazil

This type of tourism aims to minimize the negative impact of traditional tourism on the environment and local cultures while providing opportunities for travelers to learn and appreciate the natural beauty of the places they visit. The main objectives of ecotourism include protecting biodiversity and natural ecosystems, promoting conservation efforts, and supporting sustainable economic development for places and local communities.

So, as you make plans to explore our beautiful planet this summer, here are a few tips and resources we hope will be helpful.

Loop Swim in Mexico

Find eco destinations - https://www.protectedplanet.net/en/search-areas?geo_type=country
Find eco accommodations (Global) - https://staybeyondgreen.com/ & https://ecobnb.com/
Find eco accommodations (USA) - https://www.kindtraveler.com/content/every-stay-gives-back-directory
Learn more with - https://www.vox.com/even-better/23792484/sustainable-travel-ecotourism-respect-tips, https://ecobnb.com/blog/2019/11/carbon-footprint-vacation/ & https://www.gstcouncil.org/

Becoming an ecotourist and choosing to support ecotourism is a way for you to contribute to solving global climate issues whilst still enjoying your travels. 💚

#WisdomWednesday 05.23

We at Loop have worked hard to shed light on the sheer scale of the waste generated by the fashion industry for over a decade. This week we shared something that put the spotlight on the magnitude of the issue - a magnitude so large it can be viewed from space.

Photo by Mauricio Nahas

A recent fashion show in the Atacama Desert featured outfits made from discarded fashion items found onsite. Imagine a natural wonder of the world pillaged with discarded clothes from other countries. This is how “first world problems” like fast fashion become “third world problems” - an insufferable pile of trash where heaps of discarded items are routinely burned to clear space releasing even more harmful gases into the atmosphere and endangering local inhabitants.

You can read more about the issue here - This article doesn’t just talk about this instance but brings to light so many statistics which we hope to make you pause before your next purchase.

Finally, if you think swapping is the answer, please think again. Swap parties, while well-intentioned, send piles of leftover items as donations to charities. However, the recipients of these items from the charities are a different audience to the people the clothing is coming from, hence a reuse rate of just 8%. 57% of all clothing still ends up in landfill and 25% of global clothing waste is incinerated.

Loop Swim co-founder, Itee Soni at NYU Shanghai

Consider the below statistics:
- Every 16 seconds clothing equivalent of the height of the Eiffel Tower is thrown in landfill (324m)
- The height of the Burj Khalifa is thrown in every 42 seconds (830m)
- The height of Mt Everest is thrown in every seven minutes (8,849m)
- In nearly eight months (228 days) the pile could reach the Moon, more than 384 million metres away from Earth

Saying no to impulse purchases and “retail therapy” and only investing in timeless designs of longevity is your best bet. In the words of Vivienne Westwood – “Buy less, choose well and make it last.”

That's it for 🧠WISDOM WEDNESDAY🧩 for May and we will see you back here in June! Please connect with us in Instagram and Facebook @loopswim for weekly updates!