Buying ethical for your wedding day doesn’t have to mean style sacrifices. By. Casey Wikerson
Did you know there are several ways to incorporate the eco-friendly lifestyle into your most dazzling look yet?Here are four ways to personalize your mash-up of fair trade and funky or chic and sustainable.
BUY FAIR TRADE TEXTILES - Celia Grace
www.celiagrace.com
What if your wedding dress could be worn every day? Celia Grace carries a collection that is both fair trade and made as separates or basics for year-round wear. Celia Grace offers a great option for brides looking for ethical wedding dresses to become part of their wardrobe. They offer the first bridal line to be Fairtrade certified. This ensures fair wages for farmers and workers who create textiles and can help to end poverty in their countries. Quality of life and safety are the goals of fair trade. Celia Grace has also partnered with Tailored for Education, an organization that provides school uniforms to children in developing countries.
BUY FROM SUSTAINABLE FACILITIES - Reformation
thereformation.com
Are there wedding dresses that clock in under $600 dollars and are made with the Earth in mind? Yes, Reformation does that! Keeping ethical practices at the center of their business model, Reformation pledges to count more than just profits. Their team created an assessment tool that tracks the company’s fashion footprint. Pounds of carbon dioxide produced, gallons of water used, and the pounds of waste generated are posted on every page of the Reformation website. They are proud to claim a green infrastructure that minimizes water and energy waste and a system that donates, repurposes, or recycles 75 percent of all unused textiles and organic waste.
BUY VINTAGE - William Vintage
How many brides can boast a dress made in 1936? Explore vintage pieces for high quality, unique dresses. This eliminates demand for textile production and gives new life to a beautiful antique design. Approximately 20 percent of industrial water pollution comes from textile dying and treatment, and 425,000,000 gallons of water are used to produce textiles in India alone.
DON’T BUY AT ALL - Rent-the-Runway
Rent! Rent the Runway has designer styles for rent under their “For the Bride” category. You can pay per rental or begin a monthly plan if you choose to rent your daily styles too. If you know your wedding dress is only for the wedding, consider only renting your look for the week. This will prove far cheaper and allow new brides to shoulder the environmental burden of a dress that would only be worn once.
