My girlfriend @Hempress' first post ever was about a year ago today (also in Acapulco, Mexico), titled Breaking the Chains of the Fashion Industry: How fashion is Exploiting our People & the Earth. Paying tribute to this amazing article, we also used this for the the title of our pamphlet - Breaking the Chains of the Fashion Industry.
The following is a combination of excepts from articles written by @ELAmental (myself) and @Hempress, formatted in a way that properly, and concisely explains how and why our eco-conscious products are prepared and crafted the way they are. There is also a link in the pamphlet to this Steemit article in reference to a screen shot of an email from the Alternative Apparel (Alternative Earth) distributor I acquired some of our organic shirts from displayed near the end of this post, confirming W.R.A.P (World Responsible Accredited Production) certification.
I have also included the flier version of this information, that will be handed to each person that receives a shirt, along with care instructions on the back. I hope you enjoy our plethora of conscious wisdom about this topic, in the following easy to digest form:
The Phamplet
Breaking the Chains of the Fashion Industry - Our Healthy and Eco-Conscious Clothing Standards
Questions to ask yourself when purchasing clothing
Is this garment good for your health? Did creating it use minimal resources and energy? Were the people that processed the fabric treated and compensated fairly? Are there synthetic chemicals or natural substances on it that will be absorbed by your skin? Is it organic, up-cycled, or second hand? Are the materials and stitchings high enough quality to endure for many years? Are your intentions in the best interest of the planet and your own vitality?
These are all vital questions that everyone should ask themselves before purchasing a garment. If your intentions are to wear something for many years, that was created leaving a minimal carbon footprint, with the best materials possible to actually improve your health, and support companies that treat their workers with respect - than you will be helping to heal yourself and the planet simultaneously - and will become a living example of how we are destine to dress in this age. With enough time, people, and conscious clothing, this school of thought will stretch far and wide, and inevitably be adopted on a much greater scale than we are seeing currently.
The custom Anarchapulco event shirts display the winning custom logos from my Steemit design contest, that pays tribute to how Anarchapulco got it's name (through an online contest). These shirts are 100% organic, unbleached fabric from W.R.A.P. or F.L.A. certified facilities, and hand dyed by us with your choice of herbal plant dyes or low-impact tie dyes. The alternate Anarchapulco and State of Anarchy designs are also permanently embedded into the fabric of the shirts using an water-based, eco-friendly dye process with no synthetic chemicals, and will never peel or crack off like typical plastisol screen prints.
ELAmental Earth
Sharing Conscious Creations & Wisdom for Worldwide Symbiosis - Harness Natural Energy, Reduce Waste, Heal, & be Happy.
We are dedicated to providing products that are created using the most eco-friendly processes available, are constantly seeking to develop new techniques that decreases the carbon-footprint of our projects event further, and improve the health and happiness of everyone who wears our garments and apparel. We value environmental efficiency over financial efficiency in the cost of our manufacturing, although we have found that more often than not, the two go hand in hand. A little more work goes a long way.
Think Not About how Much it Costs for Yourself, but Instead how Much it Costs the Earth.
We are huge proponents of using what we already have available to us, and avoiding using new products whenever possible. In doing so, we advocate the philosophy that being resourceful and thrifty should be of the highest priority if the goal is to restore the health of planet Earth. We do our best to promote this lifestyle choice to others, and help them understand how meaningful making such choices can be, and that the more people that do it, the more effective it will become. That is why everyone should also prioritize wearing used and up-cycled clothing.
-THERE IS A BALANCE -
About 50% of the clothing we personally wear is up-cycled or used garments, and 50% unbleached organic fabric from fair trade companies, that are either herbal dyed or low-impact tie dyed. We want to reduce our carbon footprint as much as possible with the clothing we select to wear, while also wearing the healthiest possible fabric on our skin (our biggest organ), since our skin is trans-dermal, and we absorb what it touches to some degree. Unfortunately these two concepts only go hand in hand only when you find organic garments that are also used or up-cycled, which is rare in this world - but think about why that is...
It is because people value organic garments higher, and are much less likely to donate them, or treat them as disposable as part of a seasonal fashion trend, like how most people approach their clothing expenses. Spending a little more on a garment that is actually higher quality, forces most to treat the garment with more respect and care, which ultimately means the owner will use and wear (and love) it for many more years.
Herbal Plant Dyes vs. Low-Impact Dyes
Herbal-plant dyed garments on unbleached organic fabric is by far the healthiest option for any human to wear on their skin. Many of the companies that produce the actual dye-stuff concentrates from plants actually use way more water and fossil fuels producing those ingredients, to make the positives of herbal dyeing with these products outweigh the negatives in terms of environmental effects. Despite this, there are a few companies that use more ethical practices in this regard, but ideally YOU WANT TO COLLECT AND PROCESS THE PLANTS INTO DYE-STUFF PERSONALLY.
It is also important to note that when collecting your plant parts, to only selectively take from the plants in a manor that encourages better plant growth/production, instead of stripping them of too much, and potentially causing sickness or death of the plant. It is your responsibility to educate yourself about the nature of each plant you will harvest parts from for dyeing, so that you may help it by taking from it, instead of the opposite. This balance is what we call symbiosis, and how all humans are meant to live within nature. We strive to help more humans come to this realization, and implement it long term.
The high carbon footprint of some herbal dye-stuff production companies is also why low-impact dyeing is a viable option, even though it is technically a synthetic, it is the most environmentally friendly method of dyeing fabric, next to herbal dyeing using personally collected & processed plants. We typically reserve our low-impact dyeing for tie dyes, as we have not quite yet figured out how to effectively tie dye herbals with multiple color shades. We are however going to make some herbal tie dyes that are mono-colored in the near future.
Sharing Wisdom
Possibly the most important responsibility to fulfill as an eco-conscious practitioner is to pass on the knowledge and wisdom you discover onto others that are ready to listen and take head to the teachings. We will never withhold information about our practices or processes we use that benefit mankind and the environment - to do so would be a blasphemy against everything we believe in, and severely limit the Earth healing effects of our quest for a more beautiful world. Everything we know is free - all you have to do is ask. Always the student - Always the Teacher. I am sure there is much we all have to learn from each other. Prefer the profits of a better world over the profits of financial wealth, and you will be richer than any king.
We seek to spread the wisdom we have acquired through these recent experiences to other tailors and seamstresses that dye fabric, to steer their methods towards eco-friendly ones that are also healthier for the human body. We want everyone to begin supporting manufacturers that adhere to fair trade practices and don't use excessive packaging. We want to influence people to wear organic, and eco-friendly dyed garments, and over all else, influence others to prioritize having at least a percentage of their wardrobe be second hand or up-cycled clothing. Using what we already have will reduce clothing waste and slow the pollution and resource consumption of manufacturing new clothing world wide.
All of our shirts are always 100% organic, natural, unbleached, and hand dyed/printed with eco-conscious methods, from W.R.A.P (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production) or F.L.A. (Fair Labor Association) certified facilities, and are of the highest possible quality for the shirt type. If cared for properly, the sacred clothing we create should hold up through some harsh elements for years to come, and hold wonderful energy within them from all the love they have absorbed.
The Condensed Flier for Patrons
Congratulations, you have just acquired a 100% organic, unbleached Anarchapulco/State of Anarchy event shirt, with designs crafted from an online Steemit design contest, which pays tribute to how Anarchapulco got it's name. These shirts were produced in W.R.A.P. (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production) and/or F.L.A. (Fair Labor Association) certified facilities, to ensure the energies these shirts carry are pure. They are also hand dyed by us, using eco-conscious and healthy processes that are sustainable for the Earth and mankind. All of these shirts were either herbal dyed with plants, or dyed using low-environmental-impact dyes (tie-dyes). The alternate Anarchapulco and State of Anarchy designs are also permanently embedded into the fabric of the shirts using an water-based, eco-friendly dye process with no synthetic chemicals, and will never peel or crack off like typical plastisol screen prints. All of these factors combined make these shirts the healthiest and most environmentally friendly event shirts possible - for a gathering of Anarchists - who's values are aligned with following conscious practices like these.
Debut of the Final Alternate Anarchapulco Logo from my Contest
Design on Reverse of Shirts
CARE INSTRUCTIONS & PROOF LINKS:
(Back of Flier)
Please follow these suggestions to preserve the life of your shirt: Use plant based detergent when washing - stay away from any detergents with citrus or baking soda - I use Ecos brand or Seventh Generation.
Hand washing in cold water is recommended, but if you must put it in the machine, wash on delicate - ALWAYS wash with ONLY cold water & hang to dry - do not line dry in direct sunlight. Turn inside out, and add detergent to the machine before adding clothing to prevent discharging or discoloration of the dye. DO NOT dry clean your garment as the chemicals used will destroy the color. Swimming in chlorine or salt water will cause colors to fade quickly, so fresh water only is suggested. Due to the sensitive nature of the plant dyes, you should avoid contact with citrus, alcohol, vinegar, bleach or anything else with an extreme PH, as these things can stain your garment. Kombucha and coffee are also things that may stain your garment so please be careful when consuming. When you spill citric acid on your plant dyed clothing, it will look as though the dye has been removed or bleached in places. If you do happen to come in contact with something that stains, there is a good chance you can reverse the stain by immediately washing it in cold water. Avoid spot treating; it will likely make the problem more obvious. Instead, wash the entire garment as soon as you notice any discoloration.
"When you wear Herbal Dyed Clothing you must understand that the color is ALIVE and will thus affect your overall mood and Aura. Each Herbal Dye Color can be directly tuned to your chakra, and you can use that energy for creating a higher Vibration within yourself, simply because the threads you are wearing are Vibrating at a Higher Frequency then any other Colored clothing you can wear." -Family of Light Designs.
LINKS:
Visit the link below for more detailed info about WRAP's 12 principals certification.
http://www.wrapcompliance.org/en/12-principles
links for proof of W.R.A.P. & F.L.A. Certifications
Port & Company (F.L.A.) - http://www.portandcompany.com/site-servlets/SiteBrowser?page=supply_chain
Alternative Earth (AKA - Alternative Apparel – F.L.A. & W.R.A.P.) - https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/fair-trade-clothing & this post (email screenshot below)
***The Seasonal Fashion Industry is the #2 Polluter Worldwide Next to Big Oil.
https://steemit.com/health/@hempress/breaking-the-chains-of-the-fashion-industry-how-fashion-is-exploiting-our-people-and-the-earth
Link to our ELAmental Earth online store at the Homesteader's Co-op (accepts PayPal, STEEM, SBD, & re-opens March 8th 2019):
https://homesteaderscoop.com/store/ELAmental-earth/
All links related to this product here:
https://steemit.com/dtube/@ELAmental/sbvolzk0
Link to download my FREE conscious revolutionary Hip-Hop album – The Hex Wrecker
https://ELAmental.bandcamp.com/
Screenshot Proof of Email Confirming W.R.A.P. Certification for Alternative Earth from Distributer
Blessings everyone & stay tuned - into the right frequencies
Do not forget that my debut conscious Hip-Hop album is completely free for download on Bandcamp and Soundcloud (click the links to go to my music on those platforms), or CLICK HERE for download instructions.
PLEASE CLICK HERE to view my blog with all my recent articles on cannabis, silver, Steemit, contests, cryptos, underground conscious Hip-Hop, healthy living, festivals, my collections, and MY STEEMIT STORIES! & have a BLESSED DAY!!