A Beginner’s Guide to the Visible Mending Trend

Mending clothes is a beautiful, meditative way to extend the life of your clothing, and it makes a powerful statement about your values. In this article, we’ll explore different types of clothing repair, and you’ll learn how to get started with your very own needle and thread next time your favorite sweater or pair of jeans develops a tear or a hole.

It’s taken me a while to get over the embarrassment of being the younger sibling, wearing my older sister’s hand-me-downs at school, but these days I take pride in repairing my clothes and making them last for as long as possible. 

Each item of clothing in my wardrobe tells a unique story, and the ones I love the most are usually the ones I’ve had the longest; my grandmother’s black beaded 1950s dress that I wore on my first date with my husband, the supremely comfortable and flattering pair of jeans that I bought after becoming a new mother that made me feel like myself again for the first time since my body went through so many changes. Thinking of each item in my wardrobe as an old friend helps me make the effort to extend the life of my clothing by looking after it properly and repairing it when it starts to show signs of wear and tear. 

Repairing your clothing can feel daunting if you’re not used to sewing; we tend to worry that our sewing skills aren’t up to scratch and that we’ll do it wrong or make it worse. But with a little patience and determination, learning to repair your clothes is a really empowering and creative way to build a more sustainable wardrobe. After all, as the saying goes, the most sustainable wardrobe is the one you already own.

Photo credit: Sophie Caldecott

Why Mend Your Clothes?

The polluting nature of the fashion industry is well known; it’s clear by now that if we want to play our part in fighting climate change, brands need to adopt a circular mentality that takes the end of the life of the clothing into consideration when designing new clothing. We all have a part to play in this shift away from waste; with over 11 million tons of unwanted textiles going to landfill in the US every year, we need to slow down our consumption and learn to extend the life of our clothing.

Mending clothes has become rather an endangered art form over the past few decades, as the fast fashion model of consumption often means it’s easier and cheaper to buy new clothing than to repair old clothing, and many of us aren’t learning the basic sewing skills we need to do simple repairs, like replacing buttons and darning socks. Thankfully, though, as well as the rise of circular fashion, the visible mending trend has really taken off recently, and more and more people are now taking pride in expressing their individuality and sustainable values through the quietly revolutionary act of mending their clothes.

As ethical fashion campaigner, co-founder of the Fashion Revolution movement, and author of Loved Clothes Last, Orsola de Castro wrote, “We don’t have to go far to gather the knowledge to make our clothes last longer; a small generational rewind is enough, because reusing and recycling are as old as time, the knowhow is engraved in all cultures and we are hard-wired to it – only now the benefits and implications are wider than ever.” If you don’t know where to start with clothing repairs, why not ask an older generation friend, neighbor, or relative if they remember how to sew and can teach you some basic stitches and techniques? 

What is Visible Mending Versus Invisible Mending?

Visible mending is repair work that is deliberately made visible; the repair is turned into a feature of the clothing using brightly colored or contrasting threads and patches on repaired areas of clothing.

Photo credit: Sophie Caldecott

In contrast, invisible mending is the type of clothing repair that tries not to draw attention to the area that has been mended, blending in and trying to return the item to as close to its original condition as possible, rather than making the repair or change stand out. When doing invisible mending, you’ll want to use a thread that’s as close to the color of the fabric that you’re repairing as possible, and you’ll generally use simple, small stitches, turning your clothing inside out and hiding as much of the repair work on the inside and lining of the clothing as possible.

Visible Mending Techniques

The visible mending trend encourages us to be playful with our repairs, rather than perfectionist: I started with my children’s clothing, picking pieces that were cheap and that were so badly torn or stained that I didn’t have much to lose by trying to repair them. The stakes were low, and so I could just have a play around with some brightly colored embroidery thread and have some fun trying to stitch up a hole in the knee of some trousers with a pink heart, or making a patch to cover a big stain on the front of a dress.

Photo credit: Sophie Caldecott

Somehow—to me at least—visible mending feels more accessible to someone who’s not a professional sewer, though of course different types of repairs will be appropriate for different clothing and aesthetic tastes.

One of the fun things about visible mending is that the options are limitless, and your own style will develop as you make a habit of repairing your clothing. With smaller holes and tears, you can try embroidering a shape over the area that needs repair, and for bigger areas, you can have a play around with adding patches of fabric and embroidering the edges or patterns across the patches. 

Techniques like Swiss darning can be done in contrasting color threads on holes or patches of wool that are starting to wear thin (it’s always best to start a repair before it gets too bad, rather than once a lot of the fabric has disintegrated or the hole has become too big).

Japanese culture has also had a huge influence over the visible mending movement. You may well have heard of the ancient Japanese aesthetic of Wabi Sabi designed to emphasize and celebrate the life and wear, seeing it as a way to make something more beautiful in its “imperfection” rather than something to be ashamed of. 

Two Japanese mending techniques that apply a similar principle to clothing repairs, turning the repair into something of beauty rather than something to be hidden, are called Boro and Sashiko. Boro is a type of patching that covers the area in need of repair with patches secured with neat lines of running stitch, and Sashiko stitching creates a decorative pattern that can reinforce fabric while beautifying it at the same time. In traditional Sashiko embroidery, white thread is used over indigo fabric; as Sashiko artisan Atsushi explains, “Sashiko is a form and a process of stitching to appreciate the fabric and what we have.”

Boro and Sashiko stitching can be combined to patch and add pattern to clothing that needs reinforcing and repair to make a piece of clothing last longer and give it a whole new lease of life as a beautifully embellished statement piece.

How to Get Started and What You Need In Your Sewing Kit

Taking the time to learn a few basic stitches will stand you in good stead for your clothing repairs. Embroidery artist and author Christi Johnson shares tutorials on the basics of different types of stitches, including running stitch, back stitch, stem stitch, chain stitch, blanket stitch, and more, in her free resource library.

Photo credit: Sophie Caldecott

It’s a good idea to prep your sewing kit in advance so that you have the right supplies to hand when mending your clothes. Here are some basic sewing kit supplies that will serve you well in your repairing adventures:

• Needles: You’ll need various sizes and strengths of needle, so get a good selection pack. The tougher the fabric, the stronger the needle will need to be. Make sure whatever pack you get includes some darning needles.

• Threads: You’ll also need a variety of threads in different colors and thicknesses. It’s a good idea to start with some basic neutral colored cotton reels, as well as a selection of colorful embroidery threads, and worsted wool.

• Pins (and a pincushion for quick and easy access): You’ll need pins to hold any patches in place while you sew, and also to hold pieces of fabric in the right position while you repair tears.

• Thimble: This isn’t 100% necessary, but can protect your fingers from pricks while you stitch.

• Sewing scissors: Not all scissors are equal, and it’s important to have some sharp sewing scissors and fabric scissors to hand so you can cut your fabric and threads easily.

• Darning mushroom: A darning mushroom can help you hold things like socks in the right shape while you do your repairs so that you don’t sew up an area only to discover it has become misshapen.

• Embroidery hoop: Don’t underestimate the importance of an embroidery hoop while working on an area of your clothing. I tried embroidering over a stained area on my daughter’s dress without using an embroidery hoop and was really disappointed when I realized it had bunched up the fabric so that it hung wrong when she wore it afterwards. An embroidery hoop stretches the fabric you’re working on flat to avoid bunching.

• Scraps of fabric: Start a rag bag where you can keep scraps of leftover fabric from sewing projects, or clothing that’s beyond repair but can still be cut up and used for patches. You’ll soon have a great stash for repairs and sewing projects.

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10 Books on Mending Clothes to Inspire You to Repair and Re-wear

As well as YouTube videos and learning in-person from the elders in our lives, there are plenty of great books that can inspire you and support you as you learn to repair clothing.

1. Loved Clothes Last by Orsola de Castro

2. Mystical Stitches by Christi Johnson

3. Visible Mending by Arounna Khounnoraj

4. Mend and Patch by Kerstin Neumüller

5. Wear, Repair, Repurpose by Lily Fulop

6. The Art of Repair by Molly Martin

7. Mending Matters by Katrina Rodabaugh

8. Make, Thrift, Mend by Katrina Rodabaugh

9. Mending Life by Nina and Sonya Montenegro

10. Fix Your Clothes by Raleigh Briggs

Once you make a habit of mending your clothes you may well discover that you enjoy taking the time to indulge your creative side, developing your own style of mending that works for you and your wardrobe. And if you find you don’t have the time or patience for sewing yourself, don’t worry: mending clothes can also be outsourced. In fact, it’s a great idea to support the repair economy by finding a local tailor who can repair and alter your clothing for you.

Shifting our habits from a throwaway culture to a more sustainable culture doesn’t have to be hard; start small, and remind yourself why extending the life of your wardrobe is important to you. With a little practice and experimentation, you’re bound to discover a repair routine that works for you.

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About the Author

Sophie Caldecott is a freelance writer living in a cottage on the edge of the moor in the South-West of England. She writes about grief, empathy, ethical fashion, and the things that connect us and make us human. You’ll most likely find her cozied up by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate and a good book.

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A GUIDE TO COMMUNITY SOLAR

One of the most dramatic steps we can take to reduce our carbon footprint is to power our homes with clean energy. Unfortunately, because the question of what counts as “clean” energy is such a contentious and complex issue, figuring out how to make the best choice for the planet, as well as for your home and budget, can be an overwhelming task. Researching the options, it can feel like there isn’t a perfect or totally “green” solution, but there are certainly some types of energy that are better for the environment than others.

Solar technology, for example, has been going through some big innovations recently; one major development in recent years is that it’s now becoming more commonly available, even to people who can’t install solar panels on their homes. A new report from the Energy Department suggests that while solar energy currently provides 3% of US electricity, it could provide 40% by 2035, and, combined with wind energy, meet 90% of US electricity needs by 2050. For that to happen, though, the solar energy capabilities (as in, the number of panels installed nation-wide) of the US would need to increase substantially.

What are the most sustainable options for home energy?

Renewable energy, sometimes referred to as green or clean energy, comes from renewable sources; unlike finite natural resources like oil, coal, and other carbon-based fossil fuels that aren’t naturally renewed quickly enough to meet human demand, renewable resources don’t deplete the earth’s supply and also don’t add to climate change because they don’t emit carbon dioxide. In 2020, carbon-emitting non-renewable fossil fuels accounted for approximately 79 per cent of the total primary energy production of the USA. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, greenhouse gas emissions in the USA in 2019 were 13 percent below their 2005 levels; we’re slowly seeing a shift in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go.

There are various different renewable energy options out there, all with their pros and cons, including wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, biomass, and solar energy. It’s important to note that renewable energy sources can have very serious downsides of their own; hydro-power dams and wind turbines can have a negative impact on local wildlife and ecosystems, for example. Some energy companies will claim they use renewable or sustainable energy because they use nuclear energy, which, while renewable, is arguably one of the most dangerous and environmentally harmful forms of energy there is because of the amount of toxic waste it creates, and the potential for large-scale accidents if there’s a fault or failure at a nuclear power plant.

The good news, however, is that there are some incredible innovations in clean energy happening around the world. One example is how communities in India are using biogas digesters to turn food waste into a source of energy for electricity; a stroke of genius that helps reduce landfill, cut waste disposal and energy costs, and reduce emissions. The biogas digesters are expensive, but have reportedly been installed in more than 75 locations across India.

Until innovations like this become more commonly available, solar energy is arguably one of the easiest forms of renewable energy to adopt, which is why the US government has been focusing on it so much in their plans to shift away from fossil fuels. 

There are a number of things that hold people back from embracing rooftop solar energy, perhaps the largest roadblock being that solar panels take up a lot of space, and need big batteries to store energy and provide a constant supply. Not everyone has enough (or any) viable roof space to make it work, and the fact that you need to have a good credit score to install solar panels, as well as needing to be a homeowner rather than a renter, means that generating your own solar energy is usually a luxury for the privileged few.

I’m lucky enough to live in a beautiful cottage in the UK that dates back several hundred years, and while I love the fact that it’s full of character and history, it unfortunately means that we can’t get permission from the local authorities to install solar panels on the roof because of the historical significance of our home (the intrusive appearance of solar panels are still one of the biggest downsides of solar energy for many people). Until recently, I thought this meant that we wouldn’t be able to use solar energy to provide our home’s electricity—that is, until I came across the concept of community solar.

image from Arcadia

What is community solar?

Community solar projects provide diverse local communities with solar energy, even if they can’t install solar panels at home. Community solar projects make it possible for people who don’t own a home, or don’t have a home with viable roof space, to fund a local solar energy farm that in turn provides them with clean energy for their home at a reduced price. 

There are various dedicated community solar projects around the US (and worldwide) you can subscribe to if you’re not able to install your own solar panels at home, and more and more mainstream energy companies are developing ways for their users to opt for solar energy these days, too. 

According to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, as of 2020 about a third of states in the US had enabling policies for community solar in place to encourage and support the growth of community solar projects, so there’s reason to hope that projects like this will grow and become more readily available in the near future.

How does community solar work?

To power your home via community solar power, you have to first sign up to a local community power project and pay a monthly subscription for membership or shares in that solar farm. One community solar project can provide power for hundreds, even thousands, of homes in the local area.

As Joel Gamoran, Vice President & General Manager of Energy Services at Arcadia explains, “As a community solar program member, you subscribe to a number of solar panels in a solar garden that supplies energy to your community.” Your subscription helps fund the installation of the solar panels at the solar farm or “solar garden”, and then you pay your monthly utilities bill on top of that (generally very low) subscription fee. Essentially, your subscription helps crowdfund the solar panels, and gives you money off the clean energy that those panels produce.

Does subscribing to a community solar project save money or cost more?

According to Arcadia, signing up for a community solar project actually saves you money and reduces your monthly utilities bill. “Installing large solar gardens allows solar developers to achieve lower setup costs and a lower average cost per watt that they can ultimately pass down to community solar subscribers whose subscriptions help fund the upfront cost of the installation,” Joel Gamoran told Sustainably Chic. “Every single project we manage at Arcadia is at a 5-10% savings to the traditional local utility rate.”

Meanwhile, the Solar Energy Industries Association reports that utilities using solar energy have now reached a point where they are “competitive with all other forms of [energy] generation.”

Pros of community solar:

There are many benefits to using community solar as your home’s energy source:

• Solar power (energy derived from the sun) is renewable energy that doesn’t create carbon dioxide by-product as that energy is generated, although it’s important to remember that the materials for the technology has to be responsibly and sustainably mined and disposed of to be considered fully sustainable.

• Solar energy projects can be installed on land that needs to lie fallow before being used for crops, and won’t make permanent changes to the landscape or harm local wildlife while they’re there.

• One of the biggest benefits of community solar projects is that it makes solar energy accessible for people living in low income communities. “Not all households have access to clean energy,” Joel Gamoran points out. “In fact, two out of three renters, apartment dwellers and homeowners in the U.S. don't have access to or can't afford rooftop solar, including poor and BIPOC communities… Community solar will help democratize the transition to clean energy.” Anyone living in the locality of a community solar project can use this solar energy, regardless of their economic status or living situation—community solar projects mean that you don’t even need a roof to access solar energy anymore. 

• The developers at the solar farm are responsible for the installation and maintenance of the solar panels, and they guarantee that your electricity supply won’t cut out.

• Generally, once a community solar project starts generating energy, it also starts generating savings which you, as a subscriber, will see reflected in lower energy bills.

  Cons of community solar:

  So, what are the downsides to community solar (and solar energy more generally)? If you’re thinking this all sounds too good to be true, here are some potential cons to consider:

• Community solar projects are, by nature, very localized. This means that not everyone will have access to a community solar project if there aren’t any running in their local area. As the concept of community solar catches on and our awareness of the importance of clean energy grows, however, you can expect to find more options near you, so keep an eye out for new projects near you, and find out what community solar projects are available near you using Arcadia’s zip code checker.

• As a subscriber to a community solar project, you won’t get the tax benefits that owners of personal rooftop solar panels get. 

• Solar energy requires large amounts of space—big surface areas—for solar panels to collect and store the energy generated from sunlight in batteries. The best practice for large-scale solar energy projects is to find multiple ways to use the land, for example by positioning solar panels such that animals can be let out to graze underneath and in between panels.

• Many people have concerns that solar panels are unsightly—though, they’re arguably less unsightly than a traditional electrical power plant. It can be hard to get permission to install solar panels on protected land or historical buildings.

• Solar panels (and other “eco” technologies, including electric cars) require batteries which have a limited life and have to be disposed of very carefully, because they contain materials and substances that are harmful for the environment. According to the Institute of Energy Research, batteries are expensive to recycle. The US doesn’t currently have systems in place to recycle this kind of technology on a large scale, meaning that as more people opt for solar energy, we also have to campaign for adequate local recycling facilities.

The most striking downside of solar energy in general does seem to be the tech waste that it produces, especially as newer and more effective models of solar panels are developed and people inevitably want to replace perfectly functional panels for the latest model. Some estimates suggest that there’ll be well over 70 million tons of solar panel waste worldwide by 2050. It’s not all bad news, though; Bloomberg reports that the market for used solar panels is growing fast, and that re-used solar panels are already powering communities in the developing world.

All in all, switching to clean energy via a community solar project is an easy and affordable positive step to take for the environment (as long as there’s one available in your area), and will dramatically reduce your household’s carbon footprint. As we work towards a carbon neutral world, supporting solar energy, and campaigning for more innovation and transparency in the clean energy industries, is one major way to live a more sustainable life.

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About the Author

Sophie Caldecott is a freelance writer living in a cottage on the edge of the moor in the South-West of England. She writes about grief, empathy, ethical fashion, and the things that connect us and make us human. You’ll most likely find her cozied up by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate and a good book.

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6 Designers Share What It Takes to Run a Positive Impact Brand

I’m always curious what it takes behind-the-scenes to create a brand rooted in positive values that still makes enough money to be a viable, even successful, business. As a consumer it’s easy to demand perfection from brands (while also, somewhat ironically, wanting lower prices), but if we’re too disconnected from what it takes to make clothes at scale and run a real business, we run the risk of undermining good progress in our pursuit of perfection. Having spoken with many designers over the years, I’ve realized just how complicated running a sustainable or positive impact fashion business is, and I think it’s important to have a good understanding of—and healthy respect for—the nuances of the process.

The fact is, these businesses aren’t charities, and they have to make enough money to survive and thrive. If we want to work towards lasting change in the fashion industry and beyond, we have to find ways to create sustainable business models that work for everyone involved, from the planet and people at the bottom of the supply chain, to the founders and designers at the top—not to mention us, their customers.

I spoke to four founders of thoughtful fashion brands who generously agreed to share their experience of the tensions inherent in running a sustainable business that is financially viable for everyone involved. Their insights can help us, as consumers, know what to keep an eye out for when looking into the ethics of a brand, what questions to ask, and how to ask them.

Rebekah Murray, Founder, Virginia Dare Dress Company

What did you learn about the ethics of making clothing behind-the-scenes when you started Virginia Dare Dress Company?

 Rebekah: I learned how much of our closet is made by a person, and how few people realize that. I talk to so many people who had always assumed robots or machines made our clothes! 

 What do you wish conscious consumers knew about what it takes to run a positive impact business?

 Rebekah: I wish they had more understanding for how difficult it is to be a sustainable business when trying to do things better. It’s easy to make requests or demands for how things are done, but if [consumers are] not willing en masse to pay the extra percentage [on the clothing price tag] that those changes incur, the business itself is not sustainable. 

 That’s been my goal from the beginning—learn how to build a sustainable business model and do the best I can to ensure quality, fair labor and ethical business practices. But it’s so difficult to do any of these things well. A smaller brand (even using cheap labor) has much higher costs because we can’t source fabric or supplies in as large quantities, so we have higher costs on multiple fronts making our profitability more difficult.

Do you have any tips to help consumers spot greenwashing and navigate making sustainable choices when purchasing new clothing?

 Rebekah: Asking where things are made and what involvement the brand has with their production is a good place to start. And just noticing what they share about their manufacturing process. 

 But I encourage people to be respectful with these conversations—give your own reason for caring, instead of making it sound like an interrogation. I think brands can feel defensive when we feel policed by our customers, so making it a personal request and speaking to someone at the company is probably the best place to start. 

 I love knowing that some of my customers have convictions about only purchasing Made in USA, and I love getting to help direct them to the items that fit within their preferences.  

I think finding a like-minded influencer or blogger is a good place to start, too. There are a lot of great people who have done the legwork to research brands and they can make it feel less daunting to know how to begin. 

Dynasty Casanova, Founder, Dynasty George

What did you learn about the ethics of making clothing behind-the-scenes when you started Dynasty George?

Dynasty: I've been studying fashion design, draping, sewing, and pattern-making since I was in high school, so I knew all the time and effort it took to make a garment. I think my biggest obstacle was finding ways to make my product and business both profitable and affordable. Most people don't realize all the time and effort it takes to make clothing from scratch. The pattern process alone takes hours because there are a lot of revisions that have to be made once the sample is sewn. That alone takes hours—even days at times—which doesn't go directly into the pricing. So I wanted to make an ethical brand but not necessarily charge couture prices for my clothing. 

My "eureka!" moment was when I found a system that worked best for me. I went from making different garments, dresses, skirts, tops, creating through hundreds of drapes and patterns to focusing on one dress style and recreating it in different deadstock fabrics. This allowed me to really perfect the fit of that one dress style and grade it to different sizes. It was when my business really started to flow and make a profit.

What do you wish conscious consumers knew about what it takes to run a positive impact business?

Dynasty: They should know that big corporations run on a billion dollar budget which allows them to buy over 500,000 units of one shirt, one color, and priced at 1 cent each. This is not an exaggeration: after shipping, duties, and packaging, a t-shirt or blouse in the fast fashion industry is priced at five times above its cost in order to make a profit. Therefore a $5 shirt costs around 1 cent to be manufactured, and for a factory to promise 500,000 units of an item for the price of 1 -10 cents each, they need cheap and expedited labor. This leads to factories hiring kids, abusing women (mostly) to work 80 hours a week to make sure the factory itself makes a profit. It's a long line of people trying to make money and gain the most profit possible. 

When a business is small, that alone is more sustainable in terms of not making 500,00 units of one product and the large scale of production these big billion dollar businesses have. As an ethical business, there's so much I take in consideration, like the livelihood of the people who make my clothing and how to reduce waste. 

Textile waste is another problem with fast fashion companies, as they over produce textiles and clothing and throw away whatever doesn't sell. I try to eliminate that problem by purchasing deadstock fabric, the fabric they're throwing away to reuse to make new garments. I also work with a small family-owned factory in India that I'm in constant communication with. They're a husband and wife team with many male and female employers, who work with skilled artisans in their industry. Working with a family helps me pay them fairly, and the money exchange rate (the USD versus the INR) is so fast that I can pay them well and still make affordable clothing under $400 a unit. 

Do you have any tips to help consumers spot greenwashing and navigate making sustainable choices when purchasing new clothing?

Dynasty: I'm still learning to spot these red flags myself. For clothing specifically I would say that it’s important to be realistic about the company. H&M could use organic cotton and still throw 100,000 units of organic cotton into our landfills; it's still not sustainable. I think it’s hard for super huge corporations to be ethical or sustainable because you need a big profit margin to grow and scale a business to that magnitude. Supporting small businesses will always be the best answer. 

Jessica Townsend, Designer and Founder, House of Flint

What did you learn about the ethics of making clothing behind-the-scenes when you started House of Flint?

Jessica: I started House of Flint whilst studying for my masters degree, so there was a lot of research involved in many areas. I know I wanted to create sustainable and ethical clothing but I found there were so many different aspects to explore within this. It wasn't just a case of sewing the pieces myself and choosing the right fabrics—there are design features that can be the difference between something staying in your wardrobe or heading out the door; a life cycle of a garment to consider; packaging to think about, and so much more.

What do you wish conscious consumers knew about what it takes to run a positive impact business?

Jessica: I think a big problem with those still on the fast fashion track is that they struggle to justify the price difference because they don't see the bigger picture. Fashion has become a quick decision to many, and something that can be replaced at the drop of a hat precisely because it is so cheap. But those on that path will generally end up spending more in the long run. 

 Sustainable and ethical clothing is more expensive, but it is intended to be worn time and time again to justify that. It is a purchase that must be more considered due to the price tag, but fashion should be considered to ensure that it is something you will wear and enjoy, and also that enjoyment does not come at somebody else's expense.

Do you have any tips to help consumers spot greenwashing and navigate making sustainable choices when purchasing new clothing?

Jessica: Brands that are making sustainable and ethical choices will not shy away from any questions you have in regards to where their garments are made, by who, or what fabrics they use. Look out for clear facts on this rather than paragraphs about sustainability that don't really give you any details. One detail I always look out for is how often they're releasing new products, and if they're encouraging you to buy something before it is gone every other week. Yes, we need to make sales to survive, but the bigger picture is important too, and asking our customers to spend spend spend is not the answer.

Catherine Huss, Founder and Creative Director, Siena & Co Swimwear

What did you learn about the ethics of making clothing behind-the-scenes when you started Siena & Co Swimwear?

Catherine: I thought it would be easy and possible to find partners to work with: factories who value transparency and ethical and sustainable practices, or all US-made materials.

I didn't expect so much pushback, or just straight up ignoring when requesting sustainable or ethical practices be looked into or enforced. So many in the fashion industry, and probably lots of industries, give the response "This is just how we do it, or how it's always been done" and coming in to rock the boat is not welcomed.

What do you wish conscious consumers knew about what it takes to run a positive impact business?

Catherine: In the production world, making more product = lower costs because when you make more of something, you can use the assembly line effect, and churn out lots of product in short amount of time, it's a very efficient model. However, if there's not enough demand for all the product being produced, that is all extra waste that can end up in a landfill. All the resources have been wasted (materials, time, energy, etc.). 

A lot of conscious brands, including Siena and Co., choose to make fewer products to ensure as little waste as possible is produced, which means much higher cost of production and goods is incurred, which is then passed on to the consumer buying the goods. This is one of the many reasons sustainable products have a higher price tag.

Do you have any tips to help consumers spot greenwashing and navigate making sustainable choices when purchasing new clothing?

Catherine: I've found with clothing manufacturing, actions speak louder than words. Here are some ways brands tell you by their actions how sustainable their efforts are:

• How often do they come out with new designs/styles? Is it once or twice a year promoting high-quality construction and in-depth testing? Or is it more frequently than once per season, promoting inexpensive, low-quality manufacturing and frequent buying habits?

• Are the styles timeless, evergreen and promote a capsule wardrobe? Or are the styles trendy, with only current colors and prints that will no longer be relevant in a season or two?

• Slow fashion vs. Fast fashion: Does the marketing press and push sales and discounts with urgency and pressure to buy now? Or does the marketing help inform and teach the consumer about the goods and how they're made?

• Do they have some type of recycling or re-sale model? One way a company can be sustainable beyond the materials they use is by promoting re-using, re-selling or re-cycling their products.

Rachel Faller, Co-Creator, tonlé

What did you learn about the ethics of making clothing behind-the-scenes when you started tonlé?

Rachel: I think the biggest surprise that keeps coming up again and again is how separate design and production are. As a maker myself, I always operated under the assumption (and I think a lot of customers do too) that making clothes is a big part of what brands do. I lived in a country for seven years that is primarily seen as a producing country for American and European fashion, and saw the impact of the fast fashion world through the perspective of makers. 

On a very simple level, brands don't actually make clothes; factories, and the people who work in them, do. Brands are actually marketing houses that sell clothes. And those factories are not owned or operated by the brands, and in times of trouble, brands are also not responsible to make sure that factory workers are paid, it's the factory owners who have to do that. Because of this disconnect, the actual making of clothes is not a core part of what brands do. And that leads to all kinds of other disconnects. 

This goes for both large and small brands alike. Sustainability work is not done by brands, it's done by factories and their workers. A lot of design work, fabric selection, figuring out the final details of how a garment is made, is not done by brands, it's done by factories. Yet, brands don't value the work that factories do, sometimes only paying them a price that represents two to five percent of the final garment's sale price. How is it possible that we've created a system where the actual product a brand is selling is so under-valued? And in a world where sustainability is supposedly a priority—and the sustainability work is actually done by a factory—also hugely under-valued? 

What do you wish conscious consumers knew about what it takes to run a positive impact business?

Rachel: What differentiates tonlé is that we are both a brand and a manufacturer. Because of that, we are directly and soley responsible to make sure each person working on our products is paid a fair wage and receives good benefits and works in a kind and friendly and fun environment. 

Our production, design, and marketing work together to figure out not only how to design clothes that work for and are good for our customers, but that are good for our team. It's a symbiotic relationship between our customers and our team, as it should be, rather than a one way street of extraction. We can only do this because we have a vertically integrated model. And that is far, far from the norm. 

Do you have any tips to help consumers spot greenwashing and navigate making sustainable choices when purchasing new clothing?

Rachel: When brands (again remember who don't actually make clothes or do sustainability work) are the ones who get to tell the story—it's natural that this story would be distorted. I would like to see a world where more factory workers and owners and managers—the people making the clothes—get to tell the story of sustainability. It's their story to tell, since they are the ones doing the work. I'm honestly so tired of hearing from brands who are essentially taking the credit for the sustainability work their factory is doing. That is most brands from large to small. 

My biggest red flag is seeing a brand who is not appropriately crediting their factory or supplier. Unless they are doing their own production like tonlé is (that's rare), they are heavily dependent on a supplier who is actually providing them product and potentially already had sustainability practices in place. If all a brand is doing is finding a great supplier and riding on their coattails, and not properly giving credit, that is a huge red flag to me. 

In addition, saviorism language around buying from suppliers (like we are helping or empowering this or that marginalized group) is really problematic and usually is a sign of bigger problems in the supply chain too, even in smaller brands. It shows the brand or founder is not aware that this is a mutually beneficial relationship in which they are getting a valuable service. Making clothes, making beautiful and intricate designs, dying fabric, weaving, beading, etc. are skills that many so called "western" countries have lost. If a person is going to another country and using the skills and labor in that country and then setting themselves up as a savior rather than acknowledging and crediting properly that this is a relationship of mutual partnership, I've found that this is usually a sign that there is exploitation afoot. 

I usually look at a brand's website to see how much information they are providing; are they providing clear and transparent information about how they are producing and with whom and where? How do they share profit across their supply chain? Is profit redistributed into the communities they work with? Not just paying a fair wage, but thinking about equity across the board? For example, a lot of brands are now showing pictures of makers but don't provide specifics, and to me that's not transparency. I'd like to know the factory and the people who are making products and the country where they are producing. How is the brand ensuring that at least the minimum standards for labor are being met? Are they thinking about the incentives they themselves are creating as a brand to make sure the supplier and it's workers are paid fairly? Are they analyzing their own behavior and how that affects the supply chain, rather than just using a compliance mindset to police "bad" suppliers? Those are some of the big picture things I'd be looking for. 

In terms of contacting a brand to ask them these questions, make sure to see what's on their website first. As a person running a small brand, we do get hundreds of questions a week of things that are already on our website. And we won't be able to answer all of them, which is why we've taken so much time to put those things on our website. But, if you do go through the website and blog posts and you still don't see answers to key questions, of course, reach out and ask. 

We try to be as open as possible, but these are complicated questions, and we can't always provide a quick answer so please try to be kind and mindful of that. My first priority is always my team, and of course we want to provide the best information and services to our customers, but not at the expense of prioritizing taking care of our people internally first. 

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Tracy Reese, Founder, Hope for Flowers

What do you wish conscious consumers knew about what it takes to run a positive impact business?

Tracy: Consumers should know the importance of investing in good quality, mindfully designed, responsibly produced items that can be worn with pleasure and confidence time and again.The human cost of fast fashion and the fact that most items of clothing that are very inexpensive are indicators human rights abuse along the supply chain should make it repugnant to anyone who values human dignity.

What did you learn about the ethics of making clothing behind-the-scenes when you started Hope for Flowers?

Tracy: That creating a desirable product is just as important as creating a responsibly designed product. We have to be aware of both of these imperatives throughout the design process. The end product must excite the consumer and serve a purpose in their lives and wardrobes.

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About the Author

Sophie Caldecott is a freelance writer living in a cottage on the edge of the moor in the South-West of England. She writes about grief, empathy, ethical fashion, and the things that connect us and make us human. You’ll most likely find her cozied up by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate and a good book.

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How to Recycle clothes

No matter how much care we take curating our wardrobes, there inevitably comes a time in the lifecycle of any piece of clothing when it no longer fits us, we simply don’t want it anymore, or it has been so worn and well-loved over the years that it has started to fall apart.

The question for any conscious consumer then becomes: what happens to our old clothes when we recycle them, and what are the most sustainable options for our old and unwanted clothes? 

Our Clothing Waste Problem

In her book A Life Less Throwaway: The Lost Art of Buying For Life, Tara Button shares that the average woman in 1930 owned nine outfits, whereas we now buy an average of 67 items of clothing every year. Research shows that the average modern American discards 81 pounds of clothing a year, and the Environmental Protection Agency reported that US landfills received 11.3 million tons of unwanted textiles (predominantly unwanted clothing) in 2018. 

Yet this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to clothing waste: the large majority of our unwanted clothing is shipped abroad either to used clothing markets or overflowing landfill sites abroad—out of sight, out of mind, for us at least. If we had to keep our own clothing waste, our domestic landfills would be well past crisis point by now.

Fast fashion prioritizes speed and low prices, which means that the quality of our clothing has deteriorated, as well as increasing the amount of clothing that is produced and consumed. As a result, clothing tends to break more easily, and repairing clothing is often perceived to be more effort or expensive than simply buying new; inevitably, more clothing is also thrown away. Synthetic fibers, which release toxic chemicals into the water system when we wash them, as well as into the environment when they’re discarded, can be difficult to recycle, even if we try to avoid sending them directly to landfill.

It’s not all bad news, though: in recent years, we’ve also seen a resurgence in the popularity of second-hand clothing, mending clothing, and the use of recycled (and recyclable) fabrics. Many ethical fashion brands have been evolving to think about not just the ethics of where their clothing comes from, but also where it will end up, striving to close the loop and embrace a circular design model.

It’s important for every conscious consumer to understand what happens to our recycled clothes so that we can make the most sustainable choice with each item of clothing we’re ready to discard. Before we talk about recycling clothing, it’s helpful to think about what happens to donated clothes, as a large proportion of donated clothes end up heading to recycling plants, too. 

What Happens to Donated Clothes? 

The first step for any charity or organization accepting donations is to sort the clothing into wearable or unwearable categories. The wearable donations are classified as “first grade”, and will generally go on to be sold in second-hand clothing shops or even in second-hand clothing markets abroad. 

Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot of transparency in the industry, but estimates of how much donated clothing falls in the first grade (i.e. resellable) category range from around 10-50 percent. Adam Baruchowitz, founder of Wearable Collections, a New York-based non-profit that collects used clothing in the city, says that “For any bag you collect, 50 percent is going to be wearable and 50 percent is going to be used for other purposes.” Meanwhile, Lucy Siegle reported that around 10 percent of the approximately 300,000 tons of donated garments in the UK each year was re-sold in domestic shops in aid of charity. 

Other clothing will be exported and sold in second hand-clothing markets; in fact, research shows that a third of all globally donated clothes are re-sold in Sub-Saharan Africa. While there’s certainly a high demand for Western clothing, the huge influx of used clothing from countries like the USA and the UK is a mixed blessing for locals: Dr. Andrew Brooks, author of Clothing Poverty, shares that between 1975 and 2000, Ghana’s textile and clothing employment fell by 80 percent, while Nigeria’s 200,000-person textile industry has been greatly reduced, too. Kenya’s local textiles industry has been so disabled by the influx of clothing from overseas that their government fought a proposal to ban imported textiles, saying that they wouldn’t be able to clothe their population without second-hand clothing. 

Where clothing lacks any resale value, this lower grade but still usable fabric will be sent to recycling facilities to be turned into new fibers or used for car seat filling and wiping rags for industrial machines. Some will also inevitably end up in landfills, either domestic or (more likely) abroad. 

Ultimately, when we donate our clothes, we hope that our closest purge is also positively impacting someone else’s life. However, we need to be careful that any clothing we donate is of good quality and in good repair because charities need quality, not quantity. People sorting through donated clothing report regularly finding bags of dirty, unwashed clothing—even dirty socks and underwear, which can’t be salvaged easily and so inevitably go straight to landfill. Furthermore, one bag of clothes with mildew can contaminate any other clothing they come into contact with; by donating dirty clothing, not only are you just creating extra unprofitable work for a charity, you’re also potentially making other perfectly good donated clothing unusable, too.

The first and most basic principle of donating used clothing is ensuring everything is clean, in good repair, and generally of  sellable quality. If you have items that meet this description, there are plenty of local options where you can donate your good quality clothing, from community clothing banks to organizations like Goodwill.

Meanwhile, there are several different options for any clothing that’s no longer of a sellable quality; first, we’ll explore the pros and cons of recycling and look into how to recycle sustainably.

What Happens to Recycled Clothes? 

Clothing that is sent to a recycling facility will be sorted by hand for the type of textiles, and then will be shredded, ground, and treated, going through a different process depending on what new life it is destined to have. Some might be turned into recycled fabric and make it back into your wardrobe in the form of a brand new garment. Other lower grade fabric will be used in less glamorous, though still useful, ways, such as insulation, padding, or industrial textiles.

Given that it takes synthetic materials hundreds of years to biodegrade (a minimum of 200 years for a polyester dress), it’s clearly important to keep fabric from heading to landfill. And, another benefit of the recycling industry is that it provides jobs that require skill and can’t be replaced easily by machines, which struggle to identify fabric without the ability to feel it. 

However, recycling is not a straightforward win because many synthetic fabrics are difficult to recycle in an environmentally friendly way. Serge Lazarev, founder of Green Tree Textile Recycling in New York City, says that materials like Spandex and Lycra are problematic: “When elastic and rubber mixed in with the textile material, we don’t have a way to separate it.”

If you decide to send your clothing to a local recycling plant rather than reusing it in your own home, there are a couple of best practices to bear in mind. Firstly, check out the info provided by your local municipality to find out what options they offer, and make sure you pay attention to the information they share about what to send and how to prepare and sort it. 

Avoid buying new synthetic fabrics wherever possible, but if you do have a synthetic item to recycle, try to find a specific recycling program for synthetic fabrics to make sure they have the expertise to do it properly; one way to do this is to get in touch with circular fashion brands who use recycled fabric and ask them for advice about which companies they use to source their upcycled fabrics so that you can donate your clothing directly. Supporting brands that use recycled and sustainable materials is a great way to vote with your wallet and support the recycled fabric industry; Patagonia, Thought, and many other ethical fashion brands use things like recycled polyester and plastic bottles in their fabrics.

Some brands run specific recycling programs themselves; Madewell accepts old jeans to use as insulation in houses built in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity (and they’ll give you a discount on your next pair of Madewell jeans in exchange).  

What Can We Do Instead of Recycling and Donating Old Clothes?

So, if we should only donate high-quality clothing, and if recycling should only be done with care or as a last resort, what are our other options for old or unwanted clothes?

Ania Grzeszek is a textile artist and a big advocate of visible mending. As she explains, “recycling or donating [clothing] is simply shifting the responsibility to someone else, but is not the most sustainable solution. The easiest way to reduce the ecological impact of our clothing is to simply wear it longer (and also wash it less!). By extending the life of the garment, you literally help save the planet and opt-out from the fast-fashion cycle.” Ania encourages people to embrace their creativity and to normalize mending clothing. “This is one of the biggest shifts I noticed in the past years,” she says, “from patches and mends being frowned upon, to fixed clothes being now a way to express your views, and also personal style… You don't have to be good at it from the start, just experiment with it and see where your creativity takes you.”

Photo credit: Kaliko

Fashion Revolution co-founder Orsola de Castro also celebrates the rise of the mending trend, but her new book Loved Clothes Last also explores the need for a diverse range of options for all budgets when it comes to ethical fashion. She points out that mending clothing and wearing hand-me-downs or second-hand clothing used to be a sign of low income and low social status, and that as this becomes more socially acceptable, even celebrated, we must avoid making fast fashion simply the latest way we stigmatize the less affluent. 

The fact that more people are embracing used clothing, and that the stigma of keeping and mending and passing down clothes is fading, is all great news—as long as it doesn’t mean that the re-sale price of secondhand clothing rises, pricing out people who used to rely on used clothing stores to dress themselves and their families.

Use the guidance below to help you decide on the best way to recycle or upcycle your clothing; you and your wardrobe are unique, and so the answer will look a little different for everyone.  

How to Recycle or Upcycle Clothing That’s Still In Good Condition

1. Clothing Swaps

Host a clothes swapping party with your friends (covid-permitting, of course), or share photos of items you think might suit a friend or family member, telling them you thought of them and wondered if they’d like the item you’re ready to part with. Many brands like tonlé host clothes swaps on their own platforms now, too.

2. Re-selling

Why not earn some money from the clothing and accessories you no longer want, and ensure they go directly to a good home rather than to landfill? There are so many different re-selling apps to choose from; you’re spoilt for choice.

Image: Basic Revolution

3. Investing in clothes from circular fashion brands

Supporting brands like that use recycled materials, or better yet, use recycled materials and also give their customers the ability to send their clothing directly back to be recycled by the company, is a powerful way to ensure the future is circular and waste-free.

Basic Revolution is a great example of a company doing this. Finding a resource that can truly recycle old clothing (especially things like hole-y socks!) is incredibly difficult since they'll likely just get thrown away.

Basic Revolution, however, is helping to fill that void and provide sustainably and ethically made basics that include clothing recycling for your worn-out basics. So when you purchase a pack of socks, for example, you can send your old items to them to be broken down and turned into insulation them or (if still in good condition) to be sorted by their recycler and then given to charities to be reused.

4. Donating good quality items

Donating good quality clothing to clothing banks or charitable organizations is a good option too, as long as you make sure you’re not just using them as dumping grounds. A good rule of thumb is to do a gut check and if you don’t think you’d be able to sell a piece on a re-selling app, it might not be re-sellable for a charity, either.

Image: Basic Revolution (who can help you recycle your old socks!)

How to Recycle or Upcycle Clothing That’s Damaged or Worn

1. Teach yourself some basic mending skills.

Whether you go for invisible or visible mending, there’s a lot to be gained from taking the time to sew on buttons, darn holes, and patch fraying places in your clothing. You can keep things simple or get creative and experimental—it’s totally up to you and what works for your style.  

2. Outsource your mending.

Not handy with a needle and thread, or short on time? There are plenty of professionals out there who can help you if you don’t have the time or inclination to learn yourself. The repair economy is a growing sector, and it’s great to encourage this if you can.

3. Upcycle your old clothes at home.

If you’re a crafty type (or know someone who is), there are plenty of fun ways you can re-use old fabric in your home. We’ve shared a few ideas to get you started below, but really the options are limitless.

4. Recycle responsibly.

If all else fails, recycling should be our last resort, instead of just throwing fabric in the trash. Just make sure you’ve taken the time to look into the best local recycling options for the type of fabric you’d like to recycle. 

8 Inspiring Upcycled Fabric Projects For Your Home

Once you’re ready to embrace a little in-house recycling, it’s a great idea to invest in your very own rag basket where you can keep any discarded clothing that’s beyond repair and can now be used for household cleaning and craft projects. It can help to have a sewing machine, but you can do a lot with a simple needle and thread.

1. Patching

Sometimes, using a contrasting fabric to patch a piece of fraying clothing can be a fun style statement. If your style is more minimalist, you can always try this on kids’ clothing first, as their clothing is usually more colorful, and it might feel like the stakes are a little lower, too.

2. Alternative window dressings or framed art.

I was really inspired by the creativity of my neighbor when I saw that she’d created lace stained-glass-style window panels with old pieces of lace she’d saved over the years; they make a beautiful alternative to privacy blinds or lace curtains. Even if you don’t have the skills or inclination to try something like this yourself, you could consider commissioning something similar from a local artist.

Image credit: Sophie Caldecott

3. Quilts

Quilting may be a rather complex art, but it’s also a lovely way to reuse old clothes with sentimental value. If you’re a beginner to quilt-making, keep things simple with simple squares of fabric, and go from there.

4. Rag rugs

Rag rugs, also called Toothbrush or Amish style rugs, are a classic way to recycle old clothes at home. It may look intimidating at first, but with the help of this handy video tutorial from Barri-Jayne Makes, you’ll soon be hooked.

5. Cushion covers

Atia Azmi of The Bright Blooms makes a lot of her own clothing from scratch, but points out that you don’t have to be as ambitious as she is to create something new for your home from old or unwanted clothes. Save sweaters you accidentally shrank in the wash (we all do it) and turn them into cushion covers, cardigans, or mittens.

6. Wrapped clothes hangers

Take inspiration from Kristen, founder of Upcycle My Stuff, and give your ugly plastic clothes hangers a pretty makeover by wrapping strips of fabric tightly around them, securing them with glue—no sewing needed.

Image credit: Upcycle My Stuff

7. Hair scrunchies

While scrunchies are back in style, why not use some old fabric scraps to make yourself or your kids a brand new hair accessory? All you need is a small amount of attractive fabric and some elastic for one of the simplest sewing projects out there.

8. Bunting

Fabric bunting is one of the easiest craft projects to try with old fabric, and if you like the results, you can keep it after every celebration and re-use it again and again. This tassel bunting from Upcycle My Stuff is no-sew, so you won’t even have to get a needle and thread out.

Image credit: Upcycle My Stuff

As crafter Barrina Mills of Barri-Jayne Makes says, “Using your old textiles to create something brand new is such a beautiful thing to do. You can start small and go as big as you like. You might even amaze yourself with what you can create. Then when someone admires your work, you can say with pride, ‘I made that!’.” 

Whether you’re a crafty type or more into swapping, re-selling, or recycling with intention, there’s a sustainable option for your old and unwanted clothing out there for you. Let’s strive for a future in which we consume less new clothing and virgin textiles, make what we already have in our wardrobes last longer, and ultimately make sure any unwanted clothing doesn’t end up in a landfill. 

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About the Author

Sophie Caldecott is a freelance writer living in a cottage on the edge of the moor in the South-West of England. She writes about grief, empathy, ethical fashion, and the things that connect us and make us human. You’ll most likely find her cozied up by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate and a good book.

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Your Ultimate Guide to the Ethics of Chocolate

I’ve been a chocolate addict my whole life; one of my earliest memories is from when I was around three years old, rattling the bars of my crib after waking from my nap and waiting impatiently for my older sister to come back with the chocolate biscuits that I’d sent her on a mission to the kitchen to fetch for me.

When I was younger my cravings were satisfied by regular mass produced chocolate, but over the years as I became more aware of some of the ethical issues connected with chocolate, I started to be more conscious of which types of chocolate I bought and consumed. Just like anything in life, once you lift the curtain and learn about how something is made and who’s at the bottom of the supply chain, it’s hard to go back.

As we dive into the details of where chocolate comes from, how it’s made, and some of the ethical concerns connected with chocolate, I’ll explain some of the key chocolate terms that you need to know if you want to navigate the delicious world of sustainable chocolate like a pro.

Where does chocolate come from?

Chocolate is produced from the seeds of the pod-shaped fruit of the Theobroma cacao tree, which is native to the rainforests of Central and South America, varieties of which grow along the equator in tropical climates with high humidity and rainfall.

The seeds or “beans” found inside the cacao tree fruit are called cacao. All chocolate starts out as cacao, but it’s a lengthy and complex process that takes the beans and turns them into a bar of chocolate; the original fruit doesn’t taste much like the chocolate flavors you’re used to eating. Once the cacao beans have been processed, the product you’re left with is generally referred to as cocoa, which is the main ingredient in chocolate.

The geographical location where the cacao trees that provided the beans used in a specific chocolate bar were grown is referred to as the terroir or origin. Just like with fine wine, the soil quality has a huge impact on the natural flavors of the beans, and chocolate lovers who have developed their palates can taste a distinct difference between chocolate made with beans from different places. 

There are various different varieties of cacao tree, all which produce beans which have distinct flavors and are grown in different areas of the world. The most common is the Forastero variety, the most disease-resistant type of cacao and therefore the most easily cultivated. It is estimated that around 70 percent of the world’s chocolate is made from beans sourced in West Africa, mostly of the Forastero variety. Criollo and Trinitario beans tend to be more rare, and are generally grown in the Caribbean, while perhaps the most rare variety of cacao of them all, Nacional, is predominantly cultivated in Ecuador and other parts of South America and Peru.

How is chocolate made?

There are quite a few steps in the process of turning a raw cacao bean into the chocolate that most of us consume: after harvesting the beans, they are fermented for several days, a process which leaves the beans with a sweeter flavor than the initially pretty bitter-tasting fruit. The beans are then dried, before being roasted to bring out their rich chocolatey aromas. After this, the beans are passed through a winnowing machine to remove the thin outer shell (which some chocolate makers preserve and use to make crunchy cacao nibs), and are then ground into a paste called chocolate liquor. The cocoa butter (the fatty part of the cocoa) can then be separated from the cocoa in a process sometimes called pressing or conched, ground, aged, tempered, and molded into its final form—the exact process varies from maker to maker, and this is where much of the magic happens.

It’s worth noting that a chocolate maker is someone who takes the raw ingredient, i.e. cacao beans, and processes it to produce chocolate. A Chocolatier (not to be confused with a chocolate maker) is someone who takes this chocolate, melts it, combines it with other ingredients, and crafts the filled or flavored chocolates you would expect to see when you’re buying a box of chocolates rather than a bar.

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Chocolate’s connection with slavery, past and present

Throughout history, cacao has always been a highly sought-after commodity; it has been traced back 5,300 years ago to the ancient Mayo-Chinchipe culture in the upper Amazon region of Ecuador. And, as unfortunately tends to be the case with precious resources, the story of chocolate is riddled with devastating abuses of power that echo across centuries, transcending even the rise and fall of civilizations. 

Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés seems to have been the first European to realize the value of the cacao bean while on his hunt for fabled Aztec gold in Mexico in the 16th century. Cortés was subsequently instrumental in the destruction of the Aztec Empire, and helped establish a network of plantations (using slave labor, of course) across Central America and the Caribbean, growing commodities like cacao, sugar, and coffee. 

Chocolate rapidly grew in popularity in Europe amongst the nobility, and became a popular confection for the masses after the invention of the first chocolate bar by J. S. Fry & Sons in Bristol, England, in 1847. Northern Europe’s temperate climate offered ideal conditions for the craft of chocolate-making, with countries like Belgium and Switzerland developing an international reputation for making luxury chocolate; the human rights abuses happening far away in the tropical climes where cacao trees grew were out of sight and out of mind for many consumers, as is still largely the case these days.

Today, the average African cacao farmer only makes around $0.50-$0.84 a day. According to the Cocoa Initiative, an estimated 30,000 children and adults were subjected to forced labor somewhere in the cocoa supply chain over the five year period between 2013-2017. 

Deforestation has become commonplace in areas of high poverty where cocoa farmers are being pushed to their limits; because they’re paid so little for their crops, in many cases growers are chopping down other areas of woodland and rainforest to grow more cacao trees, hoping that a high volume will help them make a living. Sadly, this is detrimental to the biodiversity of the regions where cacao is grown.

image from Askinosie

What makes sustainable chocolate different?

As with anything in the sustainability world, chocolate brands should have a transparent supply chain, ensure fair wages for their cacao growers, and take steps to minimize their environmental impact.

Sustainable or craft chocolate also tends to be better quality and contain fewer (if any) additives; most cheap chocolate contains high levels of emulsifiers, vanilla, palm oil, soy lecithin, and other flavorings and preservatives.

There are various methods of ethical cacao bean sourcing, and a few phrases you might come across include: 

• Bean-to-bar, which describes chocolate that has been made from the beans to the bar by the chocolate maker who sells the finished product. Because bean-to-bar makers handle the whole process, they often source their beans directly from the growers which hopefully means greater transparency for you as a consumer. Though, just like with anything, be aware that the label bean-to-bar doesn’t necessarily guarantee that they paid fair wages for the beans.

• Fair trade generally means fair wages and ethical working practices were used in the sourcing of the beans. Look out for the official Fairtrade certification if you want to make sure an external organization has checked behind-the-scenes of the brand in question (though be aware that to get Fairtrade certification can be costly, so isn’t necessarily the answer for every farmer or grower).

• Direct trade isn’t a certification, but loosely describes a method of sourcing beans directly from the growers without any middlemen. If a chocolate brand trade directly with cacao bean growers, expect evidence that they’re paying these growers higher than average rates for their beans and that they can provide in-depth information about working conditions, lack of child labor, and the location of their growers.

• Single estate or single origin chocolate means chocolate that has been made using beans from one single origin rather than mixing together beans from various different sources. Not only does this make for better tasting chocolate, it also tends to mean that there’s more transparency than usual—though it’s certainly no guarantee, so as always, make sure you check.

• Raisetrade chocolate is a certification that ensures chocolate is produced from the tree to the bar in its country of origin, the country where the cacao beans were grown. Ethical chocolatiers will sometimes use Raisetrade chocolate to make their filled or luxury chocolate-box chocolates.

As well as some of these labels and terms, you might also see chocolate being referred to as “organic”. As with other types of food, you need to check whether or not it is certified and what that certification means and keep an eye out for greenwashing, but generally organic certification means that the cacao trees weren’t treated with pesticides and were grown with more sustainable methods.

To a certain extent, however, chocolate will sadly never be 100 percent sustainable for anyone who doesn’t live in a cacao growing region on the equator because of the air miles and carbon footprint involved in getting it to us. That being said, there are definitely many great brands that are as sustainable as possible, creating chocolate that’s so delicious your taste buds won’t want to go back to the less sustainable versions you used to be hooked on. Not only is this type of chocolate better for people and the planet, it also tends to be healthier and is best savored slowly with just a few satisfying bites at a time, encouraging you to eat less, but better of your favorite sweet treat.

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Five sustainable chocolate brands

Finally, here are a few of the best American-made small batch sustainable chocolate brands to try next time you want to treat yourself or a fellow chocolate-appreciating loved one.

Click - here - for 15 Fair Trade Chocolate Brands

1) Askinosie Chocolate

Askinosie Chocolate is a single origin craft chocolate company based in Missouri, sourcing all of their beans directly from the growers and ensuring fair wages. They describe their values as being “fairness, sustainability, minimal environmental impact, and community enhancement”, and they back up this promise with a Transparency Report which details the “farm gate” price they’ve paid their farmers for their beans over the first decade of their business.

2) Dandelion Chocolate

Dandelion Chocolate is small batch, single origin bean-to-bar chocolate made in San Francisco. One of the original makers on the American craft chocolate scene, Dandelion use beans that they source directly themselves from makers, and they only use two ingredients in their chocolates—cocoa and organic sugar—using beans from one location at a time so that you can taste the different flavors that each terroir has to offer. As they explain, “We work closely with the producers who grow, ferment, and dry the single-origin cocoa beans we source, so we can be confident we’re sharing some of the best and most distinctive cocoa with you.”

3) Fruition Chocolate Works

Fruition Chocolate Works is a small batch craft chocolate brand with a great reputation (and over 70 awards to date under their belt). With headquarters in New York, they have close links with their cocoa suppliers and make sure that all of the farms that they work with use organic and either Fair Trade or Direct Trade principles. They reportedly pay “double to triple the average commodity price” for their cacao.

4) TCHO

TCHO is a California-based certified B Corporation embracing radical transparency in their supply chains. They are committed not just to providing fair wages for their growers on the ground, but also to investing in better infrastructure, training, and tools to help cacao farmers produce better quality (and therefore more valuable) cacao. Their range of chocolate includes vegan-friendly plant-based bars. They also have a brilliant guide to the range of tastes you can expect to find in different cacao beans from a variety of regions, which is well worth checking out if you want to understand how origin affects taste as you develop your chocolate palate.

5) Ritual Chocolate

Ritual Chocolate source their cacao from growers and cooperatives that prioritize sustainability, maintaining ecosystems as they grow and farm so that biodiversity is encouraged rather than harmed. Based in Utah, the factories where they make their small batch chocolate use LED lights, and Ritual packaging is either recyclable or compostable.

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About the Author

Sophie Caldecott is a freelance writer living in a cottage on the edge of the moor in the South-West of England. She writes about grief, empathy, ethical fashion, and the things that connect us and make us human. You’ll most likely find her cozied up by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate and a good book.

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