This Earth Day, we are reflecting on how the fashion industry and consumers are taking steps towards a greener future. Below are some changes in consumer behaviour that are making a difference:

This is the practice of taking an old item and using it to create a new upgraded product. This reduces waste and gives old belongings a new lease of life instead of being thrown away. At Tegen Accessories, our Limited Edition collections are centred around designing a limited run of material, ensuring no waste or left over product. Any leftover material from larger collections is ground down, recycled and used again. Our French Handmade collection is made from primarily cellulose acetate which is completely biodegradable and safe for our environment. With any waste we have from this collection we ground it down into beads which forms an acetate blend which makes up our French Essentials collection.  

Have a look at how we make our French Handmade collection. 

Slow fashion is buying products that are built to last reduces waste. Find out more about slow fashion here. Whereas fast fashion denotes lower-quality, low-priced, mass-produced and machine-made garments that quickly end up in landfills.

Eco-fashion has gone beyond being just a trend in the past few years. It’s becoming less acceptable to ignore the carbon footprint of fast fashion, and a collective responsibility to check the sustainability of a product before purchasing.

• Plastic never disappears, it breaks down into tiny pieces but never completely biodegrades.
• Toxins from plastics affect humans, animals, crops, landscapes, oceans and rivers. 
• Plastic is extremely hard to recycle, nearly all of UK plastic recycling is shipped abroad where the lengthy process has its own environmental impact.

• The manufacturing of Biodegradable Materials is less polluting than plastics.
• Reduces dependence on non renewable manufacturing resources such as oil. 
• Cellulose Acetate takes 9 months to fully biodegrade in optimum soil. Plastic waste never disappears. 

Explore our biodegradable French Handmade collection this Earth Day. Make a difference as a consumer by opting for high quality, slow fashion, sustainable accessories. Start shopping for accessories that are kind to your hair and the environment.

References: 

Franklin-Wallis, Oliver. ‘Plastic Recycling Is A Myth’: What Really Happens To Your Rubbish?. The Guardian (2019)

Puls, J., Wilson, S.A. & Hölter, D. Degradation of Cellulose Acetate-Based Materials: A Review, Springer Link (2011) 

Ferocious, Media. Why You Should Buy Biodegradable Products. (2013)