Best Eco-Style Gift Guide for the Fair Trader
Check our list twice: We found fashion & accessories for even the most discerning ecoista. Now through New Year’s, EcoStiletto’s Best Eco-Style Gift Guide showcases our Best of 2010 favorites at 25% off—or more—in EcoStiletto SHOP. Part Three of Five.
What’s the greenest way to give? Some would say gifts that are Fair Trade made, that difficult-to-define yet increasingly more important sustainable business practice of manufacturing goods in economically disadvantaged areas in order to alleviate poverty, reduce inequality and provide opportunities for farmers and artisans.
In the world of style, Fair Trade fashion is the antithesis to our first-world dependence on so-called “fast fashion” that outsources a $3 trillion a year apparel industry to countries like China, which exports ridiculous amounts of pollution—along with “disposable” clothing like $2 t-shirts—to the United States.
In contrast, companies like Big Blue Bike think beyond the sale and create a dual-purpose mission: To support women in the impoverished communities of Peru, as well as rejuvenate the dwindling colored alpaca population in the Andes. By utilizing the natural colors of alpaca fibers in their line, Big Blue Bike created a market where there was none, thus encouraging mountain herders to breed these endangered animals. The Lima-based, family-run cooperatives that manufacture the sweater for BBB were even lauded by the Peruvian government for their fair trade business practices. But all eco-ingenuity aside, we just plain love this line of super-soft sweaters for men and women, especially when they’re wrapped and ribboned for the season.
Now through 12.31.10, get 25% off on all Big Blue Bike sweaters in EcoStiletto SHOP with “ecoholiday” at checkout. Want more? Take a look at our Best Eco-Jewelry Gift Guides for the Frugal Fashionista and Best Eco-Style Gift Guide for the Upcycling Fashionista, then check back here next week!
