Did you know that it takes up to 20000 litres of water to make a single kilo of cotton? In fact, according to The Guardian: “85% of the daily needs in water of the entire population of India would be covered by water used to grow cotton in the country. Yet, 100 million people in India do not have access to drinking water.” The environmental impact of the fasion industry has become undeniable, with the average life of a piece of clothing decreasing to three years.

Tired of continuously having to buy new clothes? Fed up with the fashion industry? Looking to change the way you consume? We have compiled a list of sustainable and ethical fashion brands in Madrid, for all our Spanish readers, or anyone who may be passing through.

THE CIRCULAR PROJECT

The Circular Project has a holistic approach, viewing its operations as an intersection of social, ecological and economic interests. Their store was the first space in Madrid focused on sustainable and ethical fashion. Its clothing is made locally without exploitation.

ECOALF

Founded in 2009, Ecoalf exists to break the cycle of overproduction and waste. The brand aims to use natural resources in a respectful way, while also using recycled materials. Ecoalf is committed to various sustainable projects, pledging to a carbon-free footprint by 2030, to help remove trash from the oceans and to upcycle these materials. The brand’s philosophy is to evolve without causing unnecessary harm to the planet.

BRAVA FABRICS

Brava Fabrics focus on respect, trust, transparency, and sustainability. They exclusively use recycled and eco-friendly materials from renewable resources. Their packaging avoids plastic, utilising recycled and recyclable cardboard. Each year, Brava Fabrics publish a transparent Sustainability Report documenting their production process.

BLUE BANANA

Blue Banana is a “a new way of seeing and understanding life, in which everything is not based on what to do, but how we do it and why we do it.” The offer clothing for the modern-day adventurer that seeks to explore the world and remain sustainable. For that reason, they make their garments exclusively from organic cotton due to its low environmental impact. The brand also utilises recycled polyester for their clothing and 70 percent of their packaging is made from recycled materials.

LIFEGIST

Lifegist offer the best quality products to while staying environmentally friendly. The company took the time to handpick their materials to minimise their carbon footprint: 100 percent of their materials are from sustainable origins. For a fabric to be certified as ecological in its production process it must generate the least possible environmental impact. It must use natural resources, consume the minimum amount of energy and water, maintain the natural characteristics of the raw material, reduce chemical processes and use bio-degradable elements that do not harm workers or consumers.  Lifegist’s  garments are made from organic cotton, hemp, bamboo, milk fibres, organic wool and organic silk.

The post Sustainable fashion brands in Madrid appeared first on eco-nnect.

The average size of a family home keeps on increasing every year: the average size family American home was 165 m2 in 1978, it was 247.3 m2 in 2013.

A bigger-sized home often means higher electricity and heating consumptions. Large homes also often have backywards, meaning higher water usage. The list of examples goes on, making the link between big houses and unsustainable behaviours undeniable.

2 must-have household objects: save money be green.

The average size of a family home keeps on increasing every year. Having a big home also often relates to an extensive list of unsustainable behaviors. For this reason, in the last years, the tiny house movement has exponentially gained in popularity. Living tiny offers people a chance to live a minimalist life, with a low-carbon footprint and low costs!

For this reason, in the last couple of years, the tiny house movement has gained in popularity.
What is a tiny house? Great question!

A tiny house is a dwelling unit (often mobile) with a maximum floor area of 27 m2. Created in the early 1970s from the writings of Henry David Thoreau and Allan Wexler, a tiny house provides an affordable way of living whilst being highly eco-friendly.

The benefits in living tiny are numerous!

It allows one to be able to afford a house for a ridiculously low price. This is a great solution for those who are looking to live mortgage-free and for financial stability. Whilst the average price of a newly built single-family home is $383,900 in the U.S., the average price of a built-to-suit tiny house is $59,884 and $23,000 for a self-made tiny house.

Climate Explained: What Caused Major Climate Change in the Past?

Living in a tiny home has an incredibly low carbon footprint.
How?

1. Off-grid electricity: The electricity in tiny houses is generated solely through solar panels which allows the home to go off-grid.
2. Low water-footprint: Most mobile homes include a water tank for running water.
3. Toilets are compostable
4. Cooking is either done with sun-produced electricity or with propane
5. Heating is either generated with propane or with a wood stove.Tiny homes use about 7% of the energy a traditional house does and can lessen a household’s ecological footprint by 45%.

Living tiny offers people a chance to live a minimalist life, with a low-carbon footprint and low costs. It also offers the option of going off-grid and moving around the world, tiny-living could be your opportunity to travel and live a sustainable life.

The post Living Tiny: Affordable and Sustainable! appeared first on eco-nnect.

On April 26th,1986, the world’s worst nuclear man-made disaster changed history. This was in Chernobyl, where everyone had suddenly left. They were all escaping modern men’s biggest fear – a nuclear disaster.

Renewable Energy Can’t Save the Planet

The terrifying event that marked the Ukrainian city and its outskirts put 400 times more radioactive material into the Earth’s atmosphere than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. After the explosion of reactor number four, scientists predicted that the city would be cursed for thousands of years by a nuclear winter.

Yet, 35 years later, like a fabled lost city devoured by forests, Chernobyl has quickly become a green and peaceful place. For the whole of mankind, this place is a forbidden zone. On the edge of the city are empty rural villages. Today, many of those villages have become a sanctuary for an unforeseen variety of woodland wildlife. Where families once lived stand abandoned houses where time seems to have stood still. Contrary to popular belief, the high levels of radiation drastically decreased after the first few months; However, in the absence of mankind, nature quickly bounced back, and greenery took over the infamous place. An unbelievable diversity in the local ecosystem has repopulated the region where animals, birds, and insects are back in prodigious numbers. For instance, wolves are 7 times more abundant in the region than in any other reserve in Ukraine. Ukrainian and Belarussian scientists have documented hundreds of plants and animals, including 60 endangered species. What’s more. research has shown that only 10 years after the accident, the local animal population has shown little to no ill effects from radiation. Many studies have observed wild boar, elk, and roe deer populations, amongst which none suffered from any radiation-related diseases.

The Chernobyl nuclear meltdown was without a doubt a dreadful day for the environment. Nevertheless, it is arguably safe to say that nature has proven to recover and overcome better and faster than the scientific community envisioned.

Renewable Energy Can’t Save the Planet

The post The forsaken Chernobyl: cursed land or wildlife heaven? appeared first on eco-nnect.