I had the pleasure of speaking to Laurie Simmonds, the president and CEO of Green Living Enterprises (aka the Boss of Green Business), for our upcoming issue Playbook for Progress. Laurie shared her experiences and wisdom from her successful career in green business and marketing, and gave some valuable advice for new grads. Here’s a sneak peek into our conversation!

“It’s been 20 years and it’s been incredible to watch the innovation explode. Not just big corporations but small entrepreneurs in every sector,” Laurie shared about the surge of green business. “It’s been very rewarding to see publicly-traded companies commit to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, to a significant ESG performance metric, finally understanding that they can run a company that benefits people, planet and profits. It’s undeniable that things are changing. We can see corporations and entrepreneurs really working hard to keep up with that, and seeing the rewards of it, which is really the most important thing – that they actually now understand that they can still make a lot of money, be very profitable, but do good and do well.” 

Green Living Enterprises’ Office // Credit: Kourosh Keshiri

To hear that both big corporations and small and medium businesses are on the right track and committing to sustainability goals is very encouraging for two reasons. 1) Businesses have an obligation to advance the environmental movement, so they need to do their part for consumers to follow suit, and 2) more and more businesses are taking part in this positive shift because it pays to be sustainable. 

When asked about the obligation of businesses in advancing sustainability, Laurie said, “It’s introducing consumers to a much more healthy and sustainable lifestyle, showing them the way with these products and services. That’s how we’re going to affect change – consumers choosing a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, voting with their dollar by supporting those companies. Businesses’ obligation to their stakeholders is to make money in a sustainable and socially responsible way. The other obligation is to, of course, continually increase their ESG commitments – reduce their footprint, become more inclusive, watch the social impacts of their corporation, commit to good governance, and communicate transparently to their stakeholders and their customers about their commitment to ESG. We’re starting to see rankings really significantly demonstrate that those corporations that commit to this are increasing in value, in profitability, have strong brand value, and strong consumer loyalty … It’s incredibly hopeful for the future. I think the technological advancements are happening so quickly now and the commitments by big corporations are so enormous that we are galloping forward. It’s like someone has just pulled out all the stops and it’s moving very fast now.”

Laurie and Green Living Enterprises’ management team, 2018 // Credit: Kourosh Keshiri

For more from Laurie Simmonds be sure to check out our next issue, Playbook for Progress, in which she shares her story of turning her vision of Green Living Enterprises into reality, the key practices that put her on the path to success, her golden rules to using business as a tool for environmental change, and more. Stay tuned!!!

Laurie Simmonds is the president and CEO of Green Living Enterprises – an impact agency that markets solutions to social and environmental issues. In her 20+ year career as an environmental entrepreneur and marketing expert, she has built Green Living Enterprises from the ground up while leading an award-winning team in the world of green business. Her work focuses on the intersections between health, social justice, and the environment.

The post GREEN MEANS GO… FASTER! appeared first on A\J.

Buying second-hand clothing is a common, sustainable alternative to buying fast fashion, and has rapidly gained popularity in recent years. When I made the switch to buying second-hand, I was unknowingly contributing to a much larger movement – a sustainability trend. And more recently, this trend has spread and accelerated online.

Source: PRETEND

Why Should We Avoid Fast Fashion?

Before I talk about online thrifting, here’s a quick background on fast fashion. Fast fashion refers to clothing that is produced and marketed to consumers as fast and as cheap as possible in response to recent trends. Generally, a company falls into the fast fashion category if the following are true:

– they produce new, mass-produced clothing items

– they are not transparent about where their clothing is coming from

– it is not obvious that they are fair trade and/or genuinely sustainable

Clothing production is very environmentally demanding and uses a lot of resources. Manufacturing one pair of jeans can produce up to 75 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions – and one t-shirt uses 700 gallons of water. But it’s not only the production of clothes that is a problem, it is also problematic at the consumer level. On average, 1 in 2 people throw away unwanted clothing in the garbage instead of donating, selling, or repairing the items. There are clearly some consumeristic bad habits at play here, but the fast fashion industry is driving the problem and unsustainably producing huge amounts of clothing.

In a linear economy model, clothing is made, purchased, and discarded, which results in a lot of waste. But in a circular economy model, the most sustainable system, clothing is not thrown away – it is bought and used with care, repaired if possible, resold to be reused by others, or upcycled for different purposes. The loop keeps going around as clothing items are repurposed, reloved, and diverted from landfills.

Source: AforeAfter

What Is Online Thrifting?

There has been a rise of second-hand online shopping and selling on various platforms, including Etsy, Instagram, Poshmark, thredUP, Depop, and Facebook marketplace, to just name a few. The people behind the online thrift “shops” vary. These “shops” aren’t actual thrift stores, like Value Village or Goodwill; they are exclusively online. Platforms, like Depop and Poshmark, aren’t even actual shops per se, but rather a collection of shops on a website. For example, you could make an account on Depop and create your very own second-hand shop. You would post your items on your page, set your own prices, other people would purchase those items online, and you would ship the items to them. You would likely make some money and the company, Depop, would take a percentage of the profit.

Stormee James, a woman from Ohio, made US$1700 from selling her clothes during the pandemic as a kind of side gig on top of her regular job as a school cleaner. Stormee is one of many people who have decided to sell their own used clothes to make a small profit during the pandemic.

On top of people selling their own clothes, there are also online thrift shops that are more like genuine small businesses, with an established brand and aesthetic. These online shops are usually run by individuals who have a passion for collecting vintage clothes and reselling them. The shop owners would likely go hunting for good quality, vintage thrift finds that fit their brand’s aesthetic at local second-hand stores or flea markets, and then buy the items to resell on their shops. All these types of online buying and selling can be grouped under the same umbrella as the resale clothing industry.

Source: The Knight Crier

The resale industry on the whole is seeing resounding, steady growth and this trend is only expected to continue increasing. In the U.S., the second-hand clothing market is estimated to grow 5 times in 5 years, from 2019 to 2024, and the retail market is expected to shrink. According to thredUP’s 2020 Resale Report and statistics from GlobalData, the entire second-hand market will be almost twice the size of the fast fashion market in the U.S. by 2029. And the coronavirus pandemic will only act as a catalyst to these upward trends.

Source: thredUP

I am a curious person, always formulating questions in my head, and as a writer, I find myself looking for stories even when I don’t intend to. So, as I’ve observed the online resale market flourishing and gaining popularity, I started to wonder…

• What are the main drivers behind this rise of online thrifting?

• These online second-hand shops are a sustainability trend, but are they all truly sustainable?

• How might the rise of online second-hand shopping impact local thrift stores?

• What are the social and economic implications of online thrifting for people who rely on thrift stores for lower priced clothing?

And boom. There’s a story.

The Drivers 

Why are we seeing an increase in online thrifting in the first place? There are several factors behind the trend, but the following four are what I’ve gathered as the main drivers.

1. Sustainability

The truth behind fast fashion is spreading and environmental awareness is ever-growing. More and more people are understanding that taking small actions and making shifts in our own lives towards sustainability are important. Buying and selling second-hand are key ways we can make those sustainable shifts towards establishing and sustaining circular fashion.

2. The pandemic

Following the start of the pandemic, more people than ever have been cleaning out their closets and getting around to selling those unwanted items that they’ve always been meaning to. I’m sure this behaviour is a result of either boredom, new motivation to declutter, looking for new ways to make a bit of cash, or a mixture of all. In terms of buying second-hand, there are plenty of cheap, online options, which are an important source for those whose finances have taken a toll from pandemic life. Perhaps staying at home is even inspiring people to redesign their lives – why not redecorate your living room or adopt a new style if you have to stay home all day anyway?

3. Generational change

Young people – millennials and Gen Z’s – are normalizing second-hand buying and driving this shift. Life as a young adult today is very financially different than it was for preceding generations. Millennials and Gen Z’s have collectively strived to remove the stigma that used to be associated with thrifting – the belief that the only people who thrifted were grandmas and people who could not afford to buy new clothes. Now, buying second-hand is normalized and encouraged by younger people, which has suited their need to spend less and save more in our current economy.

4. Influencers

Online influencers and celebrities are following the sustainability trend by supporting second-hand stores, re-wearing outfits to big events, and further contributing to removing the stigma with thrifting. For example, celebrities like Cardi B and Meaghan Markle are starting to sport vintage clothes, and Kate Middleton, Jane Fonda, and Tiffany Haddish have all made fashion statements in 2020 by rewearing dresses to important events.

The Benefits 

When looking to buy clothes, online second-hand shops and websites can be great places to find unique, quality items for a decent price. Browsing through online second-hand shops is easy and quick. On apps and websites like Depop or Poshmark, you can search for items and apply filters to help focus your results – totally hassle free. For individual online shops, you can follow them on Instagram or Facebook and have their items show up right on your feed without even searching. It truly is effortless thrifting.

And of course, second-hand shopping also diverts purchases away from fast fashion, which is supportive of social and environmental sustainability. Some online thrift shops are genuine local businesses as well. Re-selling clothes can be a kind of “side hustle” for some, but for others who are passionate about slow fashion have made this business their full-time careers. So online thrifting can also be supportive to small-business owners and individuals who have worked hard to establish their own online brand.

The rise of online thrifting has also created an aesthetic, trendy, and appealing way to buy second-hand items. Not everyone enjoys the experience of shopping at a thrift store: the smell of other people’s clothes, sifting through rows of clothing racks to discover maybe one quality piece in your size, finding extremely quirky and cringey items in the process, and buying clothes you have to wash before wearing. So, with online thrifting, more people are being steered away from fast fashion and enjoying thrifting in a new way.

I am someone who enjoys the full experience of going to a thrift store, but I’ve also enjoyed online thrifting. I have found some really nice, affordable clothing online from other people’s shops. On the app Depop, I discovered a shop that sells vintage sweaters that have different logos on them, like sports teams and universities. I was on a mission to find a used University of Waterloo hoodie, since I go to UW and don’t want to buy a new sweater, and I found a vintage one on their shop. It’s great quality and it’s an item I’ll enjoy for a really long time!

Credit: Siobhan Mullally

The Concerns

Not all that glitters is gold… Despite the positive, sustainable shift to online thrift shopping, there are still concerns that come along with it.

First, I’ve noticed on some apps, like Depop, that although people might be reselling their clothes, it is clear they still buy new clothes regularly. Some people likely support fast fashion and just resell those items online once they’re done with them. After buying fast fashion clothes, they may use those items for a year, a month, a day, or may never wear them at all before reselling. So, just because someone is reselling on a thrifting site does not mean they’re contributing to slow fashion or circularity.

Also, as thrifting has become a popular activity labelled as “sustainable”, it seems as though people might be buying clothes a lot more often since the media and culture have classified it as a guilt-free method of shopping. I do agree that thrifting is a more sustainable alternative to buying new items, but I still think people need to rethink their consumerist tendencies to buy new items all the time, even if the items they buy are used. Online thrifting may just be enhancing consumerism by giving people a “sustainable” way of consuming the same amount of, if not more, materials that they would be buying new. Buying second-hand is an important shift for a circular economy, but the rise of online thrifting may just be perpetuating consumer culture, which is the root of what needs to be shifted.

I also wondered how local thrift stores and the people who depend on them would be impacted. As online thrift shops are on the rise, thrift store business would likely follow since thrift stores are the source of the clothes that many online shops resell. If thrift stores get more demand, their prices are likely to increase as well, and this could turn into a harmful form of gentrification.

Gentrification is the process of a neighbourhood or area becoming higher in economic value, when a low-income area transforms into a higher-income area driven by wealthier people moving in, attracting new businesses, and often displacing the people who already live there. In terms of thrift stores, gentrification might look like prices of clothing going up and excluding the shoppers who depend on thrift stores for lower priced items. One of the top reasons people thrift is to be able to shop on a budget, but if the thrifting market starts skyrocketing after its massive popularity jump online, will thrift stores no longer be affordable for those people? Where will low-income individuals shop if the thrift store is no longer a feasible option for them? Maybe department stores are the next cheapest, like Walmart or Giant Tiger. The clothing at those stores is fast fashion and likely lower quality, which will cause wear-and-tear more easily and induce more buying. An unsustainable fate in the long run.

Going forward

So, what’s the takeaway – what’s the best, sustainable option? Buying second-hand is definitely better than fast fashion, right? And I should also be aware of what online thrift shops I contribute to so I can choose to support the genuine small businesses? And I have to avoid the people who resell and still support fast fashion? And I should try not to contribute to gentrification? So, how can I be a responsible, sustainable shopper?

If you are asking yourself any of those questions and are feeling overwhelmed, conflicted, frustrated, hopeless, or confused – don’t worry. I’m with you on that. It can be difficult to sift through all the information and decipher the best way to move forward. It is important to understand that we will all make sustainable shifts in different ways and at different paces, so there’s no “one solution fits all”.

Personally, what works for me right now is buying things second hand to avoid fast fashion, but also trying to buy things less – only when I need something. Of course I occasionally impulse purchase because it can be hard not to participate in buying new clothes for fun, but I’m working on it. My next goal to continue improving the sustainability of my clothing lifestyle is to learn how to sew, so that I can mend my clothes instead of needing to replace them. We will all be at different points and have different capacities for change, but learning about the options is a great way to start thinking about what you can do next.

Source: Alisa Koz

When I am considering a second-hand purchase or have a genuine need for an item, I like to visualize the “buyerarchy of needs” pictured above. The bottom of the pyramid is the largest section because that action is what we should be doing the most of. Similarly, the top is what we should be doing the least. But the key to remember is that we have options. We should all be working on taking that next step towards sustainable fashion, whatever it may look like, online or otherwise.

The post Slow Fashion at the Speed of Light appeared first on A\J.

Educational Video Companion: Indigenous Entrepreneurship and Housing Security

Environatives Training Initiative

Educational Video Companion: Indigenous Entrepreneurship and Housing Security

Environatives Training Initiative

Environatives Training Initiatives is a not-for-profit started by Becky Big Canoe which aims to design and deliver training programs for Indigenous women and youth that address food security, natural building skills and entrepreneurial skills. The goal is to provide culturally sensitive and targeted training in order to help lift people out of poverty, dependence, and vulnerability to harm. The food security and permaculture training offered by Environatives provides knowledge and skills to create community gardens, take produce to the market and start microbusinesses. Experts in the sustainable building industry deliver the natural building training, and the entrepreneur training is designed to be relevant to students and their local communities. These programs empower Indigenous women and youth by helping them find independence and overall well-being in their lives. 

Indigenous Entrepreneurship in Canada

Basic assumptions of mainstream theories of entrepreneurship sometimes conflict with certain Indigenous cultural values. This is because the perception of opportunity is culturally relative, as is the measurement of success, both of which are important elements of entrepreneurship (Dana 2015). Indigenous entrepreneurship often incorporates community needs and objectives more holistically than Western forms of entrepreneurship. 

Becky Big Canoe and many other Indigenous entrepreneurs, approach entrepreneurial activities with the desire to be environmentally sustainable. This comes from a strong connection to the land as its original inhabitants, which has been disrupted by colonization. As such, taking part in entrepreneurial enterprises offers a chance to reassert control over traditional territories and build community (Sengupta & Vieta, 2015). A significant amount of Indigenous entrepreneurial activity occurs outside the realm of traditional market exchanges. In the absence of market transactions, wealth can be generated by individuals and within the community without the sale of a good or service for profit. Regulatory barriers often prompt Indigenous entrepreneurs away from the traditional market setting. While there are multiple approaches to Indigenous entrepreneurship, it is often designed to be inclusive of economic, environmental, social and cultural goals, typically with a greater emphasis on cultural values than more non-Indigenous social enterprises (Sengupta & Vieta, 2015). 

Canadian Indigenous Housing Security

Housing insecurity disproportionately affects the Indigenous population in Canada. The fact that Indigenous people are the fastest growing demographic in the Canadian population increases the challenges of supplying housing and puts greater pressure on band councils to do so.

According to 2016 census data, one in five Indigenous people in the country lived in a home in need of major repairs. Comparatively, in the same year, only six per cent of the non-Indigenous population reported living in a dwelling that required major repairs. In addition, those living on-reserve are more likely to live in the least adequate housing conditions, as people with registered Indian status who lived on reserve were 3 times more likely to need major housing repairs, with 44.% requiring repairs, compared to 14% for those living off-reserve. 

On top of the issue of repairs, about one quarter of Indigenous people live in crowded housing. A higher proportion of Indigenous people with a registered Indian status lived in crowded housing than without (27 per cent versus 12 per cent). This proportion is even higher among those living on reserve than off (37 per cent versus 19 per cent).

Overcrowding can lead to a number of health and social issues. As Becky Big Canoe mentioned, mould is often found in poorly constructed and crowded houses, and poses health risks as a result. In some communities, there are so many people living in one house that they must sleep in shifts, revealed an interim report of the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples. This can disrupt a child’s focus in school, resulting in lower education achievement rates and lower employment rates. Overcrowding can also lead to homelessness. 

Furthermore, a number of houses built on reserves are not constructed for the environment they’re situated in. Due to the costs of construction northern regions, many receive below-par construction. This is something Big Canoe directly addressed by building her own home from straw. There is also big problem with inadequate water infrastructure, resulting in drinking water advisories. Health Canada indicated that there were 100 long-term drinking water advisories and 47 short-term in 102 First Nations communities south of the 60th parallel as of Oct. 31, 2017. Boiling water for so many people can also contributes to mould growth, and thus worsen housing conditions.

***

To find out more about Becky Big Canoe’s non-profit Environatives Training initiatives, check out her website http://www.backtobasicscanada.com/environative-training

To find out more about the problem of inadequate housing for Indigenous peoples, see the following sources: 

• HOUSING ON FIRST NATION RESERVES: Challenges and Successes Interim Report of the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, February 2015. https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/412/appa/rms/08feb15/Home-e.htm

• Statistics Canada. (2017). The housing conditions of Aboriginal people in Canada. Retrieved from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016021/98-200-x2016021-eng.cfm 

The post The House that Becky Built appeared first on A\J.

Humankind is an inherently social species. Not only do positive relationships reduce stress and feelings of loneliness, but they also result in long-term happiness and good health. A sense of belonging plays an important part in this social phenomenon. 

When we feel we belong within our group of friends, our family or community, we believe we can comfortably contribute and share. What ends up happening is that more is accomplished than what is possible by one’s self. 

However, in our ever-changing, fast-paced world, it can be easier to disconnect than to belong. This poses a challenge for social justice and environmental organizations alike – how do we foster a sense of belonging within new and old community members, and how do we make it last? 

With this in mind, A\J asked four Waterloo Region organizations for their thoughts on belonging and how they integrate it through their projects and programs. Here’s what they had to say.

rare – Charitable Research Reserve 

“The key to belonging is a connection to place and space, the lands we live and work on, the foods we grow on it, [and] the communities and relationships we build on it,” says Dr. Stephanie Sobek-Swant, executive-director of rare. 

You’ll find these kinds of connections at rare’s 900-acre Charitable Research Reserve in Cambridge, Ontario. Research and education play key roles in its mission to preserve, protect and restore the environment of its lands. Numerous programs engage the public, everything from the Every Child Outdoors program, which helps train and inspire future environmentalists, to the Turn the Map Green Campaign, which gives individuals a sense of ownership by letting them adopt a square of land. 

The Springbank Community Garden at rare also creates a sense of home. “Giving [people] space to connect with the land, and grow the foods they know, is a great learning and sharing opportunity for everyone and really accomplishes a sense of belonging,” says Sobek-Swant. It’s comfort food – straight from the garden. 

What may be most important for solving the environmental and social issues in this land is to listen, Sobek-Swant says. To illustrate the point, she passed on a quote from First Nations writer Lee Maracle, who lived in rare’s North House as the 2015 Eastern Comma Writer in Resident: “No one in Canada has their original landscape.” So as “newcomers,” we need to work together on strengthening our bond to the land while being open to doing things differently. 

“All of us working together to protect what we have or trying to bring it back to what it should be, through ecological efforts as well as through reconciliation – that to me, is what our work can really contribute to belonging,” says Sobek-Swant.
raresites.org

The Working Centre

From its conception in 1982 in downtown Kitchener, the Working Centre has been a sanctuary for those seeking help and advice. The centre offers countless opportunities for workers and volunteers to engage in the community. 

The Working Centre’s Market Garden, located at Kitchener’s  famous Hacienda Sarria, has more than 100 volunteers and is currently training five interns. Another project called Recycle Cycles repairs worn-out bikes – and teaches people to repair their own bikes. Last year Recycle Cycles took in about 1000 bikes and resold a little over half of them.

Joe Mancini, the director of the Working Centre, says they follow a “Community Tool Philosophy.” 

“Firstly, we ensure that those using the tools can do so in a way that best expresses their skills and abilities” he says. “Secondly, we shape the tool so that a community need is addressed such as helping fix a bike, recycle furniture and build a market garden. Thirdly, this work is enhanced when the experience builds social co-operation. All together this approach develops a culture of shared tools.”

“The projects grow when a spirit of hospitality and neighbourliness are at the center of the work,” says Mancini. “Community Tools aim to reduce isolation by teaching the benefits of using tools in a shared environment. Organizationally, we are not trying to protect our space, but rather we open up and welcome people to share the resources and make them their own.” In the end, this strengthens belonging in their community.
theworkingcentre.org

WREN – Waterloo Region Environment Network

When asked about belonging, the first thing Stacey Danckert, the Co-Director from the Waterloo Region Environmental Network (WREN) did was quote a proverb: “If you want to go faster, go alone. If you want to go further, go together.” 

Indeed, one of WREN’s main goals is to create a web of connections among environmental organizations in Waterloo Region.

Danckert says WREN’s strategy “combines the use of 1) an online “hub” where the community can easily access relevant information, volunteer recruitment, as well as share projects and skills; 2) a physical space that can be shared by members; and 3) event opportunities that provide shared learning, mentorship and collaborative opportunities.”

In the past, WREN has hosted project-sharing events where others can share ideas, as well as make connections with similar projects, volunteers and skills. Currently they are in the midst of refining and expanding their reach, however WREN makes it clear that a community can’t survive without a sense of belonging. 

“When people take part in a solution,” says Danckert, “they are more likely to feel connected to it.… WREN creates more ways to connect amongst members and with the community, increasing the network of support and improving the collective success and the sense of belonging within Waterloo Region.” 
wrenvironetwork.ca

REEP – Green Solutions 

For REEP – Green Solutions, belonging means feeling pride for where you live and having a sense of ownership.

To accomplish this, REEP has a number of projects. For example, The Rain Ready Neighbourhoods project aims to help homes in two neighbourhoods to become more flood-resistant, sustainable and beautiful. Homeowners will feel a sense of accomplishment as they form a plan with REEP. 

Another project is the Front Yard Makeover contest. This is a fun and friendly contest where neighbours can compete for the best-looking yard. Mary Jane Patterson, the executive director at REEP says, “Something like this gets neighbours talking to each other.… It builds community.”

In an email, Patterson and her team described their work this way: “Our goal is to foster collective action. When people work together they naturally share their ideas and experiences, which strengthens their relationships, and contributes to an environmental ethic. By participating in incremental improvements in their neighbourhood, we hope people will develop a sense of contribution and genuine pride in what they accomplish with their neighbours.”

REEP is a part of the greater environmental movement. As more people join the movement, they amplify the impact. It’s this collective action that strengthens social bonds and builds community at the same time. 

In the end, when people feel like they belong, it can inspire environmental action. “The hope is that there’s a domino effect, strengthening the sense of belonging that participants feel as they take action,” says Patterson. 
reepgreen.ca

Veronika Szostak is a student at the University of Waterloo in the Environment and Resource Studies program. She is an intern at A/J and aspires to become a journalist, artist, and environmentalist.

The post Seeds of Change appeared first on A\J.

Public opinion:
    – GPC 2015 – http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/results-2015/
    – e-recycling – http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=6541
    – GMO ban – http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=7006
    – Carbon Tax – http://angusreid.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Cap-and-Trade1.pdf
    – Protecting Species – http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=6818
    – Nature- http://www.davidsuzuki.org/publications/downloads/2004/DSF-GG-En-Final.pdf

Trust in Charities:
    – https://www.muttart.org/…/Talking-About-Charities-Full-Report-2013.pdf

3% of the Canadians:
    – http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/results-2015/

98% of the Canadaians:
    – http://www.davidsuzuki.org/…/DSF-GG-En-Final.pdf

Employment by the #s:
    – Sustainability Professional: http://www.eco.ca/…/Sustainability-Snapshot-12-03-15.jpg
    – Environmental Employment, Environmental employee, Environmental Professional: http://www.eco.ca/…/2013-Profile-Canadian-Environmental-Employment-ECO-Canada.pdf

Education levels:
    – http://www.eco.ca/…/2013-Profile-Canadian-Environmental-Employment-ECO-Canada.pdf

Total # of Colleges and Universities:
    – A\J Issue 41.4

Funding: – Side bar:
    – http://grants.cegn.org/**

Top funding areas by%:
    – http://pfc.ca/about-pfc/our-members/

Amount granted per issue:
    – http://pfc.ca/canadian-foundation-facts/**
    
# of registered environmental charities in Canada:
    – http://www.globalphilanthropy.ca/…/Mark_Blumberg.pdf

** New data available

The post Census of Community – Sources appeared first on A\J.

Why vote? A simple question launched University of Waterloo student, Mavis Chan to set out changing the apathetic attitude carried by her peers. Taking advantage of the entrepreneurial co-op program at the university, Chan began to develop whyVOTE, an app that helps users understand which parties their goals align with based on algorithm generating quizzes.

In the app users will be able to compare their goals with their peers that can lead to sharing of knowledge and perspectives. Data generated from these quizzes will also be sent to policy makers and advocacy groups to give them insight as to how young people vote.  whyVOTE’s Facebook page also encourages political discussions and gives important voter information.

Preview of the whyVOTE web app

The app is still in its testing phase and Chan hopes to have it released soon. Her goal is that through the app and social media, young voters will have a better understanding of the upcoming elections and how these political promises will affect their future. Ultimately, the plan is to boost young voter turnout.

Through her research Chan said young people are not showing up to the polls because they feel removed from issues and most election topics do not apply to them. Therefore they feel their votes will not make a difference.

In the 2011 federal elections, only 38.8 percent of 18-24 year olds and 45.1 percent of 25-34 year olds voted. In this federal election these age cohorts make up 20 percent of Canada’s entire population. 20 percent of the population can make a colossal difference in an election according to Chan.

Being uninformed is no excuse for young people to not vote says Chan, so get ready young Canadians.

The post ‘I don’t know’ is no excuse appeared first on A\J.

The young couple responded strongly to the disrupted lives they saw around them. Their plans to become teachers were shelved, replaced with a determination to do something to make a difference for the many poor and unemployed in the region. Connections with a group working to help immigrants and refugees led them to their first small space where people looking for work or other support found a warm welcome. It was a place to sit, with coffee, newspapers, information about ESL and other programs, a telephone, a message board and, perhaps most important, someone who wanted to listen, who understood their needs and stories.

Transition to Common Work: Building Community at the Working Centre tells the story of how that initial commitment to creating a welcoming, supportive and inclusive place-to-be (now sometimes called a “third space”) unfolded to shape individual lives, myriad interpersonal relationships and, eventually, a special way of living and working. This book has much to teach us today as people’s expectations about work and way of life are being upended yet again.

In the 30 years since its formal establishment, the Working Centre has grown slowly but steadily, involving people from every strand of the fabric of Kitchener life.

In the 30 years since its formal establishment, the Working Centre has grown slowly but steadily, involving people from every strand of the fabric of Kitchener life. From the un- and under-employed through church and labour stalwarts to politicians, university folk, business leaders and artists – many have been drawn to become part of the Working Centre community. 

In her perceptive foreword to the book, innovation analyst Dr. Frances Westley recalls her curiosity after visiting the Working Centre and talking at length with the Mancinis: 

“[I]t was clear that something unusual was going on, but it was not clear how. How could these two gentle, kind, responsive, and unassuming people have produced what felt like an empire of innovation – including multiple renovated buildings and interlocking initiatives – from the restaurant to the gardens to the St. John’s Kitchen, to the outreach program”  

 Westley concluded that 

“What this book contains cannot be described as a formula, but it does describe the alchemy that a selfless and dedicated few can ignite and therefore holds lessons worth learning for all those who are unhappy with the world as it is and who believe that change is possible.”

As with any sort of alchemy, the magic is in the details, which emerge in this book from the voices and stories of individuals’ struggles and the triumphs of mutual help, cooperation and friendship. Building community is an ongoing challenge, whether in your neighbourhood, your workplace or your city. This story of the Working Centre makes clear that engaging and including all comers in many kinds of “good work” for the common benefit is key to individual actualization as well as long-term community sustainability.

A concern with moral and social justice was central to the inception of the Working Centre. Its founding principles are embodied in six “virtues” that served as its foundation and guided its development: work as gift; living simply to leave more room for the other; serving others; rejecting status; building community and creating community tools. Chapter four elucidates these seemingly simple principles and following chapters detail the “ethical imagination” underlying the Centre’s egalitarian salary structure and the remarkable “community tools” that instantiate the Working Centre’s philosophy: a thriving thrift store, a commons with café and book store, a used-clothing boutique, computer and bicycle repair/recycling facilities, successful catering and market-garden enterprises. All offer work that is fulfilling, not least because it benefits the whole region.

Not surprisingly, the importance to human well-being of how work is rewarded is a central theme of Transition to Common Work.

“The Working Centre has endeavoured to create a level playing field so that each worker can reach their potential.”

“The Working Centre has endeavoured to create a level playing field so that each worker can reach their potential. Our work culture has been enhanced by not linking salary to a performance evaluation…We have seen that happiness and satisfaction do not come from getting ahead or triumphing over colleagues, but from making one’s community a better place and from the personal recognition of a job well done.”

Extreme consumerism, fueled by advertising and a hyper-competitive culture, is often seen as a potent enemy of a meaningful life. Under its spell, “We think we have to work for [more] money when in fact most people would rather work to learn and create new things. People strive to find meaning in work that has lasting benefit.” The Working Centre renovation projects that have produced much-needed affordable and transition housing in Kitchener, initially carried out largely by volunteers who learned skills as they worked, are seen as a prime examples of this approach.

Perhaps most relevant to the currently evolving nature of work is this observation in Transition to Common Work: 

“Under the patina of our consumer society is an ever-growing array of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and impulse disorders. Many of these psychological responses are the result of unpleasant, harsh environments. Canadian society, like much of the Western world, has placed a high value on money, possessions and appearances at the same time that long-term secure jobs have been replaced by a growing trend of temporary positions and insecure working conditions, making these goals more difficult to attain.”

The complex mix of factors contributing to insecure working conditions – globalization, increasing use of computer-driven technologies in both blue- and white-collar work, the consequent fading of union power, pressures on the private sector to be competitive – are experienced by increasing numbers of workers as high levels of stress and dysfunction in their personal and working lives.

Just ask the cashier on a “zero-hours contract,” who waits by the phone to learn when she must show up for work and for how long, how it feels. Or consider that college graduate living with his parents, still looking in vain for a job (or two or three) to allow pay down of a student loan and his own place to live. Similarly placed is the thirty-something “consultant” who gets her jobs through a temp agency and is never sure she has done well enough to get called again.

The stressful nature of the increasingly insecure world of work has been well documented. See, for example, the Canadian study Working Without Commitments: The Health Effects of Precarious Employment, W. Lewchuk, M. Clark and A. de Wolff, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2011, or just Google “precarious work” or “precariat.” While some workers enjoy the flexibility possible under new work rules, many more are barely able to survive mentally or financially. Fortunately, there is increased recognition of the problems created by non-existent, unpaid and insecure employment, represented by the recent upsurge of public discussion and debate about inequality, a living wage and need for a guaranteed basic income as a stable platform on which to build a meaningful life.

Transition to Common Work: Building Community at the Working Centre speaks directly to questions raised by structural unemployment, theongoing shift of risks from employers to employees and other dystopic aspects of 21st century life. The book provides the key to understanding how the Working Centre evolved to become a community rich in good work and meaningful living that has thrived for more than 30 years. We have much to learn from it. There are alternatives.

Transition to Common Work: Building Community at the Working Centre, Joe and Stephanie Mancini, Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2015, 212 pages.

The post Building Community at the Working Centre appeared first on A\J.

An estimated 400,000 people showed their solidarity and support for climate action in New York City at what is now known as the largest climate march in history – and that doesn’t include the 2,646 solidarity events held in over 160 countries around the world.

The purpose of the People’s Climate March was to pressure world leaders to take action on climate change, and to mobilize the public ahead of the Emergency UN Climate Summit called by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Those 400,000 people included a broad range, from climate scientists and grassroots organizations to concerned citizens and celebrities.

Also in attendance was a Canadian media crew whose footage from the march will soon become part of the upcoming documentary “Beyond Crisis.” Comprised of five core members, an animator, a web development team, several musicians and 10 others from the film collective Toronto PCM Ltd, this is no small project. The documentary will look at mainstream climate action from as many perspectives as possible, including covering grassroots activism and climate policy.

A\J’s Samantha Hui sat down with the directors of “Beyond Crisis,” Kai Reimer-Watts and Ray Kocur, to discuss themes from the film and the importance of climate action.

A\J: What sets “Beyond Crisis” apart from other documentaries hoping to inspire climate action?

Ray Kocur: We’ve been inspired by many environmental documentary films, but the film we want to see hasn’t been made yet. With “Beyond Crisis” we want to look at climate action over a greater horizon with an inward and outward gaze on reality. Our audience may be Canadian but our decisions have global impacts, and even though our elected officials make decisions that impact us, we have the power to affect local and national policy. 2015 will go down as one of the great turning points in our global history. Our team has kept our fingers on the pulse so that all of us may continue to learn from this moment in the future.

Kai Reimer-Watts: Our film is hoping to help mainstream action on climate throughout society, just as the march started to do. The moment in time that we stand in, right now, is entirely unique from what’s happened in the past, and the stakes are huge leading up to the international climate negotiations at COP21. Hence, our story is different in that it positions itself in this moment, right now, building towards an uncertain future. We want to ensure that the story of the reality we are all now living gets told.

A\J: Was there a cultural difference in how people face environmental crises/issues compared to other countries?

KRW: Absolutely. To put it broadly, [in the western countries] there is a very large focus on technology as the solution to solving this kind of crisis. Because we pride ourselves on having the latest and greatest technology, it can be easy to simplify the story that all we need to do is install solar and everything clean energy, and that will solve everything. But that is actually a very different perspective from the majority of the world, especially developing countries which are already seeing the impacts of climate change and are looking at it through more of a humanitarian lens in terms of how we can adapt in response to this and other political justice and equity issues. All of that comes into play, and in a lot of ways we are trying to bridge those perspectives.

RK: I think that the People’s Climate March really exemplified the diversity and the unity of this particular issue. Going to that march and seeing people from all over the world there and everyone in unity with one another, and in solidarity with one another – it brings those similarities to the forefront in a very good way.

A\J: What about within Canada? Do people living in the country do things or think differently than those living in bigger cities?

KRW: Yes. People’s [own] experiences affect how they perceive this issue. So even though it’s a global issue, it is felt very differently and it is experienced locally. That’s the bottom line. If you spent your whole life living in the city, you are going to have a different perspective than people in the country. And for a few stark differences, in whatever culture, one of the first sectors of society to really recognize and experience change first-hand [was] agriculture, in farming and people who are directly reliant on predictable weather patterns and really need to work with the seasons to make their livelihood. So they are generally, often, more aware of small changes that they have noticed.

We have noticed that in the cities, people are very aware of specific disasters or events that might come to mind, like the 2013 flooding in Toronto, but in terms of day-to-day or week-to-week more gradual changes, we’re also less aware of those changes.

RELATED: Building Better Cities

RK: I have a couple of anecdotes that can add it a bit of clarity to what Kai is saying, in terms of the ideas of sustainable energy and the transition away from fuel economy. I’ve spent a bit of time in Northern Alberta tree planting and bore witness to just how penetrating the extractive industry culture is: when you look at it from an in-this-moment perspective, you see and understand how people living in those areas see them in a very different way than people who just interact with things such as natural gas because of the economic dependence on those industries. When you’re looking at your house and your kids’ college fund and your vacation every year, and seeing how that is coming out of where you’re making your money, then it’s a lot easier to enjoy the product and look away from the negative things.

Moving on into energy, Ontario did a very strong push away from coal, taking that away completely from our energy infrastructure. We started to build things like windmills and solar panels. I’ve gone in to talk to people who own properties [that will be built on] and people who are going to be living next to these properties – You get that feeling of the fear of the unknown and the “not in my backyard” mentality that can creep in when looking at your own life through just your immediate situation. When you look at the historical significance of this, you see that it is more than the immediate problem; it is something that will take some getting used to just like power lines were, and roads and even farmers’ fields. You realize the importance of these things and because you’ve seen them for years, they don’t look like anything anymore.

KRW: I think that we’ve become so reliant on our resource-based economy that it is hard for us to imagine doing things differently. Meanwhile we argue that to bring our country into the 21st century, we should become both stronger environmental leaders and innovators.

A\J: We’ve been speaking on very large scales (countries), but many responsibilities are pushed to the municipalities even though they don’t hold enough power to create or revise broadly applicable laws. So what can municipalities do, or what are they trying to do, to enhance climate action?

RK: This is a really great question, and I think that answering questions like this helps to give the individual a bit more understanding of the power that they may have. Although municipalities are small-scale, and their impact on a world scale may not seem too big, at this point what we need more than anything, are some real-life proofs – case studies – of successful innovations and strategies that have led to energy, carbon and money savings. Some of the more proactive green energy communities in Canada will be ahead of the [green energy] curve when it comes to setting up infrastructure and benefitting from it as the initial startup costs turn into the minimal maintenance costs, which turn into savings passed onto customers.

KRW: At the community level, there are much better opportunities for engagement. I think that is critical because part of this transition is about changing our own relationships with the natural environment, with each other, and with energy – especially in the west. We are very used to energy being a top-down, centralized infrastructure that we don’t really participate in, as consumers. One of the exciting things about clean energy is the idea of distributing energy and the fact that people are actually producing, trading and distributing their own energy. That is very empowering. One initiative that I worked with prior to my Master’s degree, which A\J did a write-up on some time ago, is to get climate change warning labels at gas stations as a market signal to really help push infrastructure and markets toward greener energy. That is entirely focused at the municipal level – there’s a lot more room for innovation at the municipal level than at the federal level right now.

A\J: You mentioned individual action; how can individual action mitigate climate change, or other environmental issues in the world?

KRW: What we are trying to do is build a vision of what is possible. If people start to imagine what their world could look like, outside of a disaster narrative, then it can be something very exciting to strive towards. You have an idea of what you want to start pushing yourself towards, and that will make you more engaged in all kinds of different ways in your life. In general, if people can get excited about what some of the opportunities are, that is a much better motivator to act than fear alone.

In terms of specifically how individuals can get more engaged, I believe that as much as we can make individual changes in our lives, becoming more civically or politically engaged is really important, to ensure we are making the right policy decisions as a country. Individually, calling your MPs, getting involved in local climate advocacy groups, becoming more informed about clean energy, rebuilding community – all of those are very positive things to start building an idea of the community that we want. That is the big question for Canada: What is the Canada that we want?

A\J: Moving forward, should we teach the next generation more about climate action earlier on, to reach out and get them to be knowledgeable on this topic?

KRW: The resounding answer is ‘Yes!’ I taught high school for a few years, and that is what got me interested in this issue. The bottom line is that for such a global issue that really will shape our future and the contours of this century more than any other, it really should be integrated into all kinds of other course curriculums. Climate change should be a topic that is touched on across the board. One of the biggest shames is that it has been sidelined as merely an environmental issue. It’s not, it is so much more than an environmental issue. I think that we should start in grade school. We already do by teaching our kids the greenhouse effect; that’s the very basics of climate change. It should continue right through into university education.

RELATED: Generation Green

RK: Kai really hit the nail on the head there with the interdisciplinary aspect that shows people just how all-encompassing it is. In geography class it can be about human geography; in history class it can be learning how society has been affected by drought. In the end, understanding our current times is informed by what has happened in the past. But just as our film strives to do, when teaching our youth, it is important to hit them on all emotional levels. The idea of creating a situation that might scare someone or make them feel like they are powerless to some wave of uncertainty coming toward them is not helpful. We should be very sensitive going into the education realm so as to focus on how a clean sustainable way of life is going to benefit them going forward.

To beat the old cliché into the ground, the children are the future and are the ones who will be carrying on what we have established. If history has taught us anything, it is that no [singular] generation can completely flip a culture. It takes the support of the next three or four generations to solidify a new way of life. Start young, because it is much harder to keep yourself at something that you are not familiar with in your advanced years.

A\J: What are you most excited for viewers to see in the film?

RK: I am most excited for our viewers to see how easy it is to contribute to sustainable activity. There is an abundance of entry points to the realm of climate action and responsible stewardship of our planet, from small to monumental, and our film will give you dozens of options to consider, proving that you don’t have to do everything yourself to make a difference.

KRW: I’m excited for folks to get genuinely excited about the future clean energy society that is opening up before us, and shake off the shackles of our fossil fuel past! There is so much to get excited about, as Ray said, in building a more sustainable future – we just have to desire and fight for it.

Be sure to check out their crowdfund campaign for the remaining production and post-production expenses of the film – donations above $5 come with perks!

The post Mobilizing the Public to Move Beyond Crisis appeared first on A\J.

We spend most of our lives at work—where levels of disengagement are at an all-time high, according to the Conference Board of Canada. This is bad for our economy, since disengaged workers are less productive. It’s also bad for workers and their families, who live the daily physical and mental stress of the disconnect between their work and their hopes of personal fulfillment.

Low work engagement is not an irreversible element of the modern human condition. The sixth and final installment of our Eco-Polymaths series explores the importance of spending our working lives in alignment with personal values.

“When we focus on the contribution we are making to the world, we are energized,” explains Milisa Burns, a Toronto-based life coach. “Connecting with your purpose in life is energizing because you are connecting to something larger than yourself, and to your values. Your purpose is like a golden thread that weaves together all your values, strengths and passions.”

While engaging in purposeful work is a large part of purposeful living, we are often forced to make trade-offs and difficult decisions. Financial pressures keep many of us in jobs that are ultimately unsatisfying. For others, a life crisis “forces them to do something about the disconnect” between work and values, continues Burns.

For Sustainability Television founder and CEO Jason Robinson, the catalyst was a family crisis. “My mom got cancer,” says Robinson, who lives in Richmond, British Columbia. “I took care of her needs every day as she battled to survive, through various cancer treatments. The experience made me think about what I will have achieved by the end of my own life.”

Robinson took a leap of faith, initially fuelled by his own savings, and launched Sustainability TV in 2007 to align his values with his work. The online media channel showcases inspiring videos and stories about environmental, social and financial innovation around the world. Its tagline is “good stories, about good people, doing really good things.”

“We go out into communities to film things that help us realize what a sustainable world should look like,” explains Robinson.

His passion for sustainability started early and intensified in adulthood as he realized the environmental damage created by modern life. “I grew up with a connection to the mountains, rivers, the ocean. I was forever changed the moment I stood at the mouth of a river of filth flowing out into pristine blue waters.”

While Robinson started his career in finance, he took a number of detours along the way, each “prompted by something that forced a change in my perspective,” he recalls. “I became injured and couldn’t work; the financial market melted down; my mother got cancer. Each time, I had to reevaluate what my skills were, what direction I wanted to go in, where could I make a living.”

Robinson has worked on gas-drilling rigs in remote areas of northern Alberta and British Columbia as a first-aid attendant, and volunteered with the Naval Reserve. He has also acted and modeled on a part-time basis for print, film and TV. Finding the courage to embrace new career paths when forced to by circumstance helped Robinson build the confidence he drew on in launching his own business.

In typical eco-polymath fashion, Robinson has created a role that draws on experiences he has gathered from many disparate places. “I use all of my skills here at Sustainability TV,” he shares. “My business skills, my interest in people’s stories, and my experience in film.”

Sustainability TV is non-partisan, positive and inclusive by design. Whether videos and stories are produced by the channel’s in-house film crew, users or corporate sponsors, all three content streams must be solution-focused. “Too much negativity kills your soul. I want to light people up and co-create a positive future, starting today,” states Robinson.

Sustainability TV fills a gap in television programming by spreading awareness about local environmental health issues, disseminating innovative approaches to community resilience, and telling other grassroots stories. In a world where independent media is struggling, Robinson’s business model is inspired by social media.

When confronted by fears familiar to entrepreneurs—fear of failure, fear of financial ruin, fear of the unknown—Robinson moves forward by applying “an unrelenting focus on the incredibly important work of community sustainability,” he says. “I don’t measure my success by how much money I make. I measure it by my utility to society. That’s my modus operandi. That’s the social enterprise ethic of Sustainability TV.”

The courage that comes from meaningful engagement is a defining trait of people working in environmental fields. “Focusing on our human need to contribute to the world in a meaningful way helps us manage our fears,” observes Burns, the life coach.

Engaged workers have a palpable drive, commitment and agility. Even just one can create ripple effects through his or her productivity and resilience, inspiring change in the community and beyond.

The post Creating a Values-Driven Career appeared first on A\J.

It is essential that companies promote sustainability in order to ensure that modes of production and distribution are not negatively affecting the planet that we inhabit.

THE FASHION INDUSTRY has a serious environmental footprint. Cotton, one of the most popular fabrics in the world, uses a significant amount of pesticides, while many textile preservatives and disposal methods cause pollution. Animals are exploited in order to help generate a profit, and many workers are placed in extremely harsh labour conditions.

It is essential that companies promote sustainability in order to ensure that modes of production and distribution are not negatively affecting the planet that we inhabit.

The annual World Ethical Apparel Roundtable conference advocates exactly this by supporting sustainable business practices and transparent supply chains.

The WEAR conference was organized by Fashion Takes Action, which is a non-profit organization that strives to promote environmental sustainability within the fashion industry.

“It is really important for everyone in the Canadian fashion industry… to be aware of how our work affects the planet,” said Kelly Drennan, producer of the WEAR conference. “I feel that the World Ethical Apparel Roundtable did a great job of bringing all of these stakeholders together and kicking off an important discussion about being leaders in making positive change.”

Speakers that appeared at the two-day conference represented key players in the fashion industry, some including Gildan Activewear, Eileen Fisher, Mountain Equipment Co-op and H&M Canada.

H&M is the world’s second-largest fast fashion retailer, and currently operates in 54 countries. H&M’s initiatives promote sustainability and transparency within the fashion industry through a variety of initiatives, including supporting fair working conditions and a living wage for textile workers, animal welfare, water conservation, utilizing more sustainable materials, and garment collecting and recycling, which helps to reduce the waste of old products.

Emily Scarlett, H&M Canada spokesperson said:

“H&M wants consumers to take care of their clothes so they last longer and so we’re promoting our new clever care labels that teach the customer about more sustainable washing practices, but probably our biggest achievement so far in sustainability is around our clothing recycling program.”

The program has already collected just over 4,000 tonnes of clothing, which is essentially enough to produce 25 million t-shirts.

At the WEAR conference, H&M Canada spoke about their new and innovative initiatives, hoping to influence other stakeholders within the fashion industry.

Hydrated World, a recently established company out of Kitchener-Waterloo, attended the WEAR conference hoping to learn more about the fashion industry, make connections and understand how to sustainably contribute to the industry.

Hydrated World was established by Aleks Poldma and Spencer Kelley in late 2013. Their goal is to help to eliminate the global water crisis.

Hydrated World has partnered with the Safe Water Project, an initiative supported by Enviro-Stewards Inc. to help combat the global water crisis. In the world today, over one billion people currently live without clean drinking water, and 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation.

Hydrated World sells t-shirts, crewneck sweaters, hoodies, hats and baseball shirts, with $3.00 per item being allocated to the Safe Water Project.

The Safe Water Project is based in South Sudan, and focuses on development as opposed to relief.

“The Safe Water Project teaches people – locals – to build biofilters, which are actually very low-tech, out of native materials,” explained Poldma.

The biofilters are created out of gravel, sand and cement. Initially, individuals from the Safe Water Project traveled to South Sudan in order to teach locals how to build the biofilters. This still occurs periodically, but locals have been taught to run the project and provide each other with the required training. The locals are able to create businesses selling these biofilters to the community.

Sometimes the Safe Water Project will pay for a filter if locals cannot afford it, but oftentimes the business owners are paid commission if they are producing sales on the biofilters.

Hydrated World’s garments are manufactured from cotton, cotton-polyester blends and bamboo. The company is aiming toward more organic fabric, as well as an expansion in product quality.

Hydrated World has sold about $30,000 worth of merchandise so far.

“I think it is important for businesses to take leadership and show others – show consumers, show other businesses – that doing good for the world is necessary to actually do well in business,” finished Poldma. 

The post Pushing Fashion Sustainability Forward appeared first on A\J.