Despite the many preconceptions, sustainability can also be quite cool and fashionable. As I found out this week when I started the horror of christmas shopping and stopped by Lush.
Now, amid the walls lined in multicoloured gift wrapped boxes, all containing different gift ideas, with different prices and different sized, I found that I was after a unique present, something that not everyone had. Whilst trying to decipher whether the glittering white £18 ribboned body product box was going to do me any good, I was directed to the "scarf wrapping" after stressing I wanted a present that was unique and special. And she was right.
Lush are big very big on non-animal testing for the products and indeed, come from an ethical stand point, so there is no suprise that sustainability is one of their ethos as well. Cleverly done, the brand allow you to pick a vintage scarf to wrap your chosen products in. The scarf does cost but not much, and when chosen correctly, can be used as a fashion accessory for a bag, around the neck as part of an outfit, or even in the hair.
The scarf was then twisted into a series of knots, and you could indeed pick what kind of shape to have the scarf made into - I chose a bag shape to hold the products inside. The products I chose were also labelled with name, ingredients and how to use.
Now for unique present wrapping, this definitely stands out. The idea of having the scarf as the wrapping but also being able to use as an accessory is smart thinking, and does indeed change the idea of sustainable fashion, showing how reusing previously owned items for other uses can redefine the original object.
What if this christmas, as consumers, we find new and exciting ways to wrap our presents? The newspaper your parents collect, the packing from online websites, the scarf you don't really like to wear anymore, all can be used and changed (think paper + ink + staining) to redefine the unused objects concept, saving both our pay checks and the environment.
Sustainability - reuse, resell, redefine.
