2024 Eco-Fashion and Lifestyle Award Finalists
SPONSORED BY
For furnishings, appliances, clothing, accessories and materials that whilst serving the needs of human beings are also supportive of and beneficial for the Earth’s biodiversity and eco-systems.
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AECI: From Bottles to Bags
The global push towards sustainability has spurred innovative collaborations aimed at fostering a circular economy – an economic model designed to minimise waste and maximise resource efficiency. To demonstrate our commitment toward sustainable development, we have expanded our partnership with PETCO to include another element to the waste management value chain. In this endeavor, PETCO, our partner in sustainable social responsibility, has joined forces with Masekethele, a prominent waste management enterprise, to champion environmental stewardship through circularity initiatives. An initiative that transforms lives and waste “from bottles to bags”. This initiative was inspired and motivated by women waste collectors, who chose to create a better life for themselves and their families by converting recycled plastic into various products that can be sold for an income. PETCO is spearheading the operation to make recycling a circular economy, where the value of a plastic bottle continues indefinitely. With the support from AECI in collaboration with PETCO and Masekethele, 150,000 women are empowered in various communities aiding in sustainability and job creation.
Chic Mamas Do Care & Love It Again
I am Abigel Sheridan, Founder of Chic Mamas Do Care, a social enterprise & NPO grown out of my own living room in 2010. We promote a circular economy and an eco-conscious community where we facilitate the sale and swap of good quality pre-loved clothing. Today we operate in 3 different locations as well as our online marketplace, Love It Again (delivers nationwide). We have over 40 000 followers on many social media platforms and the number is still growing. Last year alone, we sold and swapped over 11,000 garments, saved tons of clothing from the landfill and supported many communities where we supply and re-distribute pre-loved garments (as the need is enormous). We are like an upmarket recycle depot: nothing goes wasted.
We are promoting slow fashion, our Swap4Charity initiative creates a circular economy and raising awareness of environmental issues. Our caring community is contributing to sustainable living. We give all of our profit away to educate children in need. We care.
Sealand Gear
Inspired by Cape Town, our love for adventure, and our mission to protect the outdoors - Sealand is a lifestyle brand that focuses on responsibly made gear and apparel. Our mission is to ensure that every decision we make keeps the planet and its people front and center. With this in mind, all of our bags and apparel are made from waste or responsibly and ethically sourced materials.
The textile waste or responsibly sourced material is then combined with high-quality hardware, innovative design, and expert craftsmanship to create gear that will last a lifetime. Our sustainable materials are sturdy and weather-resistant, making them perfect for any adventure.
Sealand believes in an alternative way of doing business. We believe in discovering new paths that will create positive change for people and the planet. We live, breathe, and sleep sustainability. We prioritise people and the planet. From a people perspective, we value the people who are connected to our brand - we pay our staff a living wage, not minimum wage. We highlight the real champions in our business through an initiative called ‘Name in a Bag’, the personal label of each craftsperson's name in every bag we make, to show the handmade nature and professionalism that goes into every piece of gear - these are unique pieces made by individuals, not a production line. We value diversity and equality across all of our divisions and support Sentinel Ocean Alliance ocean stewardship projects with both product and monetary donations to continue to make a positive impact across our community.
From a planet view, we look at creating value from previously used materials through upcycling and recycling. We upcycle textile waste from the retail industry and utilise regenerated and recycled fabrics where we need to source other materials. We build products that are designed to last, but if and when they have problems we repair them free of charge, again looking to keep these products in usage for as long as possible. In our apparel range, we utilise organic natural inputs such as cotton and hemp, and recycled polyester where necessary, keeping demand on valuable feedstocks and resources as low as we can.
Sealand creates bags and apparel and has 5 of its own retail stores around the country.