Sustainability

Why is trying to be sustainable important?

First things first: Not to get too doom and gloom here, but if you’ve looked out the window or picked up a paper lately, you’ve probably noticed that things aren’t going too well. Floods, fires, heat waves, cold spells, hurricanes – humanity has been consuming at a rate that the planet just can’t keep up with for much longer. One might think that “fashion is silly”, and “why should I care about how I dress anyway”!! Well, did you know that the fashion industry is estimated to contribute approximately 2.1 BILLION TONNES of greenhouse gas emissions in a single year, which is comparable to the emissions of France, Germany and the UK combined? (1)

Fashion is Political

If our efforts to reduce fashion’s impact are not rapidly accelerated, emissions are predicted to rise to 2.7 billion tonnes a year by 2030. The colossal carbon impact of clothing happens at every stage of the fashion supply chain and product lifecycle, but 70% of fashion’s emissions originate from upstream activities such as raw material production and processing (1). And the problem is not just fossil fuels, it’s also water, microplastics, etc. This is the biggest reason why I use vintage beads in my designs – as they have already been produced, they aren’t adding to all this production of new materials; and I’m also saving them from going to landfill by giving them a new use. Why create new materials when there’s so much already available?

The fashion industry as a whole produces about 150 BILLION garments every year, which is about 20 new garments per person per year (2). However, almost half of the world population can’t afford to buy all these new things, so we can assume that a lot of these garments don’t even get sold. Fashion Revolution estimates that, considering a sell-through rate (both full and discounted) of a very generous 90%, then potentially 15 billion items of clothing (10% of the 150 billion being produced) become ‘deadstock’ every year, most of which end up going to landfill or incinerated. All this means the fashion industry is grossly wasting materials and overproducing.

There’s also the problem of overconsumption in the Global North. For example, North Americans purchase an average of 68 new garments a year, according to this WSJ article. It might seem contradictory to have both overproduction and also overconsumption in the fashion industry, but this just goes to show much overproduction is happening. No one needs 68 new garments every year: This is why there are mountains of clothes washing up in the beaches of Ghana; people buy trendy new clothes, or get special clothes made to go to a specific event, and then think that if they donate what they don’t wear anymore the problem of overconsumption is solved. Except that, why would anyone want your used marathon shirt? In fact, according to a 2019 report from the UK government’s Environmental Audit Committee, only about 30 percent of donations are actually resold within the UK (read more in this article).

This “need” to buy so many new clothes is created by the fast fashion industry, which depends on us buying a lot and more often than ever to grow at the rate their shareholders want them to. Fashion trends are just a way to make us feel “less than” if we don’t have the latest trendy vest or whatever. Fast fashion companies make their garments the cheapest way possible, so they fall apart way too fast, making us need to buy more, more often.

Do listen to, well, all episodes of the Clotheshorse podcast, but if you need to choose some to start with, listen to episodes 97 through 99, with the participation of some of the amazing team behind the OR Foundation. The facts they share about where our “dead white man’s clothes” actually end up when we donate them are terrifying.

The ecological impact isn’t the only issue with fast fashion. Because these companies blatantly value profits over humans, they don’t make an effort to ensure their full supply chain workers are treated well and make living wages. Companies like Urban Outfitters and Anthropology have been confirmed to use forced Uyghur labour in their supply chain (read more about the Uyghur’s genocide here). A lot of fast fashion companies cancelled orders when Covid hit in 2020 and refused to pay for them, even though they had already been produced by the time they were cancelled. This meant millions of garment workers were laid off without pay for work they had already delivered (read more on the #PayUp movement here). And this is not the only way people from the Global South are suffering because of our overproduction and overconsumption - they also suffer the biggest consequences of global warming, even though they 1) weren’t responsible for the vast majority of emissions that got us here and 2) don’t have the financial means to get through these crises.

In summary, a lot of people are suffering for us to get that trendy smiley necklace/vest/scented candle for 2£ at Primark, and then these items end up at a landfill with no second thought :(

The Perils of Greenwashing

Some fast fashion companies try to manipulate us into buying more by claiming to be sustainable. The first one that comes to mind is H&M, who launch those “conscious” lines that have some small quantity of recycled fabrics, but what about the rest of the thousands of products they drop every month? How about the workers’ rights in their supply chain?

Amanda from Clothershorse has great tips on how to identify if a company is greenwashing (see this excellent post or this other excellent post, or listen to episode 95 of the podcast). There’s so much greenwashing going on that even using the qualifier “sustainable” as a brand has a bad rep now, but I also feel like I need to convey my efforts at trying to decrease Luneta’s impact on earth somehow, so I don’t really see a better adjective!

How Sustainable is Luneta, then?

In short: We’re trying.

If you’ve read this far, now you might be thinking: “But, Marianna, can any company even be sustainable then? Are you greenwashing us? 😱”. I am most definitely not! But, within the capitalist society that we live in now, it’s probably impossible to be completely sustainable. To be honest with you, I am conflicted about trying to promote a decrease in consumption at the same time that I’m trying to sell my creations and curated selections to you. Sadly, the only way I can survive and keep a roof over my head (and yes, I’d also like to travel sometimes and in general enjoy life, but I have no intentions of becoming a billionaire) is by selling my labour and things I make. You, on the other hand, were probably also going to buy jewellery anyway, so buying from a small business who’s trying to put humans over profits is always better!

Please read on about how I try to insert myself and Luneta in this capitalist system whilst trying to be as sustainable as possible, at least with the resources and knowledge I have.

Size Matters

Luneta is a one-woman brand (it’s just me, Marianna, a Brazilian immigrant living in the UK. Hi!). This means that, as a company, it’s a lot easier for me to make changes towards being more sustainable and ethical. Amanda from Clotheshorse (yes, I’m mentioning her and the podcast a lot because I legit love it and learn so much from it!) has a great analogy to describe this: “Imagine how easy it is to to turn a bike around: This is small business. Now imagine how hard it would be to turn a huge cruise ship around: This is big business”.

Materials & Transparent Supply Chain

The vast majority of what I sell is jewellery handmade by me using rare vintage beads, i.e. beads that were made over 20 years ago, giving them a new lease on life and potentially saving them from going to a landfill. I source them on eBay and Etsy, mostly buying broken vintage jewellery to take apart, and the vast majority comes from people like you and me looking to mindfully rehome old stuff they don’t want anymore. Sometimes I also buy deadstock vintage beads from small shops or warehouses that happen to have old stock of materials. Because these beads were made so many years ago, I can’t look into their supply chain, but by giving these materials new life at least I’m honouring all the labour that went into producing them.

The other main type of material I use for my jewellery are metal findings, like clasps, chains, earring posts, earring backs, etc. The reason I avoid using vintage metal findings is because toxic substances like nickel and lead used to be freely permitted in the industry, so by buying new I can ensure they are suitable for sensitive skin. I also prioritize quality materials, like gold-fill and sterling silver, as I want my jewellery to last longer. My main supplier for them is Cooksongold, who seem to make legitimate efforts towards having an ethical and sustainable business, including auditing their supply chain (read more here). Some of the findings I source from them are made from 100% recycled silver, which is amazing! My second supplier, which I only use if Cooksongold doesn’t have what I need in stock, is Bellore Rashbel, a company based in London. They don’t have an ethics/sustainability page on their website, which is why I avoid sourcing from them when I can. The only type of finding I use that doesn’t come from these two companies are earring posts with a setting for stones (like these ones), which I buy from a small business on Etsy. That business is based in the US and make everything in the US. Although being made in the US doesn’t mean their workers are being a paid a living wage, I am following up with them on this and have been trying to find other suppliers as well in the mentime. If you happen to have any leads, do let me know!

One thing I’d like to point out is that I use silk thread for my necklaces. These threads are made in Germany, a country that has good systems in place to guarantee workers’ rights. Although silk isn’t vegan, I prefer it to the alternative, nylon, which is a kind of plastic, which is made from oil. If you’d prefer me to use nylon thread for your necklace, just let me know during checkout. It’s one of those situations where we have to choose what we value more, not using fossil fuels or animal rights :/

The remainder of what I sell is “original” vintage, which just means I’m selling it as I found it, which I also source on Etsy and eBay. This includes not only jewellery, but also vintage jewellery boxes and unused vintage greeting cards. Again, their being vintage means I don’t have access to their supply chain, but we’re keeping them from the landfill!

You’ll probably notice that the majority of props I use for photographs and markets are also second-hand and/or vintage. I try to use things I already own before purchasing anything else, and always with a #SecondhandFirst approach.

Production Methods

My creations are handmade by me at my house in London. I don’t currently employ anyone else and I have been trying to pay myself a living wage XD They are made to order, that is, I make one of each design to take pictures of, and only produce more if I happen to have enough vintage beads and it’s sold – this also leads to less waste. The only exception to this rule is when I do markets, in which case I make a few of the most popular designs if I have enough of the same beads to make more than one.

Recyclable Paper Packaging

Our mailers/postal boxes come from DS Smith, who have been making sizable efforts towards auditing their supply chain and implementing ecofriendly practices (read their sustainability report here and about their supply chain here). Our jewellery boxes come from the the Tiny Box Company and are made from 100% recycled materials, besides being recyclable — except for the non-tarnishing insert in the boxes, which are only recyclable in specialty centers. I do hope that everyone is keeping their Lunetas safe in their little boxes though, when not in use :) If I need tape, I always use recyclable washi tapes and kraft tapes.

I stamp my branding onto my mailers and kraft bags using water-based ink, and I only send a paper card with a thank you message to the customer. I want my customers to keep the jewellery boxes that come with their order to protect their jewellery, and because I know no one wants to see my logo all the time, instead of adding my branding to the boxes I put cute paper stickers with vintage paintings on them instead. I don’t add packing slips, promotional stickers or other marketing materials about Luneta in to avoid further waste.

If you buy bigger items from me, like vintage jewellery boxes, I will reuse boxes and padding material I save from my own online purchases and from the shop I work part-time at.

See what our packaging looks like here.

Delivery Services

I use Royal Mail as they have the have the lowest reported carbon footprint per delivery in the UK. I sincerely hope they listen to the strikes and give raises to the posties, but I choose Royal Mail over the other delivery providers like Hermes/Evri as gig workers are treated and paid even worse. Recently, when Royal Mail was on strike, I used DPD, who also make good efforts towards sustainability.

Carbon Footprint

As I know some of my materials travel to get to me, and in effort to further offset my impact on the planet, I’ve partnered with Ecologi since November 2020 to support climate projects like planting trees and building wind power around the world. Since joining and as of January 2023, I’ve offset more than 17 tonnes fo CO2, equivalent to 13 long haul flights, 52 square metres of sea ice saved, and more than 42,000 miles in a car. Read more about our impact here!

Lifetime Repairs Program

I want your Lunetas to be future heirlooms, to last for generations. This is why I’m happy to offer a lifetime repair service!

a. If an item is faulty upon receipt, please email hi@lunetacreations.com as soon as possible so we can work things out, including a photo so I can see the damage. We run an end-to-end quality assurance of our pieces before posting them your way, but since this is a manual process, sometimes we overlook something or the item can get damaged during shipping.

If this unfortunately happens, we can repair or replace your jewellery (when possible) free of charge, besides providing a returns postage label up to £4.50 (UK) or £12.50 (international) and sending it back to you, also free of charge. You can also return a faulty item for a full refund within 30 days of receiving it, in which case we will provide a returns postage label.

Please note, we only pay for return postage if your item is damaged upon arrival. If you just wish to return it, then we ask that you pay for all postage costs. Read more about our returns policy here

b. If the item needs repairing due to mistreatment or accidental damage (e.g. falling on the floor, getting caught on your scarf, etc), we’re still happy to try and repair it, but ask you to cover all postage costs. Please note that our beads are vintage and may no longer be available, so the repaired item might use substitute vintage beads. Email hi@lunetacreations.com so we can discuss options :)

End-of-life Program

Last year, a lovely customer reached out asking if I had a buy back program, as she hadn’t been wearing her necklace a lot and thought it deserved more love! I’ve now researched and done some benchmarking, and am happy to announce that yes: If your style changes and you no longer wish to keep a particular Luneta design, it’s been more than 30 days since you received your design and you have worn the item, please do the following:

Customer gets in touch via email (hi@lunetacreations.com) about what item they'd like to send back
Customer pays to send the item back to me via tracked delivery
Once the package is received and matches the item, we send the customer a gift voucher for their next Luneta purchase. This gift voucher does not expire and will amount to either £5 off, if your design had originally cost less than £40, or £10 off, if it had originally cost more than £40
I will either renew/repair the piece and offer it as pre-loved items to new customers, or take the piece apart and incorporate its vintage beads in new designs.

If it has been less than 30 days since you purchased your Lunetas, they haven’t been worn (i.e. are in the same condition and packaging you received them in) & aren’t pierced earrings, then you can return it for a full refund (excluding postage costs). Read more about our returns policy here.

Feedback? Suggestions?

I’m always learning and trying new ways to be a sustainable brand. Please do reach out via email at hi@lunetacreations.com or DM us on instagram if you have any questions or suggestions ✨

Sources

(1) Source: Fashion on Climate report, 2020. Visited on January 31, 2023.
(2) Data point from this 2015 MIT article: “In 2010, the global apparel industry produced more than 150 billion garments — enough to provide more than 20 new articles of clothing to every person on the planet.” Visited on January 31, 2023.