Creative director of Envelope1976, Celine Aagaard, and CEO of eco.logic, Pia Nordskaug were interviewed by the legendary magazine, THE MONOCLE.

Read it here.

Fashion for Ocean

Passion for Ocean Festival is a 24-hour tribute to the ocean, where the goal is to create good experiences and relationships with all the wonders that take place on, by or under the surface. They want to motivate people and influence business to make better choices when it comes to impacting the ocean. They do this through projects that engage, provide knowledge and show the many possibilities of the sea.

We were so lucky to be a part of Fashion for Ocean and helped with breaking down the myths and truths, along with other talented people, about the fashion industry.

“We need transparency in the industry and share our thoughts for a more sustainable future within fashion”
– Pia Nordskaug, CEO

“Jeg drømmer om en mer bærekraftig moteindustri! Færre sesonger, resirkulerte materialer, produsenter som tar ansvar og skikkelig kravstore forbrukere.” 

-Pia Nordskaug, CEO eco.logic

Plan an eco.friendlier easter

Spring is finally here, with longer and brighter days and warmer temperatures. One of the things to come as spring approaches is Easter. For those making the commitment to live greener lives, Easter can present a few moments of unease. These green ideas will help you stay true to the traditions of Easter, without causing unintentional harm to the planet.

Easter egg

A few years ago the UK government’s Waste Advisory Body, Wrap, calculated that the 80 million Easter eggs brits buy each year come with around 3,000 tonnes of packaging – a significant amount of it plastic waste. But it is almost impossible to celebrate Easter without the Easter eggs. Many people enjoy filling Easter eggs with candy and toys. Instead of chocolate bunnies this year, go for rich organic treats instead. Another option kids love is fresh fruit, or consider making your own easter treats. Another great idea for filling the eggs involves garden tools and seeds, children love planting things and watching them grow. When it comes to the egg itself, try to buy something timeless that can last for several years without you or your children getting tired of it. An option is to swap your Easter eggs with your friends or family members to get some variation from last Easter.

Always remember to reduce consumption, reuse and recycle, and when you have to purchase something, purchase quality eco.friendly products.

Decorations

Avoid purchasing plastic, short-lived decorations, instead look for long-lasting decorations that are either fair trade or green products. Decorate the house with self-painted eggs, daffodils and a bowl filled with organic candy. For the self-painted eggs try natural dye kits, and for those who have a little more time to invest in creating eggs is to create your own egg coloring using natural ingredients. Search for tutorials online and create a fun Easter activity with friends and family.

Traveling for easter

An important consideration is travel. If you are flying home for Easter, consider purchasing carbon offsets to reduce your carbon footprint, and look for other alternatives like train or bus. If driving, consider traveling in hybrid vehicles. Another thing you could consider to reduce your carbon footprint while traveling is to pack your own food, drinks, and snacks. This will help to reduce the waste associated with fast food and grocery store snacks. It only takes a little extra time to prepare, and gives you healthier, greener food while you are on the go.

Norwegians

For us Norwegians Easter is often associated with snow, skiing, good food and getting as much sun as possible. It is important to use ski wax without fluoride to avoid exposing both yourself and the nature to harmful substance. Buy eco.friendly and health friendly sunscreen, it is both good for you and the environment. Try to buy local food to support the local farmers and diaries, and skip the long-distance shipped food. When you know where your food comes from you can be confident that your food is a good choice for the planet.

Single-use refers to products – often plastic – that are made to be used once only before disposal, and has been selected as Collins’ Word of the Year 2018. The word has increased four times in use since 2013, with news stories and images raising public awareness of the issue. From plastic bottles, straws to bags, we have become more conscious of how our habits and behaviors can impact the environment.

The EU Parliament have also taken action, and will be introducing a ban on single-use plastic items. This will include plates, straws and cutlery. One of the reasons behind this is to contribute to save our oceans from plastic pollution as the scale of the ocean plastic crises has reached horrifying heights. Predictions is stating that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the sea than fish.

Pia Nordskaug, CEO of eco.logic, recommends that not only individuals should take this into consideration, but also that businesses should set good standards for a plastic-free environment and inspire the employees to use less single-use products. Plastic pollution is a global epidemic that we all need to address, and our efforts as individuals are important. We, as consumers, have the power to choose whether to support the plastic production industry, or to reject it and go plastic free.

It is time to take action – here are some simple ideas for reducing plastic use at your workplace:

The day-to-day running
A good start is to make sure that office supplies don’t come in unnecessary plastic packaging, and to look for alternatives to plastic for products in general. Do not replace plastic products with an alternative that is no better for the environment. While you may be responsible for the day-to-day running of your business, you can also encourage change in your employees.

Get your employees ombord
Encourage team members to bring in leftovers from home or take bowls from the kitchen to the corner deli for lunch instead of buying food wrapped in disposable plastic. It is even better to provide the employees with cooking facilities so they can make something tasty instead of going out buying lunch.

Ban single-use plastic
To be ahead of the curve you should impose your own ban on single-use plastic bottles and straws at your office to encourage employees to bring in refillable and reusable items. Again, make sure to provide the employees with easily accessible reusables in kitchen and canteens.

Recycle
As well as attempting to eliminate plastic you should also ensure that your employees are following the best practice when it comes to recycling. It is difficult to avoid and replace all plastic products at an office, but make sure to recycle where you can.

Plastic hangers
At eco.logic we completely avoid using plastic hangers. Plastic hangers are lower quality with a lower lifespan and will just contribute to plastic pollution.

Encourage eco habits
Most of the time we buy products that we don’t actually need based on habit, when we could swap them for other more easily recyclable or sustainable solutions. One way to encourage more eco.friendly habits is to consider gifting employees with coffee cups and reusable water bottles. You can also run competitions at the office to see who can reduce their plastic waste by the most, and incentivize your employees to become eco.friendlier.

european green capital

The European Commission awarded Oslo with the European Green Capital title for 2019, and we are more than excited to see what’s to come in 2019 for our beloved city. Being the European Green Capital is a great recognition and an opportunity to inspire people to a more green living, both international and to Oslo’s population. 2019 will be about spreading knowledge, inspire and mobilize the citizens, and we hope more people will take eco.friendlier choices and be more aware of the difference we can make when we stand together.

The goal is to cut emissions by 50% by 2020 (compared to 1990) and to be carbon neutral by 2050. Oslo has introduced several measures to achieve these goals, they have, amongst other things, improved the public transport infrastructure and encouraged to use zero emissions transport. A fun fact is that Oslo has become the “Electric Vehicle Capital of the World” with 30% of all vehicles now sold in the city being electric.

Overconsumption on Black Friday

Black Friday is one of the busiest and most competitive shopping days of the year. It is the day when retailer tries to convince you to shop as much as you can, opening their stores early and offering large discounts. Picking up on this, forward-thinking companies are taking a stand against the overconsumption surrounding this day, and we are no exception.

We will avoid Black Friday on the basis of the negative impacts on the environment created by pushing manufacturers to increase their production. We love retail and serving our customer, but we are even more passionate about our vision to provide sustainable, ethical and high quality designs, and to create environmental awareness. The increased consumption and waste level is critical for the environment, and we are encouraging other retailers to join the stand against Black Friday.

We have gathered some facts about Black Friday to put things in perspective:

• Last year, 2017, Norwegians used around 3,6 billions NOK in stores on Friday alone. In other words, 2,5 millions NOK per minute.
  (Source: Handelsorganisasjonen Virke)
  
• Three out of five shoppers feel pressured to buy something on Black Friday. As many as a third have ended up buying something they’ve already have, simply because it’s cheap.
  (Source: Survey by Opinion Matters)
  
• 14 percent of products will have prices similar to their normal in-store costs, while 17 percent of items will actually be more expensive this day than it is usually priced.
  (Source: Study by WalletHub)

We understand that it is difficult to resist the tempting discounts, but we hope people will think about the environmental impacts of their consumption and buy less, and as well to reflect before spending money on things you necessarily do not need. We have decided to go against the «flow» and not offer any discounts on our brands. We will instead adjust the price on Nieu Clothing in the occasion of Black Friday up with 100 NOK, and the profit we earn this day will go to the charity organization Erlik Oslo. As we say in Nieu: #nobiggie

Sincerely,

The value of being transparent

We often mention the importance of sustainability, and we believe there are many ways of being more sustainable in this industry. Our vision is to provide sustainable, ethical and high quality designs, and to create environmental awareness. But a vision is a statement that outlines what a company wants to be in the future, and it is important to understand that there is no way to be fully environmental friendly when producing clothes. At least not yet. If we were going to claim that we are a 100% sustainable, the right thing to do would be to NOT produce anything, and the consumption would need to stop. But, the consumption will go on, and we think it is crucial to change the way we think and behave when designing, selling, and representing in the fashion industry.

Working in the fashion industry we face challenges on weekly bases and in production, amongst other things, there are a lot to consider. To avoid fast fashion, the key is to base the garment on materials that can last. At the moment we are producing in Istanbul, Turkey, and we prefer to use natural fabrics like wool, cupro, linen and cotton. We always think through what kind of fibers we use, and as well consider the environmental footprint on each material we make or buy. We also use leftover fabrics from leather production, which is a good way to reduce waste.

Another thing we find crucial to reduce footprint is to not produce and buy a lot of extra stock. This push a lot of brands into selling goods at reduced price, which we are not a fan of since its pushing unnecessary sale. Also, there are a handful of great certifications that we can use, like GOTS for organic cotton. They are doing a great job making sure that the cotton is actually of organic origin. It’s not always easy to know what documentation to trust. But, in the end you have to choose to trust your collaborators.

We had one specific challenge this season, when producing a material with cupro and recycled polyester. At the final stage of the production, we didn’t get the documentation needed to show that the polyester was 100% recycled. Then we needed to decide; dump this material and make a new one, or use it instead of trashing it. We chose the last option. So, to sum up; Its challenging to commit to a sustainable production, but instead of waiting for a solution with a big S, we decided to use the solutions that already exist. And, hopefully the future will be bright and green.  

People may ask what we consider as sustainable, and to be honest, we think it is difficult to define such a big term as sustainability. Instead of characterize ourself as 100 % sustainable and stick to one definition, we like to say that sustainability is more like an attitude and we try to focus on the value of being transparent. We want people to be aware of the challenges we face and what we do do overcome these challenges. The fact is: it is not that easy to be all eco.friendly, but we will alway try our best. 

Sincerely,