Emma Askew: Fast Fashion & Eco Lifestyles (2/2)
Emma Askew is the founder of Earth Minutes, a service that communicates environmental research through creativity and optimism. She is also a film-maker, having produced and directed ‘Breakwater’ and ‘Now X Slow Fashion’, and presents the Re/Do podcast with Becky Hughes. In the second half of this series, Emma talks to Maddie Pope about her evolving relationship with fashion, eco-inspirations, and why we should all care for the planet.
Maddie: Earth Minutes recently released Now X Slow Fashion. What is it about and how did you come up with the idea?
Emma: It was really my own journey with fashion — I love fashion and I love clothes. At uni, you have so many different events to go to — dress up and formal — where you constantly have this pressure to wear something new. I found it really stressful, to be honest.
After uni, when you assess the fact that we are all ordering so much, you question whether it is really sustainable. The more I was exposed to it on Instagram — with influencers like Venetia La Manna who specialise in fast fashion — and the more I watched things like The True Cost, the less I could buy fast fashion. I always say that the more you learn, you can’t unlearn.
It’s a very weird feeling when you suddenly have a very different approach. I got to a point where I really couldn’t let myself buy anything, I’d feel a bit sick about it. Throughout that phase, I didn’t know what would be sustainable or right. Then, I moved back home where there were some local shops. I got chatting to the people at Sancho’s, and the way they described slow fashion and where their products come from was so transparent. It was the most enjoyable experience to buy something and not have, number one, that environmental guilt, but also to know where it came from and who made it. It gave me a connection with the item that I hadn’t had with fast fashion.
How did your life change as a result of this realisation?
As soon as I started looking at slow fashion brands, I felt that I would have to lose my identity to go environmental. I thought I was going to have to go beige and frumpy. I was like ‘oh god’ and was trying to accept that fashion is different in the slow fashion world. That’s why i particularly love Sancho's style — there, i saw the most incredible bright yellow suits and realised that this is an incredible area of fashion. I know I was a bit late to the party, but after seeing Sancho’s products, I just wanted to scream from the rooftops that slow fashion can be so fashionable. These clothes just aren’t always marketed in the way that fast fashion markets to our age group.
In terms of my own wardrobe, I’ve had so much pleasure in re-wearing them. Before, I would think, “I’ve worn that three times this week…” but now I would happily live in my dungarees forever. I take pride in owning my items — something I never did before. I know you have to find a certain item to have that feeling, but it changes your life in so many ways.
I think you touch on a really important aspect there: people often think that slow or sustainable fashion is ugly and that it isn’t cool, Whereas, in actual fact, it can be just as cool as fast fashion. With that in mind, are there any other environmental activists — sustainable fashion or otherwise — that have inspired you?
There are so many — how do you even choose?! They all have their own niche and are doing it so well.
One would be Venetia La Manna — she has such a fierce way of doing [activism]. Whilst I take a more neutral approach, she has had so much impact from hers.
As well as her, Jack Harries — I absolutely love his films. Especially from a creative point of view, his work is so engaging and mindful.
Oh gosh, there are so many more - like Becky Hughes, Lucid Seams and Energise With Em. They do such a good job of holding down their corner. Also, Alice Aedy — her photography and her approach to environmental and social issues are really hard-hitting. She does that incredibly emotively.
They’re all such great people! In a similar vein, have you found any resources that have been really helpful in your environmental and/or ethical fashion journey?
There are so many that you can lose sight of, but I’d definitely say the Patagonia environmental films like Artifishal — they really made me want to communicate these issue through film. They do it beautifully and in a very stylish and slick way. They’re also not too long!
There’s also the book The Future We Choose by Christina Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac. It’s a great read and came out last year, so it is really current. They helped to structure the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. I love it because it talks about how they achieved global agreement through optimism. You read about the psychological responses to it, as well as the more physical ones.
And do you have any plant-friendly non-negotiables in your day-to-day life?
I would definitely say my hydroflask — I don’t understand how I didn’t have a reusable water bottle before. It’s beyond useful! Of course, also my reusable coffee cup — the rCup from Surfers Against Sewage. I love it — I take it everywhere.
I know they’re the most commonly-advertised sustainable swaps at the moment, but I would 100% say that they are my staples because they were the first ones that I found easy to do and switch to, as well as being super useful. For anyone wanting to dive into the sustainable realm, they are the gateway — that said, you can definitely buy too many reusable cups…
Oh, you certainly can! Now, a bit of a big one — why should people follow and get involved with Earth Minutes?
Earth Minutes is purely a service and resource to communicate environmental issues optimistically and creatively. We don’t want to put environmental scientists in boxes, you don’t even need to be an environmental or creative expert. If you want to dip your toe in it and explore where you could find your role in environmental action, that’s why I have created Earth Minutes. It’s an aid to help and encourage people to drive further environmental action and just lead long term change.
And finally, why should young people be concerned about the planet and how they live?
I always get the question of ‘What is your why?’. For me, I’ve had so many personal benefits in leading a more sustainable lifestyle, especially with enviro-optimism. it allows you to reconnect with your purpose on the planet and develop a more optimistic future personally as well as for the planet.
When you really strip it back and respect that you’re on a gigantic planet, it’s hard not to feel insignificant — this is where a lot of eco-anxiety stems from. However, I think that we all need to do our bit.
In The Future We Choose, I read something that totally fascinated me. With climate change, we talk a lot about how we need to protect the planet because we are destroying it. The funny part of it is that the planet will be okay — it will adapt, as it has before. What will happen is temperatures will rise, new species will adapt, and others will not. Humans won’t survive. With this in mind, humans are destroying humans. As much as we respect our planet, as a race we have to do our part.
So yeah, if you want the human race to survive — an instinctive feeling to have — that’s why you should be concerned. Living a sustainable life is not easy — I never stress it to be so — but it’s those switches which will just change your quality of life for the better. I don’t really see the ‘no’s for it. A lot of people cite expenses — but there are so many hacks for living sustainably on a budget. Buying less is one of them!
That is such a great point — and something which I don’t think many people realise.
Exactly. I also think you can get really wrapped up in both the economic and social aspects of living, and finding that sustainable medium where you can have a more mindful approach is great. We recorded an episode of our Re/Do podcast yesterday and we were talking about how ‘mindfulness’ is such an awkward word at the moment. People think that it’s really airy-fairy — but to me, mindfulness means living with purpose, in life but also what you can change. We all want to change something — that’s kind of what humans are living for.