Why do we need to talk about the sustainable businesses in Bulgaria (or anywhere in the world in fact)?
The #zerowaste lifestyle is not a hobby of mine but something more…a lifestyle philosophy. This is the reason why I’m writing this article, to tell you about a few Bulgarian businesses which I admire hoping that they’d inspire you to believe in a better world. Here we go:
The first one. Aakasha
Aakasha – The Bulgarian sustainable fashion pioneer. In June I was on a mission to find a local #zerowaste fashion brand. After a long search I came across Aakasha and loved their clothes.
The first top which I ordered was made of organic cotton. Beautiful, sustainable and elegant. Did you know that the manufacturing of organic cotton doesn’t require any treatment with pesticides, insecticides, herbicides and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) which isn’t the case with conventional cotton. The latter one uses 25% of all insecticides in the world and 10% of the pesticides (Dietz 2013). And yes, although both types of cotton-conventional and organic are biodegradable, it is important for us to make humane choices such as the one to opt for the health of the workers growing the organic cotton, rather than the low price of the conventional cotton.
Also, growing organic cotton requires 71% less water than growing conventional cotton (About Organic Cotton 2018). So my tip would be wear cool sustainable clothes, drink water and feel like a superhero who is standing up for a cause : )
Here I’ve combined my organic cotton top with a funky second-hand trouser which I bought for the price of…2.5 Euros : ) Beautiful doesn’t always mean expensive and shopping second-hand is a great way to thank Mother Nature for all lovely days which she has given us and for every tree which cleans our air every single day.
Wearing second hand clothes is one way to do that. The other way is the so called #upcycling which is quite popular in the West, speaking of which I’d like to introduce you to…
The second sustainable business. Pletchitsa aka as Плетчица in Bulgarian
Pletchitsa – Probably a lot of you are wondering what to do with your old clothes. Favourite but quite worn out, well then… Pletchitsa is the solution for you. Their sunny team is collecting old T-shirts from which they’re knitting pillows. They sent me this one with a card explaining that when shopping upcycled textile, you are saving:
- 32 400 liters of water
- 1.8 kg of chemicals
- 2.25 kg of Carbon Dioxide
Even the card was made of recycled paper. I fell in love : )
Now that we’re talking about products made of recycled paper…It’s about time to introduce you to…
The third sustainable business. Zona Urbana
Zona Urbana – Their inspirational team is making wallets and bags from recycled billboard vinyls, newspapers, coffee packages, juice/milk cartons, cans, car tyres and jeans. They have 3 physical stores in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia and they keep on spreading their magic : )
Yes, their products are more expensive than the conventional bags and wallets but think about it…how much work is needed to make one upcycled bag/wallet-the gathering of the recycled materials, cleaning them, turning them into a new bag/wallet…
Exactly…this is why let’s not just say “Yeey,this is amazing” but also to support such businesses financially and naturally, with more demand, their prices will become lower too.
Scenario 2 is sadder…we continue saying “Yeey, this is amazing” but we don’t support these businesses financially and they go bankrupt…We’ve heard quite a few of those stories. The choice is yours.
Think about it.
Smilies,
Vera