We celebrate Earth Day every day at Alabama Chanin through our philosophy of slow design and sustainable production methods, and have been celebrating sustainable design for over a decade. We use only U.S. grown organic cotton fabric in our designs and maintain a zero-waste approach to production. Still, the annual calendar event is always a good reminder to reflect on how we treat our environment, both at work and in our home lives.
It’s also a chance to start a new habit that might be practiced all year. This year, as part of their All Hands on Earth Campaign, the Nature Conservancy is celebrating Earth Day with a picnic. We love this idea (and the excuse to take staff lunch outside this week).
The All Hands on Earth Campaign has declared the month of April to be Earth Month, with a focus on sustainable food production. They’re asking people across the planet to consider where their food comes from and the carbon footprint that food production leaves. I try to support local farmers whenever possible, be it a trip across the river to visit Jack-O-Lantern Farms or a Saturday morning walk through the Farmers Market (which will be re-opening next month). Not only does buying local put money back into my community’s economy, but the food I buy is fresher, has traveled far fewer miles with far less negative impact on the environment, and it tastes better.
Learn more about how to host your own Earth Month picnic here. Document and share your picnic photos by tagging them with #AllHandsPicnic on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube or picnic-TNC13 on Flickr.
Learn more about food and conservation here.
Read about how the CFDA is celebrating Earth Day by promoting sustainable production in the fashion industry and follow their members (including Alabama Chanin) to learn how American fashion designers across the globe are celebrating Earth Day by searching #CFDAEarthDay on Instagram.
And if you want to keep yourself honest, take a quick calculation of your personal carbon footprint with the Earth Day Network’s Ecological Footprint Calculator.
Members of our Alabama Chanin staff will be pitching in to help keep our Florence community clean by joining a city-wide effort on Saturday, April 27th. Find out if your community has a city-wide clean-up effort you can join, or organize your own.
