Choosing Sustainable Stag and Hen Do Accessories
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Use this section to welcome customers to your store, say a bit about your brand, or share news and seasonal promotions.
Today, most of us are eco-conscious enough to at least recycle and be mindful of the items we buy day to day. However, it’s easy to be tempted to go all-out for your stag or hen dos and revert to buying a range of single use plastic accessories and throwaway clothes, when it’s only one weekend of your life.
But with roughly 270,000 marriages in the UK each year, it’s easy to see how all those weekends can quickly add up. If you think about how much plastic waste ends up in landfill as a result, it’s no wonder that more and more people are starting to look for sustainable alternatives. We’ve compiled a list of ways to make your stag or hen do accessories more sustainable.
Choosing garish designs with embarrassing nicknames may seem like a bit of harmless fun. But people are far less likely to re-wear items that show everyone “Ten Pint Tina” went on a boozy hen do once. Personalising hoodies or t-shirts with more subtle branding of the occasion and using first names, or monogrammed initials, will make items wearable for longer and prevent that one-time-use mentality that adds to landfill.
If you must choose accessories made of polyester, make sure it’s post-consumer recycled polyester. This is often made of recycled plastic bottles that otherwise would have ended up in landfill. Instead, the bottles are melted down to create a regenerated polyester yarn. As well as reducing the plastics that end up in our ecosystem, recycled polyester doesn’t require as much energy to produce as virgin polyester. Think beyond the garment’s main material and make sure any embroidery is also made from recycled polyester threads.
Hen and stag do accessories are known for being bright and bold. Cheaply made items are often created using harsh chemical dyes that can pollute the water table and damage river eco-systems.
If you look for the cheapest items online, you’ll probably come across hen and stag do products that are made in warehouses all over the globe. Not only do you not know how these products were made, but the energy required to ship them to your door could result in a hefty carbon footprint. Instead, look for a supplier that offers supply chain transparency. Look for their sustainable policies and which brands they partner with to understand how sustainable they are in practice. Good suppliers will offer sustainable processes for production. Direct to garment printing is a good one to look for as it is a waterless process that is more environmentally friendly.
If you know cotton t-shirts aren’t generally worn by people in your group, choose another accessory they will use time and time again. Hats, totes, and belt bags are all small giftable accessories that can be easily personalised and worn again at other events. If you want to use bold colours and big branding, pyjamas are another great alternative as people generally wear quirkier things to bed.