ETHICAL BRAND, SAYA.

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ETHICAL BRAND

SAYA
​SAYA designs, is an eco-friendly brand that turn waste material into sustainable, ethical, and beautiful hairpins.

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The SAYA brand is based on the concept of a circular economy, and create beautifully handcrafted hair sticks from root wood, salvaged from abandoned commercial plantations in Indonesia.

In order to not add to the huge logging industry across the world, they use waste material left behind by loggers. For each purchase, they plant up to ten endangered tree species back into the rainforests. Handmade by artisans in Bali, and backed by a passionate commitment to the environment, these are hair sticks on a mission.

The Indonesia’s rainforest is one of the most biologically diverse forests in the world, containing ten percent of known plant species, twelve percent of all known mammal species and seventeen percent of all known bird species. Yet it also has one of the highest deforestation rates in the world, and just under half of the country’s original forest cover now remains. Since the 1960s it has been consistently destroyed to make room for commodities such as pulp, paper, plywood, and palm oil. If it keeps going, there won’t be any of it left.

Wood is only a renewable and eco-friendly material if it is consciously sourced. Tropical hardwoods in particular grow very slowly and in low densities, and regenerate poorly after logging. These species are often taken from forests in non-sustainable numbers, and illegal ways. Planting trees to replenish the rainforest, is one of the best ways to fight climate change-related problems like soil erosion, environmental degradation, increasing average temperatures, low rainfall, and increasing CO2 emissions. SAYA partners with the organisation GAIA, which is based in Central Java and works all across Indonesia, supplying seeds, and training farmers and communities to support their ecosystems. They also work closely with large organizations such as the FFI, and speak on a government level to make sure forestry issues are heard. 

​A circular economy, is about minimising the negative impacts of production on the environment. It aims to build economic, natural and social capital, not deplete them. We need to change the way we consume. Most of the world runs on a “take, make and dispose” industrial model, where 85% of everything we consume ends up in a landfill. It’s not enough just to recycle what we can, we have to reimagine our entire economy.

To learn more or shop, go to 
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SAYAdesigns.com

I got the hair pin for free, however I would never promote anything I don't belive in on IdealistStyle.com. I was not paid to promote this. I chose to feature this brand on my page, because it's a great cause and I want to promote ethical brands. 

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Sources: 

• https://sayadesigns.com/our-ethos
• Racing to Extinction: http://racingextinction.com
• Cowspiracy: http://www.cowspiracy.com
• Before The Flood: https://www.beforetheflood.com
• The True Cost: https://truecostmovie.com
• Viceland TV Series | 'States of Undress': https://www.viceland.com/en_us/show/states-of-undress
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature ICUN: https://www.iucn.org/about
• Our Partnership Organisation & Micro Garden GAIA: http://gaia.id