Meeting in the Middle with Purpose
June 23rd, 2023
By Bethany
Raised by a single mom, I grew up with very little, and then I continued to struggle as a young, aspiring artist well into Josh and I getting married and raising our three kids in LA together. Honestly, back then, the last thing on our minds was how to live more sustainably outside of recycling our trash. Our ultimate goal was to keep our family safe, happy, and loved, and doing it all on a very tight budget. I remember Josh and I each had one pair of tennis shoes, one pair of black boots, and that was it. So I completely understand that it’s hard to make sustainable choices when you’re just trying to juggle what you have to make ends meet.
By the time both of our careers had taken off, the world had already started to shift into more awareness of how fabrics are sourced, how they are made and under what conditions.
I was at a crossroads.
I was in a place in my life where I could finally celebrate the talented designers that I had long admired as artists just as I have admired artists in my own profession as a filmmaker.
This is the part that I truly want to underscore: there is no clear road map on how to set up your own moral compass for experiencing fashion. I am not here to tell anyone else what they should or should not do. You know what feels right for you and your family. I’m only sharing what works and feels right for me personally. As I found that I could afford a wardrobe that was once a pipe dream when I was struggling, I had to now find a way to balance this with my newfound awareness.
I decided to lean into purchasing vintage, second-hand, repurposed and up-cycled designer pieces whose carbon and water consumption could be tracked. This way I could see the difference I was making in my choices. I leaned into purchasing on sites like The Real Real and Tradesy—companies that could verify a purchase as authentic and also show me my carbon + water savings on each purchase.
This felt like a win-win for me, and something I’ve been doing ever since. I get to celebrate and wear designer fashion made by artists that I admire, and at the same I get to feel at peace about the impact my purchases are having on the earth, as well as my own body.
I have a beautiful, vintage Alexander McQueen clutch that I purchased on Tradesy and a little, romantic second-hand Gucci hand-bag that I absolutely adore. I have a gorgeous Tiffany-blue Dolce & Gabbana dress that I wore for my birthday last year, and a breathtaking, vintage Valentino dress that I wore on the red carpet for an award ceremony, both of which were purchased on Tradesy and The Real Real. I saved approximately 30L of water and 5kg of carbon on each of those dress purchases, and on the two clutches I saved approximately 318L of water and 2kg of carbon.
I’m definitely not perfect at living a conscious life, but I am in the pursuit of getting better with each new day, and openly sharing as I go. My ultimate goal is to build a community where we can all grow together as we try our best to love our planet, ourselves, and each other along the way.
THE BEAUTIFUL EARTH is a global, conscious clothing + healthy essentials brand. Founded by filmmaker + artist Bethany Ashton Wolf, Bethany is striving to design and create organic, sustainable, recycled, vegan, ethically-sourced clothing + essentials that are good for the earth, our bodies, and our well being.
Organic hoodies, organic sweatpants, recycled beanies, organic trucker hats, organic tees, supima cotton t-shirts, stainless steel water canteens, water bottles, and bamboo to-go cups that are all BPA-free are just some of the products in her line that she is focusing on that bring her customers elevated streetwear that is cool to wear and cool for the planet.
Our blogs here at The Beautiful Earth delve into health and wellness, mental well-being, healthy beauty, healthy home-living, and mind, body, spirit topics that help us all find ways to live a more conscious lifestyle overall.
