You may have heard of crowdfunding, even contributed to a campaign or two – but what is it and how exactly does it work? Tomorrow night in Melbourne, the TFIA is holding a Make It Pozible seminar to give everyone the low down on this new way of doing business and getting your passion projects off the ground. Learn inside info from Pozible’s Marketing and Partnerships Manager, Matthew Benetti, as well as Pozible success stories Kate Reynolds and Amanda Cumming, who funded their own L’Oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival PAGEANT show through the platform. By the end of the evening you’ll know how it all works, how to implement a successful campaign and how to maintain relationships with your supporters. And thanks to the TFIA, we have two tickets to the event to give away! If you’ve got a creative project you’re keen to share with the world, comment below before 2pm, Tues May 21st letting us know why you’d like to go. And remember, anything is Pozible!

Despite being an environmental leader in its own right, clothing giant Patagonia wants to support others to make a positive difference in the world. It recently announced an initiative called $20 Million & Change, which will invest in startups working across the areas of food, clothing, energy and waste. The company is planning to invest anywhere from $500,000 to $5 million in each company, but the new ventures won’t just get dollars, they’ll also benefit from advice and access to Patagonia’s huge distribution network. It’s all part of a bigger restructure which sees Patagonia and its other businesses coming under a hew holding company, Patagonia Works, which is dedicated to helping companies face and address the environmental crisis. Founder Yvon Chouinard says he hopes this will help to change the way business is done!

Recognise these bright, luxe bamboo colours from somewhere? NICO‘s new limited run of unisex Classic Cut Tees are made with end-of-roll, super soft jersey leftovers from their gorgeous Brights underwear collection. The label is accredited by Ethical Clothing Australia and the tees are manufactured in Brisbane, modelled here by locals Jordan and Mim of Two Trees Espresso. Grab a tee while they last from NICO’s online store.

Iconic Sydney label Bassike is one of a number of high profile designers to show their support for the Sydney Children’s Hospital premier annual fundraising campaign, the Gold Telethon. Bassike, which produces locally and is well known for its use of sustainable materials, has teamed up with Marquise to create a line of limited edition baby bodysuits. The aim of the partnership is to raise over $20,000, with 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the bodysuits being donated directly to the hospital. The bodysuits are available from online store The Iconic throughout the months of May and June and are available in sizes 000-0 for tots. Check them out online to support this worthy cause!

It’s with great sadness that we share the news that NZ sustainable fashion leaders Starfish will be closing their doors after 20 years of beautiful eco/ethical creations. A statement from the brand’s founder and head designer, Laurie Foon, has been issued on the Starfish’s Facebook page, setting off a series of sad farewells from fans around the world. “It has become evident that our vision of bringing NZ women designer fashion, made in NZ out of natural and eco-friendly fabrics, is no longer possible in our current form,” says Laurie. “We want you to know that we’ve tried many things and haven’t made this decision lightly. While it is sad to say goodbye, we’re proud of all we’ve achieved.” Starfish’s Wellington store will be open for another few weeks, but this weekend marks their last in Auckland and they are inviting fans down to the store to say their farewells. If you can make it along, please pass along our best wishes (and a few hugs). As trailblazers for a better industry, the brand will never be forgotten. We love you, Starfish!

After weeks of petition and public pressure, Peppermint today celebrates the news that clothing giants H&M and Zara have made momentous steps towards improving worker safety and supply chain transparency by signing the legally-binding Accord on Building Fire and Safety in Bangladesh. The importance of this move cannot be underestimated, particularly by brands as large as these. A first-of-its-kind contract, the Accord means companies will be responsible for financing independent building inspections and renovations, addressing safety hazards and allowing unions to inform workers of their rights. H&M and Inditex (owners of Zara) were quickly joined by UK retailers Primark and Tesco and The Netherland’s C&A, all of whom were guided by the bold leadership of PVH (Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger) and Tchibo, the first two companies to embrace the agreement. Pressure is now mounting on other key industry players, including Walmart, Gap and United Colours of Bennetton, to sign before the May 15 deadline.

The Clean Clothes Campaign, who have been fighting for this result and will act as a witness to the Agreement, are thrilled. “The Accord includes all of the components essential to be effective,” says the CCC’s Ineke Zeldenrust. “Independent safety inspections with public reports, mandatory repairs and renovations, the obligation by brands and retailers to underwrite the costs and to terminate business with any factory that refuses to make necessary safety upgrades, and a vital role for workers and their unions… We now call upon all major brands sourcing from Bangladesh to prevent more deaths and sign this agreement before the deadline of the 15th. With 1,250 workers killed in the last six months in Bangladesh, it is now time for companies to move beyond vague promises, business-as-usual self-regulatory schemes and rhetoric, and to sign a binding safety agreement that can finally bring an end to the horror… More than one million consumers have signed petitions calling brands to take action: All brands should now sign.”

Meanwhile, over the weekend, the Bangladeshi government also announced plans to raise the minimum wage for textile workers – some of the lowest paid in the world. “I believe labour should be justly appraised,” Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Minister for Textiles, told The Guardian. “We want to save the industry but at the same time we want to uplift the standard of living of our workers. We do not want slave labour.” But for now, if you’d like to continue the pressure on other brands who are yet to sign the safety Accord, contact them via social media, telephone or email. This historic agreement is proof that consumer voices combined have the power to bring about real and momentous change, and we couldn’t be happier.

{via The Guardian, Clean Clothes Campaign, AP}.

In the wake of the tragic incidents in Bangladesh’s garment industry, international sportswear giant Adidas has stepped up efforts to improve labour conditions for workers. The brand is encouraging workers in the factories of its Asian suppliers to share grievances about conditions via anonymous text to a special SMS hotline. The initiative has already been tested in one Indonesian factory and is now set to be rolled out to other locations around the country as well as Vietnam. The project was inspired by the ILO Better Work initiative and encourages direct, easy communication between the company and factory workers. This isn’t the first time the Adidas Group has shown this kind of leadership. In 2000, they were the first sporting goods company to report on sustainability and in fact, this recent announcement coincides with its latest report, which you can read online.

If you’ve ever perused the International Union for Conservation of Nature‘s (IUCN) Red List, you’ll know that it’s not exactly light reading. Designed to help classify, monitor and ultimately aid in conservation, it ranks the extinction risk of species including mammals, birds, sharks and reef-building corals. It was announced today that a similar system would be implemented to rank the world’s ecosystems, offering a more holistic picture that includes plants and animals, as well as their interactions with land or water habitats. Preliminary research saw the IUCN team scrutinise 20 ecosystems, including eight Australian locations. 

Under the new classification system the organisation is hoping to complete by 2025, Coorong Lagoons (pictured) and SA’s Karst Rising Springs would be named as ‘critically endangered’, while the Murray-Darling Basin, the Coolibah-black box woodland and the floodplains of South-Eastern Australia would be classed as either ‘endangered’ or ‘vulnerable’. The Aral Sea in Central Asia – a long-suffering victim of cotton production – was the only ecosystem to be given the label of ‘collapsed’, a status equivalent to an extinct animal on the endangered species list. Let’s hope better knowledge about our ailing ecosystems and a clearer way of classifying them is the starting point for more concentrated efforts toward environmental conservation.

Rom-coms are all well and good, but sometimes we hunger for something with a bit more substance than our movie popcorn. If you enjoy your films served up with a side of outrage over the world’s injustices alongside joy at triumphs over adversity, feast your eyes on the Human Rights Arts & Film Festival, touring across the country this month and next. Films shown at the festival cover a diverse range of topics including female taxi drivers in Senegal (Taxi Sister), forced marriages as part of genetic engineering attempts (Red Wedding), Peruvian land disputes (Law of the Jungle) and inspired efforts at generating electricity in a Malawi village via homemade windmills (William and the Windmill). Many of the sessions also include Q&As with directors or protagonists, and the corollary art program features displays of works by women from the Horn of Africa (Mothers & Ink) and a selection of photographs from the Vietnam conflict (Requiem). The festival commences in Melbourne tonight (May 9th) and wraps up in Perth on June 6th. Visit the website for a full program of events.

We may soon see him on our screens in The Great Gatsby, but behind the scenes, Leonardo DiCaprio has been continuing his many years of work for environmental causes. He recently partnered his Foundation with world famous auction house Christies to host an upcoming charity art auction for environmental and wildlife conservation. Not many people realise that DiCaprio’s Foundation has been supporting green causes since 1998 and his interest in art collecting has provided a perfect platform to raise money for his passion projects. “The modern world is placing enormous pressure on the very natural systems that sustain us; we are destroying our forests, polluting the air and water, overfishing our oceans and facing overwhelming extinction rates of plants and animals,” he says. “Nature is abundant and it is resilient, but we have to take action now to protect our planet before it’s too late.” The 11 Hour Auction takes place on May 11th and features the work of more than 30 of our most coveted living artists such as Banksy, John Currin and George Condo.