A FASHION designer has made her clothing businesses completely green in an effort to encourage sustainability.

Lauren Dwyer, who set up her Accrington-based fashion business in 2016, primarily producing designer T-shirts and babywear, has adopted a new green approach to her business, even planting a tree for every t-shirt she sells.

She has used the coronavirus lockdown, working from home while looking after her two young daughters, to develop a greener approach.

Mrs Dwyer now operates her business entirely on solar energy.

She said: “It was my new year’s resolution and the lockdown made it a little easier to do it at this time.

“I had to close down for a while as my wholesaler had shut down, so I wanted to utilise the time I had.

“I realised I used a lot of plastic and wanted to change that.

“I currently have 90 T-shirts to make and none of it will go to waste as it’s made to order, and that’s 90 trees.”

Although taking her whole business sustainable has meant more cost, the 30-year-old has not suffered a financial hit as more people are interested in her products.

She has also replaced all her equipment with sustainable materials, including new printing screens, design templates and natural printing inks and is even growing beans to supplement her daily lunch.

Mrs Dwyer hand-prints every T-shirt to order, ensuring there is no waste, with each order gift-wrapped using sustainable materials.

Each order also includes a ‘plantable’ thank-you card containing seeds of non-invasive plants including alyssum, poppies, marigold and basil.

Mrs Dwyer has partnered with Offset Earth to plant a tree every time she sells a T-shirt.

Since the launch of the new clothing range she has already had planted 103 trees in Madagascar and will switch every month between planting trees in the UK and Madagascar.

She said: “I realise that I am only one person, but I know I can make a difference.

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