Gaia Couture’s underlying philosophy is to integrate sustainability with everyday elegance through our handmade, contemporary and unique jewellery pieces. The jewellery is inspired by nature – the colours, textures, shapes and motifs are all inspired by the beautiful natural environment. I am blessed to live in the Caribbean where there is so much natural beauty around me and this inspires the jewellery. Our first collection is entitled 'Reef Rhapsody' and is inspired by the beautiful, delicate and resilient coral reef. Coral reefs are found in more than 100 countries around the world in tropic and subtropic oceans. Trinidad and Tobago also have coral reefs, the largest and most popular being Buccoo Reef in Tobago. Coral reefs support Tobago’s two main economic activities - tourism and fishing through enabling both jobs and food. They also protect the coastline from the damaging effects of ocean swells and tropical storms. They provide a habitat and shelter for many marine species. They produce the sand for Tobago’s beaches.
Coral reefs are facing many threats, globally and locally. Unfortunately, humans are responsible for many of these problems – and can thus be solved by us. Threats include overfishing, marine pollution, ocean warming and ocean acidification due to climate change and invasive species being introduced into the reef systems. In some areas of the world, coral reefs have been completed destroyed. The Buccoo Reef is today a shadow of what it once was due to pollution from land runoff, ocean warming events and physical damage from tourist activities which have degraded this once majestic reef. It should be noted that corals are resilient to change, but if subjected to ongoing stress, they may lose their resilience and be less able to survive or thrive in the long term.
The colours, shapes and textures of the different pieces evoke the experience of being underwater within a coral reef and admiring the colourful and unique biodiversity living within the reef ecosystem. We have used single use plastic bottles in the designs. Plastic bottles, like water bottles and soft drink bottles contribute to marine pollution and can be detrimental to coral reefs and marine life. A plastic bottle takes over 450 years to disintegrate in the environment yet it takes just a second to throw it away carelessly. Recently, a floating island of plastic trash was discovered off the coast of Honduras, which comprised plastic bottles, Styrofoam, plastic bags, plastic cutlery and packaging materials. Today, there are more than 8 million tonnes of plastic waste that enter the oceans every year. At the current rate of plastic entering oceans, recent studies estimate that there will be more plastic in our oceans than fish, in weight, by 2050. We definitely need to rethink our current consumption and production patterns when it comes to waste management, especially plastics.
The Reef Rhapsody collection aims to make people more aware of the unique environmental asset that we have in our coral reefs and the need for more stringent conservation activities. We also want people to start thinking about waste - and how we can rethink our current consumption patterns and rethink our current waste management practices. Through Gaia Couture, we hope to plant a seed of change through engaging in dialogue with persons about environmental sustainability to share knowledge, ideas, solutions and best practices with each other so we can be empowered to act responsibly towards our environment.
Feel free to connect with us online through this blog, Facebook or Instagram and let us know your views about reef conservation, sustainable production and consumption and sustainable fashion here in Trinidad and Tobago!
Coral reefs are facing many threats, globally and locally. Unfortunately, humans are responsible for many of these problems – and can thus be solved by us. Threats include overfishing, marine pollution, ocean warming and ocean acidification due to climate change and invasive species being introduced into the reef systems. In some areas of the world, coral reefs have been completed destroyed. The Buccoo Reef is today a shadow of what it once was due to pollution from land runoff, ocean warming events and physical damage from tourist activities which have degraded this once majestic reef. It should be noted that corals are resilient to change, but if subjected to ongoing stress, they may lose their resilience and be less able to survive or thrive in the long term.
The colours, shapes and textures of the different pieces evoke the experience of being underwater within a coral reef and admiring the colourful and unique biodiversity living within the reef ecosystem. We have used single use plastic bottles in the designs. Plastic bottles, like water bottles and soft drink bottles contribute to marine pollution and can be detrimental to coral reefs and marine life. A plastic bottle takes over 450 years to disintegrate in the environment yet it takes just a second to throw it away carelessly. Recently, a floating island of plastic trash was discovered off the coast of Honduras, which comprised plastic bottles, Styrofoam, plastic bags, plastic cutlery and packaging materials. Today, there are more than 8 million tonnes of plastic waste that enter the oceans every year. At the current rate of plastic entering oceans, recent studies estimate that there will be more plastic in our oceans than fish, in weight, by 2050. We definitely need to rethink our current consumption and production patterns when it comes to waste management, especially plastics.
The Reef Rhapsody collection aims to make people more aware of the unique environmental asset that we have in our coral reefs and the need for more stringent conservation activities. We also want people to start thinking about waste - and how we can rethink our current consumption patterns and rethink our current waste management practices. Through Gaia Couture, we hope to plant a seed of change through engaging in dialogue with persons about environmental sustainability to share knowledge, ideas, solutions and best practices with each other so we can be empowered to act responsibly towards our environment.
Feel free to connect with us online through this blog, Facebook or Instagram and let us know your views about reef conservation, sustainable production and consumption and sustainable fashion here in Trinidad and Tobago!
Comments
Post a Comment