Our Philosophy

CAN WE CHANGE THE WORLD?

At ONNOA we believe so. We think that each and every one of us has much more power than we are aware of. What do you think?

There is an increasing talk of sustainability, we all want to take care of our planet, we recycle, brands are more eco-friendly than ever, governments and large corporations advertise with big headlines their plans to reduce and / or offset their emissions in a more or less near future.

However, if we look closely at our surroundings and also honestly at how we behave ourselves, yes, there are many good intentions, and there are also many people who are striving to improve this, but overall, very little is being done.

Every year, we continue increasing emissions and abusing planet's resources, in a society based on mass consumption.

The annual point in which more natural resources have been used, than what the Earth planet can generate in the same year is known as Earth Overshoot Day. In 2019 this day was July, 29th the earliest since 1970, year in which this date was registered for the first time. This means that we are using natural resources 1.75 times faster than what ecosystem can generate. We are just about to need two Earth planets to continue with this consumption rate.

We live on a planet where we are more and more population. Years ago, only a few polluted with their lifestyle and consumption habits, but more and more people are catching up with this lifestyle and consumption that pollutes more.

This continuous growth of pollution and destruction of our planet, due to our lifestyle, has only been temporarily put on hold now, due to Covid-19. It has radically changed our lives and it is causing a terrible human and economic damage worldwide.

However, and maybe the only positive in this situation, is that we have give a break to our mother Earth. Pollution levels have decreased almost immediately.

At ONOA we believe that we should learn from this unpleasant experience that we are living now, not to make the same mistakes again.

We know very well that it’s not possible to continue at the rate we had for much longer, but we aren’t prepared to forbid ourselves of anything either and we don’t feel as ours the responsibility of being part of the solution.

We hope someone resolve this problem. Governments? Large corporations? We criticize and complain that they do not, because they are the ones who have the obligation, the responsibility and the financial means to do it.

And it may be so, but if they don't, what can we as individuals do?

We believe that what we can do to improve this situation is to think. Stop to reflect for a second, before making any consumption decision. We don’t mean that we do not buy, that we stop using the products we like or that we have to pay for much more expensive ones.

About this, you usually think that sustainable products are expensive. We think that we should learn to differentiate when a product is actually “expensive” or “cheap” and why.

Many times, cheap products are cheap because in the countries where they have been manufactured, salaries paid to the workers that have produced them, are not equivalent to what would have been paid in here (which is simply what is needed to have the lifestyle that we consider normal). In addition, factories and manufacturing methods do not have the necessary measures to protect the environment, that is damaged a lot more than what is already damaged in here.

As consumers, we have fundamental power and responsibility, because with our purchasing decisions, we are supporting the companies we consume to continue doing what they do in this way.

We believe that we must ask ourselves two very important questions and in this order, before making any purchase decision..

Do I really need it?

The product that has the least impact is the one that has never been manufactured, let’s only consume what we really need.

-Is this the best option available to me, or is there a better alternative?

Look at things like, what materials it is made of, where it is made, how it is made, what values the company that sells it has, ...

Use your common sense and asses reasonably your options before you decide each answer, in order to help you make the best decision for you and for our planet.

It would also be nice, if you like these ideas, that we do not only use this philosophy for fashion, but for our general lifestyle.

Many consumers consuming better can cause a bigger change than we can imagine.