Santa Claus is coming to town in just a few weeks, but we need to make sure St. Nick’s gifts stay in our homes and not in our local landfill!

Environmental advocates say Americans toss an average of five million metric tons of holiday-related waste annually between Thanksgiving and New Years’ Day, increasing the emission of greenhouse gasses as wrapping paper and unwanted gifts rot in landfills. This exacerbates the issue of climate change, which disproportionately impacts Black Americans.

So how can consumers become more aware of their wasteful habits? By tapping into environmentally conscious brands like Lavāda Handbags, the first patented, interchangeable vegan leather purse. Founder Anita Thomas designed the accessory so bag lovers can get four styles from one item. Customers can change the style and functionality of the handbag by unclasping the clips on the side of the purse and slipping on different colored covers.

Thomas named her brand after her mother, Donna Lavāda, a seamstress who crafted beautiful wedding gowns and pastoral robes while Thomas was growing up in California. Thomas remembers observing her mom and great aunt’s fashion sense. Their shoes, outfit and belts all matched and a handbag would add a touch of luxury to their attire. This sparked Thomas’ love for handbags. Now she wants to share that love with people in an environmentally friendly way.

“We’re all sharing planet A. As people famously quote, there is no planet B,” Thomas said. “So what we’re doing today will have an impact for generations to come.”

Thomas started Lavāda Handbags in 2019 after having the idea of creating interchangeable handbags itching in the back of her mind for years. She got a wake up call after losing three members of her family in the span of six months. One of those loved ones was close to her age, reminding Thomas that life was too short to not chase her dreams.

Thomas shared the idea with her mother, who admitted to playing around with a few purse patterns herself over the last decade. Thomas got chills thinking about how two creative minds were toying around with the same idea for years without even knowing it.

“I call them God moments – those little divine sparks where you realize the connections are there and it’s this invisible thread linking these ideas to purpose,” Thomas said. “It’s like God is saying, ‘OK, stop sitting.’”

So Thomas ditched her corporate job to create her own path of entrepreneurship. She found herself at the intersection of climate change and fashion while examining best practices for her business. The environmental impact of textile companies shifted the way Thomas viewed clothes.

She learned the dilemma of “fast fashion,” which fills landfills by overproducing trendy clothes made with cheap materials. The fashion industry is responsible for 10 percent of global carbon dioxide output. A report from the United Nations expects that number to increase to 50 percent by 2030. Fabric dyeing and treatment accounts for 20 percent of the world’s wastewater. Artificial runoff from farms can contain pesticides that leak into nearby waterways.

Beyond the environmental impacts are the humanitarian issues. Fast fashion depends on cheap labor. George Washington University reports only two percent of the 75 million garment workers worldwide are paid a living wage.

“These are things that I think everyone should be concerned about as a good citizen of the world,” Thomas said.

Thomas went above and beyond when it comes to holding herself accountable to her values. She made sure all of her materials were ethically sourced. Instead of using plastic binders like Polyvinyl chloride in her leather, Lavāda handbags are made with Desserto vegan cactus leather. The leaves of the cactus regenerate six months after picking. The bonus: cacti helps the environment by absorbing carbon dioxide. The handbags are dyed with organic pigments without any heavy metals. Thomas also made sure she only collaborated with partners who believed in fair trade and wages.

Overall, Thomas hopes her bags help her customers become better stewards of the earth.

“Sustainability, at the heart of it and the ultimate goal of it, is about stewardship,” Thomas said. “Are we responsible with the things we’re entrusted with? How can we get the longest life out of the things we already have before we’re out shopping again to replace something.”

To expand on this mission, Thomas gave Black Joy — ways to become more responsible shoppers this holiday season:

• Get thrifty: “Secondhand and thrifting is a great way to land some really good deals. Depending on the neighborhood that you’re in, sometimes you can even find stuff that still has the tags on it as people are cleaning out like their closets. This is a great time to go thrift shopping and consignment store shopping because people are ridding themselves of things they recognize they don’t need and that they don’t want to bring into the new year.”
• Rethink the gifting experience: “Meaningful experiences are also incredibly thoughtful gifts. And gifts don’t always have to be tangible. So think outside the box in terms of what would make a really nice gift for someone you love. That could just be a coupon that’s redeemable for any service like a facial. Or it could be you’re taking on chores that that person would normally do…It can be baked goods or a handmade gift. So when you think about gifting, just thinking outside the box is a wonderful way to be sustainable because, in many cases, it doesn’t require us to impact the environment in any way. The older I get in life, the more I realize that it’s not about things. It’s about people. It’s about relationships.”
• Donate: “If there’s a cause that’s particularly important to you or a loved one or a family member. Maybe instead of purchasing something, then a gift option would be making a donation in a loved one’s name, or honoring the memory of someone who was important in your life that may have suffered from a particular issue or disease… Get back to honoring our ancestors’ legacy, and maybe make that a family tradition as well, where everyone rallies and says, ‘OK, this year, what do we want to support? What cause do we want to give to and whose name do we want to donate to?’ Then it becomes sort of a gift from the family on behalf of that one individual.”