Check Out Tolly Dolly Posh, The Sustainable Fashion Blogger, Who Started As An Environmental Activist At The Age Of 11

All I know is we can't do this alone. Save the environment message

1. Name?
Tolmeia Gregory (or Tolly)

2. Where you located?
Gloucestershire, UK.

3. Tell us about Tolly Dolly Posh?
TDP is the blog I started in 2012, as a creative summer project to combine my love all things digital and fashion. The blog has since morphed into a platform for my environmental activism, which came out of my self-education about the fashion industry when I was an aspiring fashion designer.

4. You started this blog at 11, and have been doing it for 8 years?
Yes. It’s been a long journey and my audience has quite literally seen me grow up. I turn 20 in May.

“Fossil fuels are in your wardrobe, too! It’s time to divest” —- Tolly

5. Was it hard starting a blog at a young age?
It wasn’t hard, but the internet has definitely changed. As I think back, there was more judgment about young people being online so much, and now it’s just the norm.

6. What are your favorite blogs?
In all honesty, I don’t read blogs all that often anymore. There are some I still follow from when I started on my own blogging journey, such as What Olivia Did (https://whatoliviadid.com/).

7. Why are you so passionate about sustainability and Fair Trade?
I care about sustainability because we’re living in the time of a global climate emergency. We have to act for the sake of our futures, and we need to demand justice for all of those who are part of so many destructive and exploitative industries and systems. It’s just within me now; I can’t ignore the true cost of the world we currently live in.

8. What are some of your favorite brands?
I appreciate what some ethical fashion brands are doing, such as Lucy & Yak and Organic Basics. I also like certain initiatives such as The Nu Wardrobe, which makes alternatives to ordinary consumption (such as renting and swapping) more accessible.

Tolly Dolly wearing a green hat and converse sitting on painted steps

9. As an activist for the environment, what type of social problems do you work on?
The climate crisis is also a social crisis. Inequalities in the world contribute to the unsustainable systems in which we live. So, there’s not just one area or issue to focus on: it’s everything as a collective.

10. Why do you think these problems exist?
The world has become dominated by a small group of privileged people who believe in protecting profit over people and the planet. Whether this is the CEOs of fast-fashion brands or the owners of fossil fuel companies, they all play a part. Governments and how they protect the select few also play a part.

11. How and when will you judge success? What’s your end point? And then what will you do?
I think it’s difficult to say. I’ve come to terms with the fact that there’s no going back and that even if we start to mitigate the effects of global heating, for example, too much damage has already been done for it to truly make an impact. However, this doesn’t mean I have any reason to give up. It means that I have all the more reason to fight for the time that we do have and to ensure that everybody is prepared and supported in the future. There’s no end point. There’s no victory at the end of this. There’s just life to protect.

12. Tell us about your experience going to London for the International Rebellion? What was the event and what was it like?
I’ve attended both International Rebellions in April and October of 2019, as part of Extinction Rebellion in the UK. In April, it was my first experience of that kind of civil disobedience and protest. It was inspiring and life-changing, especially when it came to the sense of community. October was slightly different as I had more of an understanding about why we do what we do and what we’re really fighting for. I also saw more of the challenges that came with going up against a system that doesn’t want to speak the truth. A rebellion can be both incredibly rewarding and incredibly challenging to be a part of.

13. What are your thoughts on COVID-19 and the fashion industry, I understand you had a chat about it?
In all honesty, I’m not surprised by the fashion industry’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. We’ve seen fashion brands cancelling orders from their suppliers and leaving them high and dry without payment. We’ve seen warehouses continue to be full of employees despite the risks. We’ve seen brands hopping onto what I’ll call, “corona-washing,” where they’re using the pandemic as a way to show their “humility,” and that they “care for their customers,” despite the fact these companies exploit us as consumers and, at the end of the day, don’t support the very people who are responsible for their success (garment workers, for example).

I hope the pandemics gives people the time to get used to making do with what they have. It’s a critical moment for us to address our relationship with consumerism and work out what we want to keep hold of in the future.

Tolly Dolly in the woods wearing red jacket and combat boots

14. Are you going to work on some campaigns for the election?
In the UK, there were going to be local elections that I wanted to support because influencing politics from a smaller, local level can still be incredibly powerful. One of my friends was running for councillor and I wanted to highlight her work, however, due to the coronavirus outbreak, these elections have now been postponed.

15. You have been actively involved in so many campaigns, name some of your favorites and why?
Being a part of Extinction Rebellion has been the most transformative for me. I’ve found a community that I never would have found elsewhere, and it’s full of people who see the world in the same way I do: life is precious and we must do all that we can to protect it. It’s, of course, opened me up to so many other groups and communities and has shown me that people have been fighting the same fight for many years. We must show solidarity, every step of the way.