By Claire Biggerstaff
On earth day, my Instagram feed was overflowing with beautiful pictures of the planet. I had plenty of pictures of nature being aesthetically pleasing I could have posted, but I knew I could not post a picture with a caption explaining how much I love the earth because, if love is a verb, I do not love it. I am not particularly mindful about recycling and, to be honest, I hardly know what goes in which bin because I have never tried to learn. I eat meat with practically every meal. I have shopped mindlessly for years never considering where my clothes are coming from. So how could I post claiming to love the earth. Is it not true that when we love something we do everything in our power to protect it?
So, this series of articles will be about me, who currently knows nothing about how to care for this planet, learning how to be more environmentally conscious. As I learn, I will take you along the journey. Together, we can stop using our lack of knowledge as an excuse not to treat this planet with respect.
The first way I wanted to be more environmentally conscious is through the clothes I buy. Over half of clothing produced in the fast fashion industry is thrown out and burnt in under a year. This waste ends up in our food cycle when it is burned like this. While the environmental impact of or clothing is important, what was even more appalling to me was the unfair labor conditions that many of the stores I used to buy from practice. For example, H&M’s failure to practice proper safety regulations lead to the death of many of their workers. Zara has been accused of slave labor and has employees working over 12 hours. Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, Gap, and so many more have also been accused of poor conditions. The bottom line is we have a choice of what clothes we buy. The girl working in terrible conditions making our clothing, has no choice but to work in those terrible conditions to make ends meet. It sickens me that the clothes in my closet could be made by someone working in such terrible conditions or worse someone who has died because of these conditions.
So, what can you do? Here are two ways I am going to try to be more environmentally conscious with my shopping:
1. Select Your Stores Carefully
I won’t lie, it is hard to find stores that are making a conscious effort to be ethical that are also cute and affordable; however, I have a few places I have found that I really love. The first is Reformation clothing. Reformation has Urban Outfitters type clothing minus the environmental cost. It is a little pricey, but the pieces are classic and will last you through the years (shop reformation here: thereformation.com) The second is Bon George, they have really simple pieces that can easily mix and match with clothing you might already have (shop Bon George here: http://www.bongeorge.com)My favorite ethical brand I’ve found is Tree of Life. Based in Australia, they have super cute boho pieces for great prices (shop Tree of Life here: treeoflife.com.au)
2. Use the Curtsy App
This is an app that allows you to find girls on campus who are renting or selling their clothes. Why buy more clothes that will pollute the environment when you can just rent a cute top from another fashionista on campus?
The fast fashion industry is having a very large negative impact. This means if we, as the next generation, can change our ways, we can have a large positive impact. I’m dreaming of the day when we do not judge each other for not wearing authentic designer brands, but judge each other for not wearing ethical brands. Let’s protect our planet and our fellow human beings!
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/mar/08/fashion-ind…