“Every time you spend money, you are casting a vote for the kind of world you want.” – Anna Lappé (a widely respected author and educator, renowned for her work as a sustainable food advocate).
For me, Lappé’s statement about expenditure speaks not only to the food industry but to fashion as well. I follow quite a few blogs and designer lot websites to read about the latest news about the growing interest. It’s really exciting because it involves my passion of fashion and shows that people care. It is one thing to care but it is another to take action and change the world. I hear people say that they believe in being green, but honestly, if you’re just recycling your trash after you eat and printing double sided… you have a huge wake up call coming to you. Our environmental problem is so much lager than this!!! There are problems with the production of your food, in the production of media, in the production of most commodities… I could go on and on. But you have a voice, and there are no only grass roots movements in the political realm but in the fashion! What better way to send your message than wearing it on your body!?! Wearing sustainable clothing hits many pressure points in the system:
- Production: The chemicals and dyes that sit on your clothes and eventually on your body, but that pollutes the factories where workers slave away. Did you ever think about production in terms, of websites? Or advertising? These all have sustainable alternative as well that sustainable companies use.
- Media: These companies have excellent banding and the message is visible not only through their advertising but written right on the clothing!! YOU are a walking billboard not only for the company but for the environment! (and no, I am not suggesting that you have to do this everyday, most of my organic cotton and bamboo clothing doesn’t say anything at all, but I feel pretty happy that I am not contributing to the atrocities of our time)
- Wholesome Message: How often do mainstream or conventional clothing lines donate a portion of your purchase to a specific cause, with no strings attached? Not too many, and if they do, the resources they exhaust cost more than they donate, and they only last for a limited time. These companies have amazing history and messages to send. I always look for the “about the company” button on the designer’s homepage. Even if the company doesn’t, the clothing line itself is giving back to our environment
- Economy: Being an economics major, I will have to write a whole other article for you on this topic but honestly here are just a few ways that these eco-friendly companies help our economy: micro finance, free-trade, political messages (domestic and global), price markup (feeding hungry profit hoarders in our capitalist nation) etc.
Of course I am not asking you to throw out all of your clothes or completely change the way you shop. I am just asking for a bit of your time to read and absorb the information that I provide. I really think you will come to appreciate the message and the importance of the sustainable fashion industry. Every little purchase (or simply a discussion) can benefit the industry’s cause!