When shopping at the mall most of us make our
decisions on what we by based on how cute it is and how well it fits.
Should we be doing more than basing our decision off of just that?
Although, before now I have been guilty of basing my buying decision on how
something looks, after reading these two readings I believe we should all take
a second look at the garments that we purchase. Are there garments
organic? Was this garment made in a sweatshop or was pesticide used on the
cotton used to make this garment? By asking ourselves these simple questions we
could be helping our environment.
I do believe the fashion industry is guilty of
hurting our environment. The industry does not directly tell you exactly
what to buy or what not to buy. However, the industry does not discourage
people from purchasing items that have negatively affected our environment. For
example, before reading the Fashioning Sustainability article I had no idea how
much energy went in to making jeans much less laundering them on a regular
basis. The fashion industry also keeps styles changing very quickly. This
makes for lots of clothing going to waste. If the fashion industry
encouraged people to recycle their old clothing we would not have to send over
1.2 million tons of clothing to landfills each year. The energy used to
produce and launder our clothing along with the pollution from waste clothing
is a huge factor to global warming which was discussed in the ESMA
article.
I am definitely in full support of the article A
Tale of Two T-Shirts. I think that if we are choosing to buy something that is
harming our environment we should have to pay more for it to help give back to
our environment. Organic items or items that are more sustainable are
usually more expensive anyways. It is not fair that an environmentally
friendly person has to pay more to help the environment when the average person
is paying less and hurting the environment. We only have one earth to
live on and we must not take advantage of it. If raising the price of a
cotton t-shirt can change someone’s mind about buying it then I definitely
think we should take advantage of that.
My challenge to you is this, next time you are shopping don't base your
decision solely off of how cute or stylish the item is. Think about how
and where the product was actually made and if it could have had a poor impact
on our environment.
Kellee,
ReplyDeleteI like the part of your blog where you say the fashion industry should take action in getting consumers to recycle their clothing. I also believe we should be taking a second look at the garments we are purchasing! Do you feel as though the FS reading offered a fairly simple solution to the issue by requiring labeling on their garments? In my opinion, I agree that we could then have campaigns similar to the, "look behind the label" campaign. What do you think?
Kimberly,
DeleteI do think that the FS reading offered a fairly simple solution by requiring labels on their garments. I think that this would help consumers know exactly what they were buying. I also think that if consumers knew what they were buying a bigger percentage would actually buy things that were better for the environment.
Kellee,
DeleteI know that I am VERY guilty of buying clothing without checking the label. Often, I will be something that is dry clean only and not even realize it! I cant even tell you where one item I currently am wearing was manufactured. I agree that if we required labeling then companies would be held more accountable, and consumers would gradually learn to hold them accountable. Thank you for making me realize in your blog this week that we should not only like what we buy, but know where it came from originally!
Kellee,
ReplyDeleteI thought your blog this week was written well and drew me in to want to continue reading. So good job! I am just as guilty of buying clothes based off of how it looks and fits, rather than looking to see the "ingredients" and history behind how the garment was made. Why do you think the fashion industry doesn't do much to encourage recycling? They're so quick to push a new trend, but do nothing to help the environment that supplies the resources that without which, a garment wouldn't even exist. I believe it has a lot to do with the fact that if consumers recycle clothing, they would be spending less money on the newer products... which means less of a profit! What do you think? I liked your statement about how it is unfair that an environmentally-friendly consumer has to spend more on organic products versus the average consumer who pays less on conventional products. It reminds me of a diet-you have to pay more if you want healthy food that is good for you versus spending no more than $5 for fast food that is awful for you! I will definitly keep some of the points you highlighted in mind when making my next clothing purchase decision.
Mallory,
DeleteI also think that the fashion industry does not put enough emphasis on recycling. I agree that this is in part because consumers would be spending less on money on newer products, but also because at this point in time they are not looking at the big picture. They are not worried that clothing is filling our land fields. They are worried about how they can make the most money the fastest, which is changing styles quickly.