Clothing, Consumption, and Sustainable Purchasing

I love fashion. I enjoy clothing and playing with current trends. I hate how unsustainable the majority of clothing production and purchasing is. Think about the last item of new clothing you purchased. Where how and with what were the materials grown? Where was it manufactured? Where do you buy it? How much did you spend? How often do you actually wear it? All of these details and all of the other factors inherent in the process from production to consumption have an impact on the environment, the economy, and human equity.

For example, cotton, long considered the most pesticide heavy crop in the world, takes labor (which may or may not be paid a fair wage), water, and energy to cultivate the crop. Then because of our global economy the cotton is likely shipped all over the world to be turned into a t-shirt for someone's charity event or local team sport. Giving the single shirt a larger carbon foot print than many other products. The process of dying the fabric alone uses several gallons of water and then washes the dye residues into the water systems nearby.

This impact on people and the planet has dire implications. Most people buy way more clothing (not to mention most products) than they need.

I bear witness to this almost everyday, I am the manager of a local consignment clothing store in Scottsdale and see the extremity of waste on a daily basis. Here are some examples.

 

Both items with the tags still on them. The 4,000 sq/ft store has several hundred more like this. In addition to the thousands of clothing worn only once or twice before being deemed "unwearable".

However, I believe  the purchase of resale clothing, via consignment or thrift, is the answer to one of the challenges faced by mass consumption. Buying pre-owned takes the burden of production off to the environment. When you choose to buy resale you are reducing the burden on our natural resources. AND your bank account will benefit as well. 

To drive home the point, here I am dressed entirely in resale clothing. Something I do almost everyday.

dress, cardigan, scarf, shoes (not pictures), earrings: total cost $12.50! Giving these clothes a second chance, takes a little bit of the burden off the planet; and reduces the need for one less t-shirt. 

One of Those People

Well it happened again today, at a Super Bowl party, I had one of those awkward conversations with someone who denies climate change:

Person: "Gee. Winter sure does seem warmer in Phoenix than it was 20 years ago."

Me: "I'm a born and raised Phoenician and personally I've see a huge change in the winters here. I miss wearing a sweater more."

Person: (in sarcastic tone) "Well I know its not 'global warming', my sister back in Minnesota says its been the coldest and worst winter for her in years."

Me: The term global warming is a bit funny, what it really means is the world is experiencing climate change with an overall increase in average global temperature."

Person: (unpleasant tone) "Oh, you're one of those liberal anti-business environment people...."

This is when I chose to walk away. WTH?! Was my explanation of the term global warming to "science-y".


When did caring about the changing planet and the life that lives on it automatically label you a "liberal, anti-business, environment" person?

Understanding and advocating for the very real science proving the changing climate of earth does not inherently make someone liberal. It is beyond depressing, that something as significant to continued life on earth as this issue, has become a liberal vs. conservative thing. Addressing our evolving global climate and the issues it brings humanity should be a human thing. We have one earth and without it we would not be here to argue about politics.

Moreover, how in anyway, seriously anyway, does my mention of climate change in the above conversation indicate that I am anti-business. Climate change is anti business, just ask the store owners who lost their business to hurricane Sandy last year, or farmers who's soil is changing with the weather.

So, what is so terrible about being an "environment person". I love the environment, I love nature and I want to continue to have and appreciate it. I study environmental science and ecology because I care so much about preserving the beautiful gift of bio-diversity that is our planet's ecosystems!

Sigh...

How do we change people's perceptions?