Being a child, when I grew out of my
clothes my mother would either throw the clothes away or give them to
Goodwill. Your mother probably did the
same thing. I am now a fully-grown
sophomore in college and have a love for fashion. I don’t grow out of my clothes anymore, so I
basically just hoard the clothes I don’t wear anymore until I no longer have
room in my closet for new clothes, in which I throw all of my old ones
away. My mother is hardly ever there to
tell me to give them to Goodwill because well, she knows I can make decisions
on my own now. Most of us are guilty of
being too lazy to drive to Goodwill to hand off our old clothes. I myself am
one of these people. I am not happy with
myself for doing this and that is why I am writing this blog, to become more
sustainable. The research and reading of
articles to create this blog is what is helping me change my sustainable
practices and I hope to help you, the reader, be fully aware of what we can all
do to help the environment. Through
research, I have found there are three major ways the fashion industry can
shift the current social paradigm while still being fashion forward. These are: having a common understanding of
the economic impact of mass disposal, creating a producer responsibility policy,
and understanding the Life Cycle Assessment.
The trouble with today’s fashion
industry is that people want change fast.
Sustainable Fashion and Textiles by Kate Fletcher states that the
connection between fashion and consumption disagrees with the idea of
sustainability. The elephant in the room
still goes unnoticed. This basically
means that the swift change of fashion trends cannot keep up with nature. More and more disposal of materials
significantly change our environment.
One way to change this in the future is for the consumer, retailer, and
manufacturer to have a common understanding of the economic impact of mass
disposal. How can there ever be a change
when no one is being informed of the potential hazards that disposal brings? To promote sustainability many initiatives
have been taken by clothing companies. One example is Barney’s creating new designs out of old jeans. Barney’s has teamed up with Nudie Jeans to
help create the line.
According to Eco-Fashion
House: Sustainable Styles, H&M has a policy that makes sure all of
their products are manufactured in an eco-friendly way. Target has also jumped on the bandwagon for
creating eco-friendly products. They
have made it easier for customers to browse their sustainable products by
creating an online eco-friendly page that contains all of these items. All of these companies are in an effort to
reduce hazardous waste and spread the knowledge of sustainability.
An issue brought up in Fashioning
Sustainability is the issue of clothes ending up in landfills when they
should be recycled. The article states
that a way to solve this is for the government to create a producer
responsibility policy in which customers return their clothes where they were
originally purchased in order for the item to be properly disposed of. This creates an initiative for designers to
develop new eco-friendly products to help reduce the costs of recycling the
product themselves.
The second level mentioned in the
sustainable design approaches in, Shifting the New Dominant Social Paradigm
in the Apparel Industry: Acknowledging the Pink Elephant, is concentrated
on ways to increase effectiveness in the production of a product through what
is called Life Cycle Assessment.
According to “LCA Methodology,” the four main parts of LCA are: define,
analyze, assess and interpret. You must
first define what the product is, analyze the inputs and outputs of the
product, assess the emissions generated and how they impact the environment,
and finally, interpret the results. If
people become more aware of the Life Cycle Assessment in the fashion industry I
believe that the pink elephant will become obvious and the trend of disposing
of clothes so quickly after being purchased will become less dominant. Below is a diagram of the sustainable design Life Cycle Assessment.
Clothes are bought because it is a
way for people to show their personality without saying anything. The trend today seems to be that clothes are
not bought for their functionality; they are bought for how they look. If I see a blouse that is solid and plain but
with high functionality and then see another blouse right next to it that has
intricate details and pattern with low functionality, I am going to purchase the
latter. When another blouse comes along
better than the one I just bought then I will rid of the old one. The cycle will go on and on. Most people in today’s society are guilty of
this and that is why the social paradigm must shift toward a sustainable way of
life through ways I have just described in the previous paragraphs. If we all work together we can achieve this
goal and create a better future for ourselves.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely that we as the consumers are too lazy to take our clothes to goodwill. I also believe that the idea of taking back the clothes to the store at which they were originally purchased would be ideal. However, we first should inform the consumers of their impact on the environment, and maybe they will become more environmentally conscious, and start taking their old clothes to goodwill or other places that recycle clothes. Our local school district started a clothe closet for gently worn clothing. This is another place were one could bring his/ her old clothes. Are there any other places in your town where people can recycle their old clothes?
Carly
Carly,
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point when you say that the consumers should be informed of their impact on the environment. If this happened they might not find the need to return their clothes where they had purchased them, and instead recycle them correctly on their own. My hometown does have multiple thrift stores but there is no specific place just to recycle clothes. I did live in Bennett Hall last year as a freshmen and towards the end of the school year, you could recycle all of your clothes you no longer wanted downstairs in the main lobby. I believe their main goal was to stop the disposal of clothes and instead give the clothes to people in need or recycle them in a safe way.
Wow, that's a great idea. They could evolve this into a swap meet and make some money!
DeleteDr. Armstrong,
DeleteThat would be a really cool activity to do. This coming up fall when I live in the Human Sciences Village I will bring up the swap idea to my floor's RA.
And, let me know if you need a faculty advisor!
DeleteRachel,
ReplyDeleteYou made great points in this blog and the video of these two companies teaming up to design new jeans and designs out of old jeans was innovative and creative towards helping with sustainability. There are so many people out in the world, especially young people who do not think about recycling their clothes or anything else that we seem to throw away when we're tired of seeing it. I fortunately do recycle my clothing that I have no use for anymore to Goodwill or any thrift stores around my neighborhood. I began doing that when I was able to drive, but only because my heart went out to people who were in need of clothing and why throw away something that is old to me but could be new and very much appreciated by someone else. I didn't know that not only was I giving back to people but I was also giving back to our environment and I think people should definitely be more informed on the kind of positive impacts recycling could have on our world. In the article you talked about regarding the government setting up a policy to require customers to return their clothes back to the retailers they purchased them from after their use for them is over is a brillant idea that I think, if it actually happened, would have the biggest postive affect on our environment.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteThat is so interesting about the bins downstairs to dispose of unwanted clothing! I too grew up giving stuff to good will and still do. There is a store called Savers in my hometown and now we give our stuff to them. Savers rotates their clothing around the city so you don't always get the same stuff. My brothers think Savers is fun for getting silly t-shirts and they've actually found nice pieces too, like a Patagonia fleece. I also loved the video on the making of the jeans! Its neat to see how things are put together, especially in mass quantity. One of my coworkers was sitting next to me and watched it as well, she commented on how sad it was that normally factories have terrible working conditions. How do you think we can get our campus aware? Do you think students would even be open to hearing us out?
I see a student project brewing!
DeleteYes!! This group has creative juices flowin!!
DeleteCara,
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome that your brothers found a Patagonia fleece. I feel like that would be a very rare occurrence in thrift stores! It's a great example of one man's trash is another man's treasure! I believe that we can get our campus aware by holding seminars and maybe a group of people could get together and hand out flyers on library lawn. The problem with getting college students aware of a cause is getting them to be interested in it. If you hold a meeting about a good cause and you don't get your viewers excited about it, then they may feel like they're just sitting in another boring class. If a group of people hold a seminar about the hazards of mass disposal, then they should make it fun and hands on and be able to relate the cause to real life experiences.
Yes, thrift shopping in this area is not plentiful but there are "diamonds" to be found! Every summer, I go to Seattle just to shop all the second hand stores. It's fabulous and I find things that no one else has. Check out the famous "Buffalo Exchange" the next time you're in a big city. They will change your perspective on second hand.
DeleteDr. Armstrong,
DeleteI did a little research on the Buffalo Exchange store you mentioned. I browsed their website and found a page all about how they give back to the community. They have a Tokens for Bags program which has donated $423,000 for local organizations. I thought it was awesome that they have completely eliminated the use of plastic bags in their stores. The closest one to where I live is Dallas. Next time I'm in Texas I will be making a trip there!
Yes, they have a variety of charities that you can choose to donate to, as long as you bring your own bag (or backpack). You must go! You will love it.
DeleteDr. Armstrong,
DeleteHow did you find these gems in Seattle?! I was talking to a friends mom last night about thrifting and she said they're are some great ones in OKC and Edmond, one she mentioned was The Hope Center provides food, clothing, household items and financial assistance for rent and utilities. I think its great that you can help the environment and your community by thrifting!!
Rachel,
DeleteWe would have to get really creative on how we presented it to campus. I don't think many people want another lecture, meeting or seminar they have to attend. It would have to be fun and I agree that it must be interactive!!
Cara;
DeleteI have family in Seattle, so they have "guided" me to the hotspots, but every summer I seem to find new ones! My favorites are Crossroad Traders and Buffalo Exchange. You find many things that are still current, and the nice thing is, this stuff comes from outside your own neighborhood, so you don't have to worry about seeing yourself all over town! Love it! In OKC, the Remarkable Shop is good. And Echo is my favorite one in Tulsa. These are more resale than they are thrift shops, but it still keeps it all out of the landfill for a little longer.
Cara,
DeleteI agree with you it needs to be interactive. I also think a way to get college kids attention is incentives. You could provide food that is locally grown and organic, keeping the environmentally friendly trend going.
Carly
Dr. Armstrong,
DeleteI love that! In Kansas City, where I'm from, every first weekend of the month they open up different antique/resale shops in the old warehouses downtown! They are so neat and the environment is contagious!
Carly,
OSU does have a farmers market that will be open within the next couple weeks!! I hope students and Stillwater locals take advantage of it!!
Cara,
DeleteThat's so great to hear! I cant wait when I get back to school to utilize it!!
Carly
Hi, Rachel;
ReplyDeleteYour blog is well done! You make several great points, using good sources to back them up. I appreciate you organizing your perspective so well. Fletcher's book is one of my favorite, and we actually read a couple chapters from it in the regular version of this course, so I'm glad you discovered it. It is the quintessential source for fiber comparison. How did the Thorpe reading influence your thinking process this week?
Dr. Armstrong,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the positive feedback! I have noticed that Thorpe is a very determined woman from what I've read so far . Her work is very knowledgeable and you can tell she knows what she's talking about. She definitely broadened my knowledge on the subject of sustainability. Reading her excerpt made me open my eyes to a new theory, that the design world really does move too quickly for our environment.
Glad to hear it!
Delete