FASHIONING CHANGE
"Conscious consumption: the action of actively
thinking about, and considering where a
purchase comes from, how an item was made,
the environmental impact of an item, and the
ethical processes used to protect supply chain
workers rights during the manufacturing of
an item." from fashioningchange.com
HOW do we change the world to make it more sustainable? In a consumption-driven world, the answer is simply one purchase at a time.
When shopping for food, for example, you might consider buying organic fruits and vegetables. In so doing, you are promoting a type of agriculture that is respectful of nature and thrives on age-old traditional practices such as crop rotation, compost, green manure, biological pest control. Organic fruits and vegetables are grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers , or genetic engineering.
Things get a little tricky when shopping for clothes. Fashion is "the
second most polluting industry on planet Earth, employing one sixth
of the world's population with very little oversight resulting in
environmental and human rights abuses," according to Fashioning
Change, a San Diego-based internet startup that is the brainchild of
eco-entrepreneur Adriana Herrera. Many of the companies that put
profits ahead of the environment and workers' rights include some of the
best known and popular brands in the marketplace. Fashioning Change
points an accusing finger at the following companies: Prada, Diesel,
Guess, Zara, Ralph Lauren, Anthropologie, Gap, Old Navy, and Calvin
Klein. Their faults include: lacking a commitment to living wages,
absence of transparency in their supply chain, dumping toxic chemicals
and using textiles that contain pesticides and harmful chemicals.
This scenario raises the question: How is one to indulge a natural impulse to wear appealing, trendy clothes and at the same time buy fashion that is made ethically and is environmentally kosher? Since there is no reason both should be mutually exclusive, you might want to patronize
businesses that sell eco-friendly clothes and, at the same time, are good
employers, meaning that they ensure their workers earn a fair living wage
and work under safe conditions.
As an online green marketplace, Fashioning Change makes it easier to access these environmentally correct and socially conscious companies. In fact, its mission is "to help shoppers make better purchases and create bottom-up change in the fashion industry." It does so by providing alternative clothing choices that match the style and price of favorite
consumer clothing brands that are skimping on their ecological and ethical duties.
The companies featured on the website are screened to ensure the products they make appeal to mainstream shoppers on the basis of style and quality. For the most part, with a few exceptions, the clothing choices are indeed attractive and affordable. The website also shares information on the corporate practices of each listed brand. Take a.d.o., a New York-based brand that sells a ready to wear eco line. According to the information provided on this company, every aspect of the clothing it makes is sustainable: the fabric is certified organic, natural herbs and plants from India are used to dye the fabric, and the clothing is mostly manufactured in the New York City garment district.
Clothing sold through the Fashioning Change website is made out of textiles that are either organic or are made of recycled and reclaimed materials; also, the textiles are made using low impact dyes and chemicals.
In describing its vision, Fashioning Change cites these aims: "to reduce textile pollution and the Earth's contamination from apparel dyes and chemicals; reduced individual exposure to neurotoxins and carcinogens via the clothing we wear; putting an end to child labor, elder labor, and sweatshop abuses; and making the world a more just and beautiful place by creating access to better product options."
Buying eco clothing might not be possible all the time, but it is something worth looking into.
www.fashioningchange.com
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| "Side by side" Photography by Ulrike Blasor Goerigk "There is one mind common to all individual men. Every man is an inlet to the same and to all of the same. He that is once admitted to the right of reason is made a freeman of the whole estate. What Plato has thought, he may think; what a cain has felt, he may feel, what at any time has befallen any man, he can understand. Who hath access to this universal mind is a party to all that is or can be done, for this is the only and sovereign agent." from History, by Ralph Waldo Emerson |
staple yet it can be put to 1,001 useful uses. Here are three
of them: ) remove ring around the collar by rubbing
a paste of vinegar and baking soda into the grime then
put shirt in the washing machine; 2) to remove ugly
salt stains from boots, wipe them with a solution of
1 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of vinegar; 3) to
brighten stainless steel pots and pans, scrub them
with a paste of baking soda and vinegar. Voila!
"I MUST LIVE TILL I DIE"
Joseph Conrad
© 2012 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved✍
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