Mar 2019: Unfortunately Fast Fashion

Springtime is upon us (or almost upon you if you live somewhere other than California). In light of the season of “spring cleaning” and the recent media attention on Marie Kondo and her cleaning method, I’d like to focus on clothes and how we can be mindful and sustainable when shopping for them (and getting rid of them).

thecut.com

Many of us have closets at home filled with several clothes made by clothing companies that can be described as “fast fashion”. For many millennials like me and other folks with a tighter budget, it may be tempting to shop at stores such as Forever 21, H&M, Target, Gap, and Walmart, since they offer up-to-date styles at a low price. However, there is a hidden cost that arises not on the consumer but the environment. Unfair labor practices and work conditions aside, many of these clothes are used for short periods of time before being thrown away in favor of the “next” fashion trend. This unsustainable pattern can cause heaps of clothes to end up in landfills (as shown below in this photo from a BBC article).

bbc.com

If the clothes of these mega-brands are not immediately sold, sometimes the new, unworn clothes are burned. Yes, literally burned in incinerators, so that the brands can essentially “maintain exclusivity through scarcity”. This is a direct impact on the environment because greenhouse gas emissions are released from the incinerators, polluting whatever local town as well as our worldwide climate.

vox.com

To avoid this costly cycle of fast fashion, we need to buy less, buy responsibly, reuse more, and shop secondhand. This post will focus on the benefits of shopping secondhand!

Shopping secondhand may conjure images of ratty t-shirts and random household decorations as you would likely find at the average Goodwill store. However, there are several other types of secondhand stores, such as Crossroads Trading Stores, which actually offer designer brands as well as “fast fashion” brands that have been sold to them by shoppers. You can also sell your clothes that you no longer wear to these stores, earning either a store credit or a payout directly in cash. Recently, I went to FreeStyle Clothing Exchange (check it out if you live in the Sacramento/Roseville area) and sold two bags of clothes, earning over $40 in cash! I also found a couple pairs of jeans which were good quality and were offered at a fraction of the original store price.

Left: https://northwesternbusinessreview.org/ Middle: timeout.com Right: One of the blouses I have found at a secondhand store!

Whether you are buying or selling, shopping at secondhand stores such as these is a great way to become more sustainable because you are reusing clothes a second (or third) time before they eventually wear out and meet their end in a landfill. Furthermore, you can clear out your closet (following the Marie Kondo method or not) and enjoy clarity of mind, clarity of closet, and, if you want, room for more sustainable clothing options. Let’s not contribute to an unsustainable cycle of buy, discard, repeat, but rather “buy into” a system that reuses and values clothes for their durability and purpose rather than for their fleeting "stylishness". It can save us money on brands we like, earn us money if we sell, and involve us in a sustainable system that is worth wearing proudly. :)

#sustainability #nofastfashion #secondhandstores #mariekondomethod