Good On You, Good For World

BY CARLIE REESE | PHOTOS BY PROVIDED

Good On You is an online resource that is also good for the environment. According to an article on EcoCult, “fashion is responsible for 92 million tons of solid waste per year globally, representing 4% of the 2.12 billion tons of waste we dump globally each year.” So much clothing goes to waste every day. With fast fashion being so popular right now and trend cycles becoming shorter and shorter, it is clear to see why sustainable shopping is becoming increasingly important in this day and age. Good On You is a trusted resource and app where one can find ethical clothing brands to shop from, as well as get helpful insight from short articles that discuss different topics about sustainable and ethical clothing.

The website was initially launched in 2015 in Australia by Gordon Renouf and a few other sustainability experts, states the Good On You website. Renouf wanted to give people a way to have better ethical consumer practices. In an interview Renouf did with SupplyCompass, he said “Good On You is not only about making you feel good about your shopping. [Its] purpose is to create change.” He believes that Good On You will create change for the better, and so far it has.

Good On You states that it has thousands of different brands in its database, where it rates those brands on three different categories: people, planet, and animals. The people aspect looks at a brand’s impact on its

workers across the supply chain, according to the business’s website, focusing on things like child labor, forced labor, gender equality, worker safety, fair wages, and the right to join a union. The animals category focuses mainly on whether a brand uses animal products and whether it tests on animals. The planet category focuses on a brand's resource use as well as its waste management. Good On You also looks at a brand's policies to address its other impacts on the environment. The database adds up all three of those categories, and the brand gets a final rating to see how ethical it is and whether or not Good On You would recommend the brand. The final rating system includes five different scores: Great, Good, It's a Start, Not Good Enough, and We Avoid. If a brand wants to be “Rated Good On You,” it would have to have a rating of either Great or Good. Those ratings help eco-conscious people choose a clothing brand that will look good on them as well as have ethical practices.

Since fast fashion has made itself such a staple within the fashion world, it is becoming increasingly more apparent that the world needs a change in how clothing is produced and thrown away. More brands have started to adopt better ethical practices, but the world is still very far from a real change in the fashion industry. Good On You is great because it recommends users alternatives to unethical

brands and helps people better understand the impact clothes they buy have on the planet.

It is very important for resources like Good On You to exist because they give consumers a place to see how ethical a clothing brand actually is. They give great insight into how to be a more ethical consumer and give people an opportunity to know more information about a brand's practices. In an industry where there is a vast amount of waste, giving people a way to combat this is a high priority for the Good On You company.

Good On You has paved a way for brands to display their ethical practices, whether good or bad. It has given consumers a way to see what brands care about, and how what someone buys can affect the world they live in. The fashion industry will keep evolving as it always has, and having more ethical practices will help keep this planet alive and well in the future. It needs to be understood that the clothing

back of the closet people buy has an impact on the world around them. “By changing fashion for the better, we can have a direct impact on issues like global warming, human rights, and animal rights,'' Renouf said in SupplyCompass’s article. So, together, let's all be better for the world with what we wear.

FIGHTING FOR FILM FEMINISM:

A look at the importance of feminism and family in Disney movies

BY KAYLA BENNETT | PHOTOS BY PROVIDED

When fairy tales are thought of, most people think about a woman, usually a princess, in distress being saved by a man, usually a prince. Thinking about the “traditional” fairy tales, women are oftentimes viewed as weak, in need of a rescue. Though, with the help of some Disney movies, this stereotype has been challenged more as the years go on.

“Brave,” which came out in 2012, stars a fiery redhead Merida who is trying to navigate a life for herself, by herself. She defies the traditions her kingdom believes she must follow and goes through an adventure, finding what it means to be confident and courageous.

In an article from Forbes, the author describes how “Brave” was radical from all the other Pixar movies. Although Merida is still a princess, the movie embraced the feminist pathway Merida’s character takes.

The movie itself, however, has a lot to do with the idea that women, although shown to be strong and independent, cannot “get the job done” without the help of another woman – like when Merida and her mother had to work together to resolve the conflict. Although “Brave” was a step in the right direction,

Merida is still a princess, not being able to relinquish herself from that title despite her fierceness.

In 2013, “Frozen” made its way to the big screen and made every little girl fall in love with a singing snowman and the idea of having ice powers. Although the movie promotes girl power and how a sibling’s love is stronger than a significant other’s, people were not happy.

In an article from Reel Rundown, the author claimed “the film is more about Anna and her juvenile fantasies as opposed to anything relevant and unique.” However, through Anna’s storyline, we see strength through vulnerability and we see the plotline of “women helping women.”

The beauty of “Frozen” is the ability to put the movie’s spotlight on both of the female leads, rather than just gearing the attention on one.

Though people have expressed concern about the ability to have a strong female lead, it lets little girls feel powerful, rather than only appreciated, for their looks like Disney films in the past have portrayed.

Though making an advancement when it comes to gender representation in films, Disney has also had a troubled past of portraying non-European cultures.

An article from Polygon talks about how movies like “Princess and the Frog” and “Moana” were signs that Disney was trying to make a difference in the way they

handled characters of color and their settings and cultures.

Recently, Disney+ released a new film, “Encanto,” which is set in Colombia. The movie follows a young girl, Mirabel, and her journey on keeping her family’s legacy alive. This was Disney’s first movie featuring an all Latino cast. With the heavy focus on family, it is already unconventional compared to other films.

This movie has many qualities that makes it stand out from Disney movies in the past; it follows the plotline of saving a family, really embracing the idea of family ties and trauma. An author with USA Today wrote about how the movie covers ways generational trauma has affected how Mirabel, her siblings, and her cousins were raised.

Throughout the film, Mirabel is cast out for being the only one in her family to not receive a special power. However, when she notices the magical house her family lives in is losing its power, she may be the only one willing to stop it. On a mission, Mirabel finds herself saving her family and the house – no one is having to save her.

In the end, Mirabel brings her family together and the film ends, and there were no love interests for Mirabel other than the love for family and love for the individual. This was a huge step for Disney in the direction of diversifying their outlet.

With more movies like “Encanto,” one can only hope for more education to expand Disney audience’s perspectives. The need for these movies is essential to challenging people to learn more about other people and cultures.