Let's Get Ethical

Spring cleaning started extra early this year with the airing of Netflix series Tidying up with Marie Kondo, which spread a worldwide decluttering movement like wildfire. The Japanese organizational guru’s so-called “Konmari” method suggests throwing away anything that doesn’t ‘spark joy.’ But after picking out all those clothes you ended up only wearing once, facing a massive pile of old stuff can spark more anxiety than joy.

Kondo’s method is one of many minimalistinspired movements popping up in past years, urging people to take a cold, hard look at the excess of “stuff” in their closets and consider its value. Since 2000, global clothes production has more than doubled, and the average person now buys 60 percent more items of clothing every year and keeps them for about half as long as they did 15 years ago, Vice News reported.

The biggest culprits behind the mass production of cheap, low-quality clothes are ‘fast fashion’ brands like Zara, Pull & Bear, H&M, and FashionNova, who replicate trends at sonic speed with about 50 collections a year. Not only are exploited workers producing the clothing in poor conditions facing the consequences of mass production, but the environment is too. The textile industry is in the top three most polluting industries in the world. Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned, according to a 2017 report by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation. And if nothing changes by 2050, the fashion industry will use up a quarter of the world’s carbon budget, the same report published.

As the effects of the waste from the fashion industry become more palpable, some social media influencers are actually leveraging their platforms for good. The rise of the slow fashion movement is pioneered by many fashion bloggers turned ethically conscious thrifters and sustainability enthusiasts. At the heart of it, their purpose is getting people to wake up and stop mindlessly consuming fashion. As the hashtag #WhoMadeMyClothes suggests, slow fashion calls for taking a moment to stop and think about how your habits impact the environment. “Every choice we make as consumers we need to understand,” says Mark Lichtenstein, Executive Director of Sustainability at Syracuse University’s School of Environmental Science and Forestry. “Look at the whole picture...What goes into the fabric? Where is it made? What kind of fair labor standards do they have?”. Some quick research on Google can often reveal whether a brand stands for ethical and sustainable values.

YouTuber Kristen Leo, 27, is a leader of the new community of fashion-conscious influencers. She produces videos, like most of these influencers, explaining how to upcycle, buy second hand, and live more sustainably. “Dear YouTubers, think before promoting these clothes,” Leo urges in a video to her 180k followers, pointing especially to Zara. Zara is one of the companies that kickstarted the fast fashion model by being one of the first brands to take in merchandise bi-weekly, according to Elizabeth Cline, the author of Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion.

When it comes down to it, becoming more fashion conscious means thinking twice about how quickly we consume fashion, which is easier said than done. Even YouTuber, Leo, knows we all have to start somewhere. Ten years ago, she was a poster child for Zara – the brand even designed two shirts with her face on it. She was wearing anything she wanted, showcasing hauls from all the retail giants. But in the year 2000, news surfaced that 9 out of 10 jeans Zara made are made with poisonous, carcinogenic dye. And While Zara said they had a zero-tolerance policy in 2016, it was soon rediscovered that Syrian refugees and children working in sweatshops in Turkey were distressing Zara jeans with toxic chemicals, without facemasks, for 12 hours a day. Leo decided to claim responsibility as an influencer and project a different message to her followers by cutting fast fashion almost completely out of her life.

Clothes made by ‘fast fashion’ brands like H&M and Zara are very affordable, especially for college students. But secondhand shopping for an entire year saves you $2,420, and saves the planet 165 billion pounds of carbon dioxide, according to a ThredUp 2018 report. That’s why Syracuse University sophomore graphic design major Dasha Bychkova hits the thrift shop. In the past year, Bychkova’s become a bit of a thrifting expert, learning thrifting tips and hacks from different YouTubers. She’s seen thrifting challenges and slow fashion videos flooding YouTube the past year. “I’ve always been very conscious about conserving energy since high school, but once I started thrifting and watching thrifting videos on the YouTube, it has definitely made me more aware about sustainability,” Bychkova says.

Within the past five years, the fashion industry has seen a resale revolution. Online thrift store leaders like ThredUP, luxury outlet The Real Real, and PoshMark are seeing Millennials and Gen-Z adopt secondhand apparel 2.5x faster than any other age group. By buying or selling secondhand and upcycling, you can extend the useful life of clothing by 2.2 years, which reduces the carbon footprint by 73 percent, a study published by Sourcing Journal shows.

And besides sustainability factors or affordability reasons, in an age of endless scrolling online, the IRL thrill of finding vintage clothes is unique in itself. Taking the opportunity to go actually touch, feel, and try on clothes, makes for an overall more mindful experience where you can appreciate each item you buy more. And millennials aren’t so mindful about their clothes; millennials only wear an item one to five times before discarding it, according to ThredUp.

Taking on the challenge of becoming a more ethical and eco-friendly shopper may seem difficult, but no one really likes tidying up, unless you’re a magical Japanese lady like Marie Kondo. The truth is, you don’t need Kondo to start when there’s a huge support system of knowledgeable sustainable living bloggers right on your phone. It’s about time we’ve started cleaning up our act.

The days of not taking responsibility for contributing to fast fashion are behind us. So let’s dive into slow fashion as Kondo dives into a mess -- with intention, determination, and joy.

Refuse

Refuse to buy from brands that aren’t environmentally conscious. Try the DoneGood browser extension, which pops up in the corner of your browser when you’re online shopping and tells you whether or not the brand site you’re on is sustainable and/or ethical, and links you to alternatives if it’s not. Here are some environmentally conscious brands we love: Reformation, Everlane,Vejas, Outdoor Voices, Patagonia, Stella McCartney, and Alternative Apparel.

Reduce

Cut down on the volume of things you’re buying. Increase your clothes’ lifespan by laundering them right and buying higher quality pieces to wear them longer. Avoid being stuck with ‘meh’ pieces you only wear once by buying only what you love.

Re-use

Upcycle by repairing, restyling, and re-inventing old pieces. Swap clothes with friends, hand ‘em down. Thrift! By buying second hand you support keeping textiles out of the landfill or from being shipped overseas, and usually secondhand stores are owned by local or family-owned businesses. This goes for higher fashion too. Want to go all out on your look for a special event but know you’re not going to wear a green Chanel bag ever again? Rent designer luxury fashion statement pieces at websites like Style Lend, The Real Real, or Rent the Runway.

Recycle

Using recycled fabrics and eco-friendly materials that minimize waste are key. The best fabrics to look for are natural fibers like organically grown cotton or wool sustainably harvested from animals, according to Lichtenstein. On the other hand, avoid buying clothing made from microplastics, microfiber, and polyester, which are dangerously polluting and have been proven to show up in drinking water sources and even glaciers.