Fringe

Rad idea to repurpose a plain tank top! 

Dirty laundry

After researching and analyzing the economic and the cultural point of view of environmental sustainability I concluded that the price of a garment has a deeper value than what the price tag indicates. The most important thing that I learned this week was that fast fashion retailers are offering low prices because they are exploiting their workers by paying them extremely low wages and making them work under harsh conditions. Companies like Forever 21 are playing dirty by taking advantage of the disadvantaged workers in developing countries that will work for any type of income; because by employing low labor cost the company can benefit from higher revenues and competitive advantage. This information helped me connect he dots between cheap prices and trendy clothing. Before being aware of the reasons behind low priced clothes I was innocently attracted to the lowest prices. It is important for me to know that companies support unethical practices because from now on I will put more thought into where I choose to shop. I will no longer go for the cheaper price because I can’t bear with the thought of me supporting inhumane jobs. Also, knowing that companies are practicing unethical production practices will be something that I will keep in mind and further research when I pursue a career as a buyer in order to avoid doing business with companies that do not care for their employees.

Although this was the last week of the Environmental Sustainability course, it will not be the last week that I learn about sustainability issues. I plan on keeping up with the news related to the issue because I know that the importance and relevance of the issue is growing day by day.

Fast Fashion or Ethical Fashion

Mara Hoffman

Summer hairstyle

Trend Alert!

Straight hair is out for the summer.

Use this eco-friendly solution to give your hair some sexy volume! 

via ashressaday

Update your shorts

Be 4th-of-July-ready with this super cute (inexpensive) idea! 

 via ascotfriday

The supplies needed:

1. cut off shorts

2. fabric spray paint

3. felt adhesive stars

4. painters tape

Coco Perez uncovers the truth about

What Happens To Your Old Thrift Store Clothes….

The old clothes that you donate to thrift stores may not be the precious treasures that you think everyone wants!

Oh no, there's a much more selective process as to how your clothes are picked for the thrift store floor and where your castoffs are sent off to.

While "most Americans are thoroughly convinced there is another person in their direct vicinity who truly needs and wants our unwanted clothes," the truth of the matter is that your old rags are being seriously judged!

There's usually a team of critics who meticulously sift through each donation, sorting clothes into various categories. If they make the cut, they're sent to thrift stores across the community. If they don't, well, then, they're shipped off to a rag-cut room where they're turned into blocks of fabric.

Even designer brands end up here!

Harsh!

Once those rags are turned fabric, they are then shrink-wrapped and sent off to vendors in Africa where they become new clothes to be sold to the public, making "used clothing is now the United States' number one export by volume."

So, there you have it! The more you know…

[Image via AP Images.]

From trash to treasure

Who doesn’t like to go shopping on the weekend, or heck, even during the week after a long stressful day at work! For some of us girls and guys, shopping can be a relaxing hobby. As I learned in Cradle to Cradle, people like to buy new things because it makes us feel special. I plead guilty to the fact! But is shopping for new and sometimes-unnecessary materialistic objects good for our ecological environment? Unfortunately it is not. After reading, researching and taking it all in, I found out that the production of new products can be highly detrimental to our environment.

For example, the amount of waste that apparel companies create is unnecessary and is contaminating our living space. This waste is coming from the packaging materials used to transport garments from factories to retail stores. As a fellow classmate brought to my attention, The Buckle (an apparel retail store) individually plastic wraps every garment shipped to its stores, only for it to be removed and tossed into the trash bin. I understand that they are warping the garments for protection purposes, but is the waste really necessary? Companies need to start thinking of innovative ways to conserve materials and reduce waste.

Well-known companies like H&M have been keeping up with sustainability issues since 1997! The company knows that sustainable practices are an issue that should be addressed because it matters to its customers. And by responding to their customer demands they are also sustaining their business with them. As customers we have the ultimate power of purchase.

And as customers we also have the right to know how our products are being made. Through the interaction with my peers I learned that dangerous chemicals like PBBs are added to our products. Such chemicals like PBBs and other chemicals found in cloth dye have been linked to cause serious health issues. Hence, the U.S. government responds by restricting the production of these harmful chemicals in the U.S.  However, as Thorpe mentioned in the Designer’s Atlas to Sustainability, there are some companies that have been found guilty for leading illegal practices in “developing” countries and then importing their finished product back into the “developed” country without claiming these harmful practices. This was one of the most important issues that caught my attention because one of my future career goals is to work internationally. Knowing that this issue is an ongoing problem and that it could impact my future goals, I plan to conduct further research on the restrictions and laws for importing products produced abroad.

My learning experience this week has impacted my perspective on buying new things. From now on, instead of buying new products I will make an effort to reuse anything that I can to avoid creating waste. With the DIY trend going on in Pinterest I will be able to find fun and creative ideas that will help me give my old products a new life!