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!