No New Clothes For A Year
Hi my name is Alicia Giannetti. I am one of the student volunteers for Threadwork! I am going to be sharing a blog post every Thursday for #ThreadworkThursday ! I hope it will get individuals to think critically about clothing and its implications on the environment, social justice, and the community.On January 1st 2017, I decided that I was going to to buy NO new clothes for the entire year. I wanted to my actions to align with what I believe. I did not want to support something that negatively impacts the environment and thousands of workers. I wanted to reduce my waste that was sent to the landfill. I wanted to bring awareness to conscious consumerism, and help stop people from impulse buying! I am sharing this with everyone to help inspire, educate and motivate people to learn more and make conscious changes in their life. Here are my top 5 reasons why I am not buying any new clothes for the entire year.
EDUCATE
INSPIRE
REPAIR
GET CREATIVE
ASK QUESTIONS
EDUCATE
For those of you who do not know, the clothes that you buy from H&M, Zara, Forever 21, Sports Check, Walmart, etc, are made by people who work in horrible conditions for unfair wages. The Rana Plaza disaster was what made me aware of the fast fashion industry. The Rana Plaza disaster happened on April 24, 2013, where over 1,100 people died in a building collaspe making our clothes. I decided to not buy clothes for an entire year to educate people about the fast fashion industry. I am gradually learning about the fast fashion industry and I would like to help people be more conscious and aware of these problems and what people are supporting when they buy clothes from these companies.
2. INSPIRE
I want to inspire people to reform their behaviours. I hope people will stop supporting an industry that negatively impacts the environment and thousands of workers. I want to inspire people to stop impulse buying! I hope that by sharing this challenge with others people will reconsider where they purchase their clothes. I hope that they will stop supporting fast fashion company's and support local businesses, start making their own clothes or buy second hand. I hope that I can inspire people to try this challenge as well!
3. REPAIR
I want to teach people that we can reduce our waste if we all made an effort to repair our clothing before throwing it out and replacing it with something new! We would always have a greater appreciation for our clothing items if we were not able to buy any new clothes. We would treat them with more respect and care which would prevent items from needing to be repaired.
4. GET CREATIVE
I want to prove that you can get creative with your clothing such as upcycling clothing items or hosting a clothing swap! By getting creative you can prevent your clothes from being thrown away into a landfill. In addition, you can create or exchange for something new. Through these small actions you stop buying into environmental destruction and slavery.
5. ASK QUESTIONS
I want people to start asking questions. Question what they are supporting when they purchase a certain item. Ask yourself: where is this item made? Who made my clothes? What material is this item made out of? What are the environmental impacts of this fabric? Will it make a real and lasting impact on my wardrobe? Can I buy this locally? Can I get it this second hand? Can I make this myself? Do I need this or do I want this?
Keep your eye out for next weeks #ThreadworkThursday where I will present my DIY for upcycling jeans!