How You Can Help Lessen The Effects Of Fast Fashion
While many people have heard about the negative effects of fast fashion, there’s little in the way of what we can do to help. Sure, big companies are the larger guilty party in the creation of this mess we’re in, but we as consumers or small companies are no better and no less guilty. We’ve been swayed, we buy into their process because it’s cheaper and we want to fit in. However, we can’t keep doing this or turning a blind eye to what this is doing to our environment.
Today, we’ll take you through some steps you can do yourself at home to help decrease the impact of fast fashion.
Look for quality over quantity
We’ve mentioned this time and time again, but there’s no easier thing to do than this! When buying clothes, often people look for the cheapest price or whatever is “hot” or “trendy” that season. However, those same products that were trendy then aren’t going to stay trendy forever. In the end, if you pick your clothes solely based on those factors, you’ll have a closet full of stuff you only wear once or you’re not comfortable wearing.
Instead of buying dozens of shirts or shoes or pants, just look for ones you really like! Look for something you feel comfortable wearing and don’t be afraid to spend that extra few dollars to get something that you’ll wear longer. You can still buy a few pieces of clothing that are “hip and trendy” if you think you need it for an event, but don’t make that your entire wardrobe!
If everyone turned towards buying only what they need and look for what they actually want or feel comfortable in, there wouldn’t be as high or a demand for clothes involved in the fast fashion trend. If those companies can’t make a profit through fast fashion, they’ll have to rethink their sales and business models or simply go out of business.
In a way, you hurt them more by simply not buying into the bs they’re trying to sell you.
Donate when you can, don’t throw away
This is yet another simple step that really doesn’t cost you much more than a bit of time. Instead of throwing away your old clothes (so long as they’re still in wearable condition) you should really consider donating them instead!
There are whole non-profit organizations such as Soles4Souls that handle donated articles of clothing and redistribute them to those in need. Just make sure to wash your clothes before you hand them over as that’s the polite thing to do.
If you feel uncomfortable with giving old clothes away to strangers for whatever reason, why not give them to other family members as hand-me-downs instead? They’re not strangers and you’ll even be saving your family some money too! Just make sure you still get that family member (be they a niece, nephew, brother, sister, etc.) some of their own new clothes too!
As much as it’s helping the planet and our wallets to wear and reuse old clothes, they still deserve to be able to pick something new to wear that they want as well.
Look up companies that practice fast fashion
This may seem like an almost petty step, but it really can help in the long run. By being aware of which companies are major contributors to the fast fashion industry, you can make conscious decisions about whether or not you want to support it.
In this day and age, there are hundreds if not thousands of different clothing stores and brands available all around you! In fact, you don’t even have to be able to visit the stores yourself as most of them are perfectly accessible online too! While you may have to pay a little extra in shipping fees, it’s a small price to pay for clothing you don’t have to feel guilty about wearing.
If there’s a certain style of clothing that you desperately want but you see is being produced by a company you don’t want to support, just look around online for a bit. You may even find another store that sells something similar and even better!
Support local businesses when you can
Finally, this step is often overlooked. Like we stated above, there are plenty of clothing stores available to us and new ones popping up nearly every day! Some companies, like us, have taken the initiative to be more conscious of how our products are produced and actively take steps to try to lessen our footprint on the environment.
By supporting local businesses who may make their own clothes, you not only give these smaller companies a chance to thrive; but also invest in a future where larger business owners make more environmentally conscious business decisions. At the end of the day, the business themselves has to have the environment in mind from the beginning to see it through to the end. So make your choice and help us create a better future hopefully free from fast fashion.
Looking to make better decisions today? You can start buy looking for clothes that are made of eco-friendly materials and are made with longevity of the product in mind! Click Here to check out our selection of quality shoes and sandals today!
