How to save the earth while stopping human trafficking
Recently I ordered a simple cotton t-shirt online. You might be shocked to hear that it will take at least 5,000 gallons of water from the harvesting of the cotton to make this shirt. Now if that shirt is produced across the globe, it has to travel with other 5,000 gallon made shirts and clothing items. This shipment will bounce along in a carbon releasing machine from trucks to ship to planes. By the time it will arrive at my door, it will already have made a massive negative impact on the earth we live on.
Fast Fashion is the second dirtiest business in the world, second only to oil companies. The process to make our clothing is a massive undertaking. We wear our clothes a few times, the colors fade slightly, or the trends move on, or maybe we just don’t like it. Now discarded, we feel the need to purchase new clothes again. This alone is a detrimental issue to our communities and ecosystems. Along with polluting the planet, the fashion industry is an active participant in human trafficking. More often than not those t-shirts and other clothing items we purchase are being made through underpaid and forced labor.
A simple way to impact both of these issues is to shop for secondhand clothes! Thrifting is back and cooler than ever! Two of my favorite online platforms for secondhand clothes are Poshmark and ThredUp, both are online used stores. I particularly enjoy them because both of these platforms give the buyer a wide variety of options. They also are very accessible to find different and unique items that are harder to find normally. Poshmark is a platform that enables individuals to sell to other individuals, allowing you to bargain and barter to find the best price. There’s also an option to “bundle” multiple items from someone’s “closet” for a better deal. ThredUp is a hub where you can donate or sell your used clothing. ThredUp takes these items and sells them to individuals on their website.
Maybe you have a fancy gala coming up and feel the need to look to the part but don’t want something too worn? Enter, “Rent The Runway.” Originally started just for formalwear, they now have a wide variety of clothing so you can look the part and also save the environment while limiting the demand for fast fashion.
You can also host a clothing swap with your friends and community members. This is a great way to get to know people, keep travel and shipping emissions at a low and get some fantastic previously loved clothes! Learn how to patch and restore your own clothes. For my jeans I like to go to a thrift store and buy an inexpensive pair that matches the jeans I own, that way I am ready in case I might need to patch a knee or other area. You can also purposely get a fabric that doesn’t match the area you’re looking to patch for a fun retro kind of look to your clothes. This is a great sustainable way to add extra life to your clothes. When a piece is too patched or worn you can then use that as fabric for your next clothes that need a patch. Other use can be to use old t-shirts, sweatpants, sweatshirts can be used for reusable cleaning rags.
Check out your local thrift stores for weekly specials. most stores have to get rid of clothes every week to keep accepting new clothes, often a certain color of the tag will be 50% off or a select dollar amount. These stay aware of the different continuous sales they have going on!
Secondhand isn’t the only way to fight back against trafficking and shop eco-friendly. Ethical and organic clothing organizations make sure that workers are paid fairly in the entire start to finish process of clothes being harvested, made and delivered. Check out DoneGood and Dressembers Ethical Fashion Directory for the best places to go for all your clothing and home good needs!
Together we can erase our footprint and make a change!
About the Author
Hope Kadlecek is a recent Ohio to Denver transplant spending copious amounts of time hiking and discovering new coffee shops. Lover of all forms of potatoes, passionate about chaco tans and thrift shopping. Hope is working towards building a career built around making sure all people matter.