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How+We+Fix+It

Lauren Tamaki from WWD

How We Fix It

Ok, now that this whole issue is out in the open, how do we fix it? Right now, we are just high school students so there is a limit on the things that we are able to do(legally and money wise), but that doesn’t mean that our actions and words don’t matter. We do have the power to change the injustices around us. But first and foremost, for any change to occur, we must first start on a personal level. How can we do that? We can begin doing that by shopping sustainably.

Here are (number) different ways you can help destroy fast fashion:

 

1. Buy from Sustainable Brands

Given how prevalent fast fashion is, it may seem very difficult to buy from sustainable brands instead of fast fashion ones, but it’s really a great way to eradicate fast fashion from the industry completely. I mean, without customers, who are they going to sell to and how are they going to make any money? And there are so many durable and beautiful pieces of clothing that come from sustainable brands whose mission it is to pay fair wages and produce their clothes in an environmentally safe way. Linked below is a list of fashionable and sustainable brands that you can buy from.

Sustainable Brands:

 

2. Support Small, Local Brands

100% sustainable is always the first and best choice, but if you haven’t noticed, a lot of these slow fashion brands only have online branches. And some clothes you just can’t buy without first trying them on. Not to mention some of their clothes pack a hefty price. Because we, as 15/16-year-olds, don’t have hundreds of dollars to just throw around, we might not be able to afford to buy 100% sustainably all the time, In that case, buying from small, local brands is also a good option. Smaller clothing shops tend to be less involved in fast fashion then big corporations simply because they have less pressure to produce more. So most of the time, buying local would be a better option than resorting to your classic mall brands.

 

3. Shop Second-Hand

I feel like thrift stores kind of have a bad rep. Like when you think “second hand,” you think dirty, cheap, or low quality. But this is seriously not true. Well, except for the cheap part. At second-hand clothing stores, you can buy quality pieces of clothing for less than five dollars. And if you’re lucky, you just might be able to find a designer piece sold for less than the cost of your morning coffee. I mean, you might have to dig around in a giant pile of old people clothes before you find anything worth buying… But hey, that just makes finding those expensive, quality pieces of clothing even better.

 

4. Just Buy Fewer Clothes

This one’s kind of self-explanatory. The fewer clothes you buy, the less there is to waste. And although this might not seem true, buying a higher quality item for a more expensive price is better than buying a bad quality piece of clothing for half the price. What may seem like a bargain then, will eventually end up causing harm to both your wallet and the environment. This is because cheaply made pieces of clothing from Fast Fashion companies tend to tear and rip easily, which forces you to buy more clothes to replace them. Eventually, you end up with a pile of unwanted clothes and spending much more than necessary. So really, buying that one expensive piece of clothing is kind of like an investment.

 

5. Recycle, Reuse, and Repair

But when your clothes do eventually become unwearable, try to find ways to keep your clothes out of the landfill. If you tear a hole in your shirt, stitch it up and continue wearing it. If you outgrow your old pants, make potholders out of it or something. I don’t know, anything really to put those pieces of fabric to good use and to avoid dumping them into the trash cans.

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