We are currently living in a world where we have become so
consumed by instant gratification that we neglect to understand the true cost
of obtaining our daily luxuries. People seem to be worried about getting to the
next location without ceasing to live in the current moment and appreciate
where they are, that there is no thought to the harm that their daily
interactions with the earth are truly causing. To live Eco-friendly, you are
choosing to live with the intention of making a positive impact in the
environment around you through your daily interactions with the world to
protect the natural capacity we call home as well as the living beings who
inhabit it. Current events are the prime example of the situational outcome
when negligence to view all people as human beings may be the most harm we
could produce on this planet. And here is why:
The fashion industry is the number two largest polluter in
the world, closely tailing behind the oil industry. Fast fashion has become a fast
phenomenon and people neglect to realize that the shirt on their back has a
larger impact on our world than meets the consumers’ eye. From one piece of
apparel to the next, the pesticides used to produce cotton, dyes used to
process finished pieces that is carried on as waste, the hands that produce
apparel, and the way households care for their garments (washing, drying, etc.)
just to name a few, can and have had a negative impact on our environment.
Realizing how dirty the apparel industry really is, one could only hope
consumers would take a stand against fast fashion companies who refuse to help
reduce the carbon footprint of the fashion industry in order to turn a quick
profit off of the ignorance of consumers themselves. Not only do they generate
the profit from consumers, but many large fashion manufacturers have looked
overseas as their main source of productivity, where people just like you and I
are “employed” in sweatshops, huddled for hours and hours on end to create our
value of trendy apparel, where they barely earn enough income to keep food on
their tables let alone raise their families. Just like in our own country where
protestors peacefully speak up for what is right and are being terrorized in
the act, sweatshop workers protest for merely a living wage and are killed in
the streets by the very system that is meant to protect them. Apparel
manufacturers have completely devalued their human characterization because the
country in which they source has no laws in place to protect employee rights,
and, for some reason, their company means more than the lives of their workers.
Now, we can sit here and think: ‘wow, how could they do that?’, but right here,
in our own country, we watch the news and witness the same level of
dehumanization as cops and Nazi terrorists exploit the lives of American
citizens daily.
To scream hate on any individual is accepting the fact that
one deems their life more valuable than the person who is in some way opposite
than them; being skin color, belief system, creed, gender, or any other
difference. As Americans, we are fortunate enough to live in a country where
there is a freedom to express our values and our dreams and pursue whatever
path we choose in order to get there. However, that freedom is highly taken
advantage as those continue to immerse their hearts in hatred and allow our
nation to take steps backwards, living in vain of the progress of the civil
rights movement. No, you may not be a Nazi terrorist living in America, but projecting
hate for those very individuals makes you no better than them, and it is slowly
tearing our nation apart as our own government officials neglect the responsibility
to stand up for the progress of our nation. So, it is our duty to project the
love and speak up against those who seek to terrorize those who are different
than they are, because that somehow makes them lesser. There is no life more valuable
than another, and in all aspects of life, it is time that we stand up for one
another and show our nation and world leaders that we are consciously stronger
together. Becoming conscious of the hands that produced the outfit you are
wearing today, you are taking a stand to value that human life that made you
fortunate enough to wear it, just as speaking up against that same level of dehumanization
being projected in our own country may break current racial barriers. I have
chosen to become environmentally conscious, human conscious, and through my
career within the fashion industry, I not only want to act with the intention
of saving our natural home, but I also want to bring awareness to the value of
humanism. It is more in the hands of the people to create a positive step into
the right direction than it is within our world leaders, because it seems the
only action that will be taken is after their citizen body first lead by
example, and allowing yourself to become aware of this impact can make all the
difference.
As third world countries become more developed and the cost of living of those respective countries also rise, do you see fashion manufacturers becoming more domestic again? Because if the cost of labor in emerging countries is nearing the same cost as domestic labor, you think they would come back especially if a tax incentive is provided?
ReplyDeleteI know China has been known to have sweatshops but now that China is taking on an incentive where they want to increase the overall livelihood of every citizen and eliminate poverty by 2020 (very ambitious), do you see see it as a positive sign? I know China's overall economy is increasing thus the disposable income of each household going up which allow for lavish spending. Increase in apple phone purchases and other luxury goods have been on the up, would this be an opportunity you think for a westerner to exploit this opportunity in the fashion side?
Hey, Earl. Thank you for taking the time to digest my post! I definitely believe it is an ambitious goal, but, I believe it takes a strong governing body taking responsibility for the for the livelihood of their citizens. It is accepting the responsibility that what was happening before was happening because laws were not instilled in order to protect their citizens in the workforce and the environment around them. I think once that is accepted, they are able to move forward and implement the change that is needed in order for emerging countries to build their economy stronger around manufacturing and so forth. With that being said, corporations are becoming more aware of their carbon footprint in the industry and are starting to take the initiatives to be more environmentally aware. More and more companies are emerging which seek to produce solely in the United States as much as they possibly can. I believe as the signs of the negative behavior are physically coming into sight with the way things are happening in the world, education on the matter is allowing people to become more aware and manufacturing has the positive potential to become more domesticated. There will always be the man that will seek to exploit the opportunity to advance financially, however as long as regulations are put in place by a governing system, it will help regulate such exploitation. But, if governing bodies neglect to assume that responsibility, it is important, regardless, that people remain educated on its negative effects to enforce pressure on their legislation. I
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