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“As fashion cycles become increasingly fast paced, some sectors of the fashion industry have adopted increasingly unsustainable production techniques to keep up with demand and increase profit margins” (Cobbing & Vicaire, 2017, p. 26).  Cobbing, M., & Vicaire, Y. (2017). Fashion at the Crossroads. Greenpeace International,
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We applaud #MittenBrewingCo as GRR's first brewery to choose sustainable shirts for their brand!! These are 100% organic cotton--NO plastic/polyester! The Mitten's order of 50 shirts prevented 16.5 pounds of insecticide from polluting over 35,000 gallons of water compared to conventional cotton--1/3 pound pollutes 700 gallons just to grow 1 non-organic T-shirt AND avoids use of polyester, the laundering of which is a significant source of micro-plastic pollution in our Great Lakes & rivers. Thank you for you choosing Clothing Matters' logowear line for your worthy pursuit. PC: McA Media  We thank those who respect life, who understand the interdependent nature of our world, the great value of diversity, and need for equal opportunity. When I was in the 5th grade, we had the opportunity to research and write an eight page report on whomever we wished.
I chose The Honorable Reverand Dr MLK JR., delving passionately into the project with great respect for this person I saw as a hero, contacting Coretta King and burning the midnight oil learning about his life/work. His life committed to social justice impressed and inspired me to my core. His message resonates, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” My report was 39 pages; my appreciation and admiration for him continues to grow. Look into King as leader of environmental equity and ecological thinker. "Each year, consumers return about $380 billion worth of goods — $90 billion of which are processed during the holiday." according to Optoro, a tech company that helps major retailers manage their returns. Representatives from Optoro also state that "5 billion pounds of returned items end up in the trash heap. Moreover, only half of returns make it back onto shelves, the company estimates. The rest, due to circumstances such as damages or opened boxes, take a different path" (Posted: 9:44 AM, December 26, 2017, By: CNN WIRE). For the full article, click here.  An NPR Series explores the inner-workings of the fast fashion industry, shedding light on the social and environmental consequences that follow. Click here to listen and read.  According to a new report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the fashion industry's current "take-make-dispose" system creates greenhouse gas emissions of 1.2 billion tonnes a year—that's "more than those of all international flights and maritime shipping combined." Click here to read more.  Scholars of various persuasions are challenging fast fashion's impact on our planet, unpacking the socio-cultural & environmental implications that follow an inherently unsustainable industry. Across Women’s Lives: Wear and Tear Series works to expose the unjust and oppressive work conditions many women face within the garment industry. Click here to read/listen. Facebook for PRI: Across Women's Lives   Consider the classic white t-shirt. Annually, we sell and buy 2 billion t-shirts globally, making it one of the most common garments in the world. But how and where is the average t-shirt made, and what’s its environmental impact? Angel Chang traces the life cycle of a t-shirt.
Within the last few months, Nestle has applied for an increase in the amount of water it is permitted to pump at one of its Michigan site wells. This increase would allow Nestle to go from pumping 150 gallons of water to 400 gallons of water per minute. To put this in perspective, Nestle may be able to pump as much as 210 million gallons per year for only 200 dollars (i.e. this is the price of a permit fee). Moreover, Nestle is paying next to nothing to extract and bottle up our fresh water, while preserving the plastic bottle that has drastically impacted the health of our ecosystems. Let us also seriously consider the negative externalities associated with this exploitative objective: an excessive increase in plastic production- disposables that disturb ecological processes and human health. . The use of plastic permeates through all major industries and the impacts become even more alarming when one considers the amount of micro-plastic in our own clothing and how it is affecting our health. "Another emerging source of marine microplastics is microfibres leaching from clothing when washed. Microfibres are 1/100th the diameter of a human hair and are used for better waterproofing, breathability and flexibility in sportswear. The most common types of microfibers are made from polyesters and polyamides, and according to researchers giving evidence to the UK House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee in 2016, the number of leached microfibres in wastewater could be as many as 1900 fibres per garment." Not to mention, micro plastics attract and carry toxic elements, such as VOCs and PFCs, which are then ingested and passed through the food chain, back to humans. For an informative read, click here.   The Story of Stuff critically challenges the underside of our production and consumption patterns, ultimately, the 'materials economy.' The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the Stuff in your life forever. www.storyofstuff.org |
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