Slow down, breathe, take time for yourself, meditate, eat healthfully, shop consciously. We all know we need to make these changes in our lives, but sometimes it’s easier said than done. Amiright? After all, we are constantly bombarded with videos, texts and IG posts – all hyper-tech – who doesn’t need to take a step back and reflect?
A simplified life can mean taking the time to slow things down; opt for taking a bike to work or choosing to walk the kids to school instead of driving. Maybe it’s thinking about how we’re consuming, and where things come from.
Fast Fashion, Fast Food
I was shopping in the produce section of my local grocery store recently, and wondering why, when we grow apples a few hundred miles away, all the apples came from abroad. Same thing with the plums, peaches and most of the other fruit. I don’t think my grocery store is alone in this practice. I expect many people are buying fruit from places farther away than where their regional growers farm. Shopping local can mean not shopping at your big box grocery store.
The same applies to fashion. The high speed production of the fast fashion industry is not only wreaking havoc environmentally, it’s also creating a market of crazed consumption where people often feel they need the top-of-the-minute trend, maddeningly updated from last week, that is being pumped out at a phenomenal rate.
Slowing Down the Need for Fast Fashion
We fill our closets with throw-away fashion we only wear a few times because the quality is so low. We’re lucky to get a full season’s wear out of an item, so there’s no passing it on to a friend, it’s even often too worn looking for a charity shop. Instead it’s off to the landfill where 12 million tons of clothing ends up every year in North America.
Let’s be honest, often when we get something new, we ‘love it love it love it!’ until we just don’t like it anymore. We typically wear the same 10-15 pieces repeatedly, and our basics don’t change much from season to season. Our favourite pair of jeans, comfy tops and soft casual sweaters are things we buy repeatedly. Workwear typically always includes a black pencil skirt or slim black pants that don’t change much over a few seasons.
Back to Basics
Perhaps it’s time to take a miss on the cheap, sparkly piece that will only be worn once and invest well in organically grown, ethically-made pieces that will last longer. Choosing quality basic items – slow fashion – means you hang on to them longer, they wear better, and when you are finished with them, they still look great and can find new life with someone else and avoid the landfill altogether.
Looking for a place to start? The Good Trade has created a great resource for a long list of Fair-Trade & Ethically Conscious brands to inspire you. We think you’re going to love it!
myWardrobe Online can help clear out those quality items that you no longer ‘love love love!!’ Don’t toss them in the landfill — give them a new life and help slow down the fast-fashion business.
Visit https://mywardrobeonline.org to find out more about we can all take a step in the right direction.
It requires picking up your cell phone again – but we all know we’re not tossing these smart little devices out the window anytime soon!
Photo credit: Katie Moum
