As I promised in my post last week, I am going to give you a working definition of an ethical and sustainable lifestyle. Because the topic is so broad, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is - but, with references to both key words (i.e. ethical and sustainable), it's easier to get a more comprehensive ideal as to what the lifestyle is.
As defined by the Center of Humans and Nature, ethics has to do with "the principles, standards, rules, norms of conduct that make cooperation, justice, and freedom possible." Meaning that one lives life in a way that abides by the moral standards they set for themselves. You may think to yourself "How do the clothes I wear or the food I buy have anything to do with my morals and ethics?" It's okay to ask that! I know that I did when I first was introduced to the idea. It didn't really seem to make any sense to me, since what I was buying wasn't hurting anyone. But I was wrong. In 2013, Rana Plaza in Bangladesh collapsed, killing more than 1,100 factory workers. According to Forbes, this was due to a "shoddily-constructed" building that some are questioning whether was up to code. It's not uncommon for fast fashion companies to use cheap, foreign companies to do their work for lower pay, and it's not unusual for them to skirt their responsibilities of making sure their "employees" are being treated right. Since 2013, fast fashion brands have put forth sustainability projects and have promoted the idea that they are trying to make things right, but a study done by Sarah Labowitz and Dorothée Baumann-Pauly published by New York University's Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, comments that out of 3,425 inspections, only 8 factories have passed in Bangladesh (x). Brands that have been connected to such incidents are common fast fashion retailers along with J.C. Penny and The Children's Place. These are places we have all shopped at or at least have seen around and maybe even browsed in. So, now do you see how this connects to your ethics? How can you wear something knowing that someone slaved over it and yet made no money off of it? How can you wear something knowing that someone was possibly having to risk their life to make it? The sad thing is - it's hard to know the story behind your clothes when you usually have no idea where your items are coming from. That's where research begins, and sustainability comes in. Since I defined the "ethical" part of an "ethical and sustainable lifestyle," it's time to move on to the second keyword: sustainable. I'll use the Center for Human's and Nature, once again for use as I believe they have an excellent working definition for sustainability. They define it as "not undermining the prerequisites of what you are doing, living on the land without ruining it, using without using up, limiting how much you draw down reserves so that you do not deplete faster than you replenish." Quite a different word from ethical, but I promise the two do work together, and here's why! You may be thinking to yourself at this point in time 'Oh no, I have an entire closet full of clothes I bought from brands who are neither sustainable or ethical, what do I do? Do I throw them away?' My answer to this is simple: No. What is done is done and cannot be reversed, however you can prevent it from happening in the future. What you need to do now is attempt to get as much use out of those clothes as you can. Style them in an multitude of different ways, dress them up and dress them down, take care of them while washing them as little as possible. Use them as much as you can, so the work done by faceless workers overseas isn't wasted. Make their effort worth it! By doing so, you are being both ethical and sustainable since you aren't going out and buying new things while making the same mistakes over and over again, yet are continuing to reuse what you already have. If you have to buy new things, do some research and only buy from companies that have implemented regulations to keep these kind of incidents from happening. This sends the message to brands that you won't be purchasing any new items until they start making some real changes. Now that we have a definition to go off of, it's a little easier to understand why I believe living this kind of lifestyle is so important - because it's really common sense. Of course, we want to live ethically and of course we want to be sustainable. However, it takes actions to achieve such goals.
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While by this point, you have probably already read the "About" section to this website, I thought it would still be worth my while to give a bit of an explanation as to why I felt as though I was called to live a sustainable lifestyle and also promote it as well. It can sometimes be hard to buy into what people try to tell you since, most of the time, they don't really have any passion behind it - but, from my experience, living a more environmentally centered and ethical life can make all the difference in your day to day attitude as well as your health.
I started off much like any skeptic - narrow-minded and uninformed. It wasn't that I hadn't been exposed to such ideals, just that I scoffed at the idea of them. Recycling wasn't a big deal to my family and they weren't very big on saving the planet either. To them that was just tree hugger nonsense. I love my family, but I believe this was a huge flaw in the way they approached their lifestyle. The sad thing is though, a lot of people see the world this way. You may be asking yourself, what is an ethical and sustainable lifestyle? Most people just see it as going green, but it encompasses much more than that. Living ethically doesn't just effect the environment but people as well. I'll explain how in my next post when I detail exactly how I define the lifestyle I aspire to live but, right now, I'll give you a simple definition. By living ethically and sustainably you agree to be consciously aware of the waste you produce and trying to reduce it, as well as always double checking where it is you are obtaining any of your goods from and making sure that they have ethical practices in place. With that defined, let's dive into how a narrow-minded simpleton like me, discovered the industry. Back in 2015, I discovered Livia Firth quite by accident. She's the founder of the London-based company of Eco-Age, which consults with fashion brands all over the world in an attempt to bring forth more environmentally friendly and ethical practices. It sounds like a pretty impossible task, given that many people are still skeptical when you start talking "green" to them, but the company has had much success over the past years. Just as I said with defining living sustainably, I will talk more about Livia Firth and Eco-Age in later posts, but I had to mention her as she is an important player in my personal story. I had never thought of fashion as a good way to get people to live more sustainably, but it was so simple! All I had to do was consciously watch where I bought my clothes from and make sure they had fair trade practices in place and were aware of their environmental impact. While I had never really thought of recycling much before, suddenly it was at the forefront of my mind as I saw the results of it in the form of red carpet dresses and many other material items. It was as though putting the ideals with something I had an interest in (fashion) just sparked something within me. Suddenly, I couldn't be stopped. I followed some other blogs that also were attempting to make their lifestyles more sustainable. This didn't only extend to clothing but to food as well. I became more and more conscious of the products I was buying and how often I was buying them. I started to look for brands that were using recyclable packaging and producing organic goods that I knew were not only good for me, but for the planet as well. It is because these blogs had such an impact on my life, that I decided I wanted to start one myself and inspire the same change in others as I saw in me. It's been a few years now since I became more aware of my lifestyle and - I have to say - I'm glad I did. While I still stumble here and there with what I'm buying, just having a better awareness of the effect I have on the planet has made all the difference. I'm establishing this blog not only as a way of branding myself, but also as a way of sharing my journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle. |
About MeA marketing student passionate about green marketing and attempting to live a sustainable lifestyle. Archives
June 2018
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