How To Make Ethical Choices

By Josh

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The fashion industry is one of the major contributors of carbon, second only to oil. So many of us have started to become more ECOncious, especially when it comes to choosing our clothes, including celebrities like Emma Watson using their social media platforms to spread awareness There is this idea that it is wrong to wear the same piece of clothing twice but, this disposable fashion needs to stop! Some small changes Watson suggests are; ‘thrifting instead of buying new, supporting sustainable brands, and air-drying your clothes’ all of these added up can make a huge difference. 

Thrifting is becoming increasingly popular. Not just because it is cheap but also because the vintage style is in right now and not to mention how it helps to cut back on pollution so much. The fashion industry is said to be the second most C02 intensive industry after agriculture. Most of the time when I go thrifting I find some great pieces for a low price. So it is a real win-win situation. However, I don’t always find the buried treasure. It is really a matter of really going to know what you are looking for. Fortunately there are lots of great tutorials online to help out!

If you are anything like me, you may be unsure what is meant by a sustainable brand. They are brands that make a conscious effort to limit their effect on the environment. Some sustainable brands to know about are; Dr Martens, LUSH and Everlane. When looking for a sustainable brand, you’ve really got to look as brands tend not to use their ethical choices, as a form of advertising. Rather they do it as they see the importance of it.

I think it is just a given that we all need to wash our clothes regularly, or we will just end up smelling! It is also a lot more environmentally friendly to reuse clothes than to go out and buy new ones, but there is this fast fashion idea that you buy something for the trend. You're supposed to buy something once and then never again, which I think is an awful way of looking at our clothes. You should buy pieces you like and then mix and match them with the help of a washing machine. With a family of five we seem to have a near enough never ending stream of washing, so I realise how hard it can be for some of us to limit our laundry. It is also particularly hard for us to air dry stuff in the winter, it is more likely for them to turn into pieces of ice!! But as long as we all try our best, every little bit adds up for a better environment.

Check out Thred Up’s fashion footprint calculator - made in partnership with Watson - to find out how dirty your closet is: thredup.com/quiz. My fashion habits contribute to about 631lbs of carbon emissions annually, so I’ll definitely be working to reduce this myself, and I encourage you to as well! 

Thank you for reading, I hope that if we all change our fashion habits a little bit we will be able to cut the carbon emissions.​