While all the choices are important, I believe the biggest barrier to resolving the fast fashion crisis is the race to the bottom line and the lack of transparency in the apparel industry. The staggering statistic that 30% of clothing manufactured never reaches the consumer and is instead destined for disposal through burning or being dumped in landfills, dwarfs consumer recycling efforts. In other words, we make too much stuff at a cost to the people who make it and the planet we live on.
At the time I took the poll, 73% responded that the biggest barrier to reducing textile waste was lack of infrastructure and a whopping 0% of respondents chose it's hard to change consumer behavior. Myself included. After clicking the respond button, I had a change of heart. If I just purchased less and tried to buy clothes that lasted longer, if I found ways to mend and repair - then would those non-existent recycling centers be as needed? It's easy to blame the problem on a lack of infrastructure, because then we get to keep shopping the way we do. But to turn the mirror on ourselves and change our behavior, that's the real hard part. The fact that I or anyone else in the survey has yet to choose changing consumer behavior is a perfect illustration of how difficult a hurdle this really is.....
While all the choices are important, I believe the biggest barrier to resolving the fast fashion crisis is the race to the bottom line and the lack of transparency in the apparel industry. The staggering statistic that 30% of clothing manufactured never reaches the consumer and is instead destined for disposal through burning or being dumped in landfills, dwarfs consumer recycling efforts. In other words, we make too much stuff at a cost to the people who make it and the planet we live on.
At the time I took the poll, 73% responded that the biggest barrier to reducing textile waste was lack of infrastructure and a whopping 0% of respondents chose it's hard to change consumer behavior. Myself included. After clicking the respond button, I had a change of heart. If I just purchased less and tried to buy clothes that lasted longer, if I found ways to mend and repair - then would those non-existent recycling centers be as needed? It's easy to blame the problem on a lack of infrastructure, because then we get to keep shopping the way we do. But to turn the mirror on ourselves and change our behavior, that's the real hard part. The fact that I or anyone else in the survey has yet to choose changing consumer behavior is a perfect illustration of how difficult a hurdle this really is.....