To start off I was extremely shocked to find out that the clothes we wear were in fact made out of various types of plastic. I simply assumed that polyester was just another type of fabric but it never crossed my mind that it could possibly mean a form of plastic. When this first came up in a reading and then again during Heather’s presentation it was something I couldn’t possibly comprehend. Surely if my clothing was made out of plastic I’d be able to feel it, to feel some discomfort. But as Heather went on with her presentation she showed us how plastics are blended with other fiber to make them into a material that was wearable and delicate to the skin. Something else I found quite shocking was the fact that misleading tags are placed on shirts to trick consumers into believing the clothing they are buying is “green”, made from recycled or sustainable material. I feel like a fool, believing all the tags and slogans such brands use to advertise their clothing.
When I look at brands such as H&M and Zara I used to appreciate their efforts in promoting recycling. I remember feeling a glimmer of hope when they announced that consumers would get some form of a loyalty scheme for handing in old pieces of clothing. Today’s presentation however showed me that the majority of what we recycle ends up in landfills. More importantly I learned that recycling isn’t in fact the answer. These plastics shouldn’t be produced in the first place because once they’re produced they can only be down-cycled or mixed with new plastic to produce up-to-par products which leads to further unsustainable practices (especially when mixed with other fibers which makes it hard to reuse). Heather beautifully pointed out that these brands advertise that their clothing is made from “sustainable plastic” or they conserved water in certain stages but the reality is that using plastic isn’t sustainable and the claims made regarding reduced use of water was for sectors that used the least water to begin with. Everything they say is filled with fluff – words/phrases that are rather vague and don’t have any meaning/substance to them.
Heather also spoke about how washing had led to our clothes shedding ridiculous amounts of microfibers in a single wash. This could lead to countless health issues as we inhale and ingest these microfibers. Clearly something must be done to save not only our lives but our planet as a whole. We discussed numerous alternatives in class today but I personally believe that wearing clothes for longer and shifting to slow-fashion is one of the most realistic options of them all. Additionally, we could rotate our clothes to accommodate our ever-changing tastes in fashion.
(When I was younger I used to cut the tags off of some of my shirts because I found them inconvenient/irritating. I didn’t feel they had any worth after I had already purchased the item of clothing. Today’s guest speaker spoke on a point that made me ponder for a while ‘these tags help us recycle these materials properly’ because we know what they contain.)
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