The iconic lyrics "Cause we are living in a material world, And I am a material girl" by Madonna, best describe the current culture. I believe as consumers, we hold a social responsibility to make mindful purchases. To purchase what we need and consider the factory of longevity. I envision a society that truly appreciates the stuff they own, by valuing the history of the item- the materials/who produced it. Viewing a fast fashion top as simply a cheap, trendy top can be dangerous as consumers dissociate from the unethical labour behind it and the ecological cost. I plan to support initiatives that focus on thrifting and sharing companies that are conscious of our effects. I will share their posts and voice my opinions to my own social media followers in hopes that they will stumble onto someone listening and spark change within them.
Photo by Heather Seely on Tamborasi
Hi, I think it's great that you're trying to spread your voice to people on social media. Regardless of how many followers you may have or how many people may actually see your post, I do feel that it would help to counteract the mainstream trend, and by extension, social signalling of advocating for unsustainable fast fashion.
First off, the use of the Madonna lyrics to emphasize your point was really great. I agree that we live in a society that thrives off of purchasing goods for short trends rather then for the longevity and usefulness of the good. I also believe that it is important to draw attention to the unethical labour used to produce some of the goods for these short trends and hold manufacturers accountable.
I like your initiation and spreading awareness on social media so that people are considering their choices before making their purchase. Trends are not all bad, if we can make use of the power and psychological effect of creating trends, we can use to to promote better solutions for the environment instead of making people chase unnecessary standards.
I think you brought up a great point that something that is financially "cheap" can really misguide people into thinking that not much was sacrificed to make the product. I find that oftentimes, some of the cheapest products demand the most labour and resources to make, which consumers don't realize if the financial value of the product is very little. I agree with your point about using social media to educate others; adding on to this, I believe that much of this education should be centered around informing others about the large amounts of labour and resources needed to make the products that consumers buy without a second thought. This could go a long way towards stopping, or at least reducing, the trend of "fast fashion".