By: Neha Lal
If you’re in a student in the Faculty of Environment, you probably already know about the fast fashion industry and everything wrong with itYou’ve heard about the underpaid and overworked garment workers in unsafe factories overseas, you’ve learned about dyes being dumped in rivers, you’ve seen pictures of the mountains of textile waste sitting in landfills, and you know exactly how many gallons of freshwater it takes to make just one pair of jeans. But what are you supposed to do about it? If your answer to that question was “buy sustainably” then you’re not wrong, but let’s be honest with ourselves: how many of us can afford to shop at a sustainable boutique clothing store and spend fifty dollars on one t-shirt when we could just go to the mall and buy five for the same price?
It’s really challenging to make the most environmentally conscious decisions on a budget. That’s why Fashion Forward UW wants to provide you with an alternative that’s not just about buying better, but also about reducing how many clothes you purchase and throw away in the first place. Fashion Forward UW is a student-led initiative that aims to make our campus more sustainable by educating students both about the harms of fast fashion (just in case you needed a refresher) and what practical and affordable alternatives exist. We want to show you how to spruce up an old t-shirt or mend a hole in your favourite well-worn pair of jeans, and we want to make it fun while we’re at it. You can find us on Instagram (@fashionforwardUW) where we’re planning on launching tons of new content in the weeks and months to come, teaching you the basics of how to embroider, mend, and upcycle your old clothes. We know that being environmentally conscious can sometimes seem like a chore, an expensive chore at that, but it doesn’t have to be. Join us on Instagram and become Fashion Forward by DIY-ing your old clothes as a fun affordable hobby!
Feature image source: Unsplash
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