“I went to school the same time as Al Gore. The only difference is that I went here and he went to Harvard,” lectured Professor Marde Gregory to her Speech 1 class as a segue into the topic of global warming.
Although greenhouse gasses weren’t exactly popular conversation in the 1970s, they have eased their way from science reports to classrooms to dinner tables by now.
And it seems like everything causes global warming, from air conditioners to cars.
Well, get ready for the newest culprit: clothing.
And not just any clothing; according to The New York Times, the clothes that teenagers buy from inexpensive stores such as H&M, Target and Old Navy are linked to the eventual melting of the ice caps.
The University of Cambridge released a study in November citing problems with everything from the manufacturing of our clothes to their maintenance to their final disposal.
First of all, there are chemical toxins involved in producing the cotton (since the clothes are somewhat cheaper, the cotton is the mutt of its kind) that let out foul exhaust from the factories.
Moreover, the cumulative effects of maintaining these clothes (think of your laundry runs, how many loads you do, etc.) not only use up water but also expend valuable energy.
Living in Los Angeles, and especially wandering around the UCLA campus day and night, it is not difficult to observe that fashion changes ““ a lot.
And this has become true, according to the report, for most of Western Europe and the United States.
While discarding your flared jeans for new skinny jeans and/or tights may be an obvious choice to make, it turns out that keeping up with trends is hurting the environment.
For instance, for every UK customer, an average of about 66 pounds of clothing and textiles are dumped in landfills each year.
And those are numbers from a place just somewhat bigger than California.
Think of what the figures are in the U.S. ““ H&M, Forever21 and Old Navy clothing ““ from sea to shining sea.
If there is a rip in the $12 shirt you bought a year or so ago, you’re not likely to think too much before sighing and then quickly chucking it out. It is easy to forget that we are a fairly opulent society and most of us buy clothes more for look than function, not willing to stay too long with outdated clothing.
In response to people’s (OK, fine, mostly women’s) addiction to the “sale high,” the report suggests a few alternatives.
Some of the more radical ideas include: creating a system to lease clothes that you don’t plan on wearing till the end of time; buying more expensive clothes that are composed of natural fibers; repairing old clothes instead of throwing them out; or hang-drying more clothes. The most obvious option is, of course, to give old clothes to the Salvation Army or some other charitable cause.
I don’t think I’m about to lease out leggings any time soon, but everything else sounds reasonable. Buying clothes that ring a little bit louder on the cash register might actually lead to smarter shopping choices instead of wild impulse shopping.
Living and shopping in a world full of outsourced sweatshop labor, hidden cholesterol, and scary PowerPoints by former vice presidents can be exhausting. It sucks a lot of energy and goodwill out of anyone remotely trying to do the right thing.
Shopping at Wal-Mart comes with a small side order of worrying about oppressed people in Bangladesh. Walking into Bebe and buying something means purchasing the fruits of abusive child labor. And now this.
Where to shop, what to buy and how to deal with its background is a completely personal choice.
Sometimes we all end up making decisions we aren’t the most proud of. With the number of major firms committing ethical crimes, the only way to avoid any contact with exploitation is searching for expensive guilt-free clothing or spinning your own cloth at home.
Doing something with clothes that have already been bought is a more realistic expectation to have of the public. There’s no point in feeling guilty about something you’re obviously not going to stop doing, so just do it better.
Wait a while before getting too frustrated. In a post-Al Gore kind of a world, I am sure we will all be wearing some sort of wildly organic, completely decomposable and surprisingly edible jeans.
Write to rjoshi@media.ucla.edu for your very own spinning wheel. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.