Open Strong-honeysucklelilac

Posted on March 24, 2021 by honeysucklelilac

The Real Cost

Trendy clothes purchased online everyday for $15 or less has detrimental effects on the environment. There is little thought going into the decision to purchase clothes on fast fashion websites because of their low prices. The focus is on how inexpensive the clothes are and that they are up to date with the trends. No one thinks about what happens to the garments after they are worn a few times and have served their purpose; to show that the wearer is fashionable. When those clothes are tossed after they’ve served their short lived purpose they take years to breakdown in landfills. The importance of clothes must shift from fashionable to durable. There are other ways to get less expensive clothes that are timeless pieces of fashion that have a long service life.

Fatale Fast Fashion Fads

Websites have started to emerge in recent years that grab consumer’s attention by offering the lowest price for the current clothing trends. The clothes are cheaply made and aren’t worn more than a handful of times before they are thrown away because they are out of style or damaged. The garments from these fast fashion websites are pilling up in landfills and take years to break down. The build of of clothes contributes to increased pollution leading to the destruction of the environment. The focus of clothes needs to be on the longevity of being able to wear them instead of just how well they fit into the current trends. There are ways to get less expensive clothes that are still fashionable and long-lasting.

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3 Responses to Open Strong-honeysucklelilac

  1. davidbdale says:
    March 30, 2021 at 6:07 pm

    You may want to give this some thought, Honeysuckle.

    “When those clothes are tossed after they’ve served their short lived purpose they take years to breakdown in landfills.” But:

    Biodegradable plastics contain chemical additives that encourage microorganisms to feed on the plastic, using their enzymes to break the plastic’s molecular bonds. Once the microbes have done their work, all that’s left behind is water, carbon dioxide, and methane.

    —Sounds good. We’re in favor of biodegradable. But take another look at the finished product: CARBON DIOXIDE and METHANE.
    —Isn’t the whole point of most our our Green initiatives to REDUCE the amount of CARBON DIOXIDE in the atmosphere?
    —And isn’t it true that METHANE is about 1000 TIMES WORSE for the ozone layer than carbon dioxide?
    —Yes, it is true.

    So, why would we want plastics to biodegrade? We took the petroleum out of the ground, where we should have let it stay, and turned it into something VERY STABLE: Plastic. That’s the best thing we could do. The LAST THING we should want is for the fossil fuel to turn BACK into CARBON DIOXIDE and METHANE!

    Didn’t mean to shout with the ALL CAPS thing, but it’s hard to do boldface in Replies.

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  2. davidbdale says:
    March 30, 2021 at 6:17 pm

    Anyway, you should probably drop back one step and recommend NOT taking oil out of the ground at all, whether to burn as gasoline OR to turn into clothes. (But clothes are better, and landfills are a better place for them than the ocean.)

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  3. davidbdale says:
    March 30, 2021 at 6:33 pm

    Let’s look at your paragraph.

    “detrimental effects” is weak. It’s a vague “set-up term” that delays saying something meaningful and compelling. Nothing in your first sentence would compel your audience to read the second sentence.

    Given your subject matter, I’m thinking something more like:

    The world is choking on Fast Fashion castoffs.

    Let’s make humans responsible for this mess. You don’t want to antagonize your readers by making them wonder if they’re among the “no one thinks about” group. Use “We” language to share in the blame.

    We buy cheap clothes made from cheap fabrics that barely outlast their trendiness to dress ourselves in the “latest looks” without a care to what it does to the planet.

    You can make the observation that while the clothes are shoddy and wear out fast, and the trends last barely a season before they’re replaced, the castoff garments can survive 1000 years in a landfill, or worse, the ocean. They either become microplastics that end up in the flesh of ocean animals (and eventually ours) or they turn into greenhouse gases. All so we can look flashy.

    Keep it we-centered. Keep it bold. And when you’re ready to transition to the solution: don’t say “there are ways.” That’s another “set-up term” that delays saying something substantial. We can be smart. We can stop killing the planet. We can buy clothes made from natural fabrics that will outlast a decade of passing trends.

    Helpful?

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