Blog 1- Michelle Tran

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            The Be Green Challenge was something I was quite anxious about ever since my professor first introduced it to my class. I was nervous about losing the freedom to buy things and restricting myself from purchasing new items from stores. However, I was really excited on the possible insight and experience I would gain due to the restraints I had to uphold. I ultimately felt the challenge would make me more aware of my purchases and where my money was going. At the same time, I was pretty confident that I wouldn’t struggle since I knew my spending habits and my practical and rational mentality.

Majority of my money is spent on groceries that I later use to cook and frugal clothing that I buy from thrift stores, eBay, and online deals. I think the biggest challenges will probably holding back on the shoe purchases. “Once a sneakerhead, always a sneakerhead.” Let’s just say that when I pack to go home on the weekends, I struggle to limit myself from packing only 2-3 pairs of shoes.  It’s even harder when I pack for vacation and extensive trips. Speaking of which, I would really love to travel to Sapa to purchase indigo and the transparency on how the fabrics are made. KeoK’jay, which means bright green or fresh in Khmer, has a post on how, who, where, and what are indigo fabrics are made.

All blue everything

 

Shibori - Wiki

Fabrics found in Sapa

As much as I experience the love and hate relationship I have for sneakers, I pride myself for having “sneaker knowledge,” I am naïve to where the leather is manufactured from and how many shoes are imported to the US. In the reading “Global Commodity Networks and the Leather Footwear Industry: Emerging Forms of Economic Organization in a Postmodern World,” it presents statistics and data along with the origins and history of the leather footwear industry the U.S. partakes. U.S consumers “trends and patterns” affect the global economy by forming “social and economic organization in industrializing areas.” (Korzeniewicz) The reading reminds me of the documentary on modern American sweatshops we are watching called “ Made in L.A” where people in America are exploited to make clothing stores such as Forever 21.

Inside: Movie: Director Almudena Carracedo. “Made in L.A.” (2007)

Miguel Korzeniewicz. “Global Commodity Networks and the Leather Footwear Industry: Emerging Forms of Economic Organization in a Postmodern World.”

Outside: http://keokjay.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/240/