Week 1 - Be Green Challenge - Carson Ho

When I first heard about the Be Green Challenge during the first day of class, I felt pretty nervous about how well I could uphold the challenge. While I do not shop often, I think I tend to shop in large spurts, especially when certain products are hyped up and released on a certain date. On rare occasions, I shop out of retail therapy when I am stressed or finished something that's pretty stressful. My biggest fear about this challenge is missing out on hyped clothing and shoes that sell out almost instantly.

Now that I've learned and became more aware about some of the societal issues surrounding fashion, I don't feel as nervous about the green challenge. I feel like the lessons on fast fashion and fashion sustainability really opened my eyes to how most Americans shop excessively and produce large amounts of textile waste. One particular quote from Annamma Joy's article, “Fast Fashion, Sustainability, and the Ethical Appeal of Luxury Brands” alerted me to how unsustainable and damaging fast fashion is as she wrote, "Affordable prices mean that consumers are buying more clothes more frequently. But it also means they’re truly disposable. You may keep an item after ten washes, but the item may lose its lustre by then, or it may have gone out of fashion” (283). This quote led me to think about my own closet and how I have a lot of clothes that I rarely wear. At that point, I realized that I don't always need to buy more clothes, so hopefully these next few weeks will go smoothly, in terms of the green challenge.

image from http://www.smartwomenonthego.com/its-time-to-take-control-of-your-closet/

Works Cited

Annamma Joy. “Fast Fashion, Sustainability, and the Ethical Appeal of Luxury Brands.”