Week 1

Mary Qin
ASA 141
Blog 1/Week 1


I have heard about the unethical working conditions of garment workers before this class, but in all honesty, I never really thought about it too much. I was very detached to it and it was not until I watched "The True Cost" in class that showed the plight and the suffering of the workers that I gave a second thought about the clothes that I buy. I have definitely never thought about how unsustainable clothing can be. Roger Harrabin mentions in his article, "Fast Fashion: 'Penny On a Garment' to Drive Clothes Recycling" that fast fashion produces more greenhouse gases than all the planes in the world. Forever 21 and H&M are fast fashion and are  clothing stores that I often frequent. In retrospect, I remember buying countless pieces of clothing that I knew would be ruined within a wash, but I bought it anyway just because I wanted to wear it for a singular occasion. I realize now that this is very wasteful and how this can accumulate to be a big problem. "Fashion Brands and Consumers Approach Towards Sustainable Fashion" mentions a lot of different ways to practice sustainable fashion. This includes thrifting, sharing/trading clothing, or upcycling clothes. While I think that this green challenge will be extremely difficult and I don't know if I will be able to make it to the end, I am also excited about being able to practice these sustainable methods. I will for sure have to learn to borrow clothing more and be creative with the materials that I already have. My habits will definitely have to change. I think that I will definitely be challenged in this challenge as a lot of events are happening within these five weeks, which are when I am most prone to consumerism. My love language is also "gifts",  so while I did do some early shopping in preparation for this challenge,  I still think it will be extremely difficult to control my impulses.

Works Cited:
Morgan, Andrew. "The True Cost". 2015

Khaundaul, Asimananda and Pradhan, Swikruti. "Fashion Brands and Consumers Approach Towards Sustainable Fashion" Fast Fashion, Fashion Brands, and Sustainable Consumption. 2018

Harrabin, Roger. “Fast Fashion: 'Penny on a Garment' to Drive Clothes Recycling.” BBC, 2019.

Asimananda Khandual and Swikruti Pradhan. “Fashion Brands and Consumers Approach

Towards Sustainable Fashion.”

Asimananda Khandual and Swikruti Pradhan. “Fashion Brands and Consumers Approach

Towards Sustainable Fashion.”