Blog #1

Michelle Tin

Today marks the beginning of my journey to “be green” in this anti-consumerism movement. I know it may be tough but definitely manageable. I tend to shop in waves. I can go months at school without shopping anywhere, with the exception of maybe the Davis Flea. However, upon returning home, holidays and malls galore invite me to shop – especially as a way to hang out with friends. Luckily for me, should I get the urge to shop during this challenge, I love to thrift shop. I love finding pieces that I won’t see ten other girls wearing from Forever 21. Unique pieces that tell a story or brand new pieces that managed to arrive, having never been worn, at a fraction at the cost.

Although I am already a generally anti-department store shopper, I do frequent Forever 21, H&M, and Urban Outfitters. It may be hard to not cave if a sale should arise, but who are we kidding? There’s always a sale. In fact, I buy most of my clothes from the sale section and love the satisfaction of getting a good deal. I do have a pet chinchilla, so I am going to assume that if cut flowers and art supplies are allowed, that I can buy him food and bedding if needed.

Not knowing much about this movement, I did a little research and was surprised by how far back it goes! I thought that because consumerism has seemed to significantly increase in the last decade or so, that the movement was a fairly recent thing. However, to my surprise, people have been pushing anti-consumerism for over twenty years now. In 1993, Kalle Lasn, a Vancouver activist, helped launch the first Buy Nothing Day. In the picture below, demonstrators protest consumerism marching through downtown San Francisco.

 

Chronicle photo by Chris Hardy via sfgate.com

I am excited to see if I can manage to stick to the compact. Perhaps I can explore my creative side and make or alter clothes like the Asian American designers did long before even launching their careers. And with multiple birthdays coming up, I suppose I am relieved that I am a terrible gift-buyer, and that birthday gifts from me are usually handmade or freshly baked. 

Inside Source: Nguyen Tu, Thuy Linh. "Crossing the Assembly Line: Skills, Knowledge, and the Borders of Fashion." The Beautiful Generation: Asian Americans and the Cultural Economy of Fashion. 2010.

Outside Source: The Compact: An Anti-Consumerism Movement. http://h2g2.com/approved_entry/A25871141

Blog #6

Blog #6

Nicky Lei

I apologize for the super late entry. I thought I had wrote a blog #6, but it turns out that I didn't. The Be Green challenge was a very insightful experience. I'm really glad that I took this experience. I didn't think that I was going to make through the four weeks since I like to spend a lot. I've realized that I do spend a lot of my money on things that I don't really need. From this challenge, I found myself digging through my old things and seeing how I am able to reuse it. I began to knit scarves again. I also went to a thrift store for the first time to check it out. I was going to a friend's place and there was a thrift store on the way, so I decided to drop by. I always wanted to go to a thrift store but never had a chance to. They actually had some pretty nice stuff in there. This challenge has really opened my eyes. I've realized that many people in this world don't have the luxury of getting whatever they want. Many have to work extremely long hours just to make ends meet. In college, I'm noticing people's spending habits more and more. A lot of the times I hear stories about them buying all these things and in the end they don't even use it. It makes me want to tell them to go through this challenge. I think that everyone should go through this challenge. It will definitely open up their eyes and make them realize how much they're spending. It's been almost a month since the end of the Be Green Challenge and I am still careful of not spending too much. Whenever I'm about to purchase something I always ask myself if it's a want or a need. Most of the time it's just a want. The lessons I've learned through this challenge, I will remember and use them for the future.

Late Blog

Blog # 5

Kenny Saechao

Late Entry- I was reviewing my posts (I just got your sisweb message) and found out I forgot to do blog number 5. In hopes of at least getting partial credit I am going to wrap up some thoughts.

Around this time we had just finished Kawamura's reading and the Be Green challenge has come to an end. Finals were coming up and I remember my bank account started dribbling. This was weird because I noticed a bit extra cash ever since this challenge started. I realized that I was becoming very stressed and started eating out a  lot.

This made me think about my food consumption and how this "Be Green" challenge can transcend beyond not only new clothes but even food. This made me think about "freegans", something I just learned about. Apparently they are mainly New Yorkers whom mainly eat food that was going to be thrown away. They save money and waste by eating what others do not want. Some exclaim that people will throw away perfectly good fruit because of a simple blemish. Its interesting to say the least. I can see a lot of people bashing them for being "poor hippie new yorkers" but I come from a poor area and I think this is smart (maybe thats why?). Being green and not consuming things that stem from unfair labor production and commodity chains are bigger than just the clothing/fashion industry. In reality, every market that profit can be made from might if not already will contain some form of unfair labor production. Thinking critically about my life decisions and where EVERYTHING I interact with comes from makes me sort of sad.

Outside source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Squatters-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Conclusion

Eddie Truong

Blog #6

This week marks the end of the "Be Green" Challenge that we started about 6 weeks ago. In many ways, I'm very proud of myself for choosing to not buy anything extraneous during this period, but I think that I should extend the period of the challenge so that I can keep this streak going!

On the last day of class, I found it interesting that we went to a thrift store to buy some clothing. I was expecting to go anywhere to buy clothes, even though it was a fashion class. I went around the thrift store looking for some clothes to fit me. I'm not a very fashion-oriented person so it was an interesting challenge for me to find clothes that looked appealing to myself; I just don't have the sense for it. My friend found me a good jacket to wear and I contemplated buying it for the longest time. In the end, I chose not to buy it because I really didn't need the extra jacket. Even though the jacket would have been bought in a thrift store which resists commodity chains on some level, the "Be Green" challenge reminded me that I shouldn't buy anything that I really don't need, thrift or not.

I felt that I didn't get as much out of this challenge as my peers because I participate in less of a consumerist culture than others. I probably learned the most from the readings and connecting it to my thoughts about consumerist culture. I'm happy that I was able to stick to the challenge and I'll probably stick to this challenge on a more personal level so that I can check myself against consumerist mentality for as long as I can. I learned a lot from this challenge and from the class as well; there's so much to fashion that I didn't know about before and I have a new level of respect for this field.