Week 6

Mahima Rupakula
913734418

Week 6: Be Green Challenge

Week 6 of the Be Green Challenge is complete! I think that this challenge was relatively easy to go through with because I never had much time to go shopping much anyways. I did consider buying a new jacket, as my friend took back the one I borrowed from her back. I know that I really was only successful with the Be Green Challenge because it was happening during an extremely busy quarter for me, because I would go online "window shopping" a lot. Meaning, I would look up clothing websites and just look at clothes that I wanted for fun. I think that this is actually a good strategy for curbing the constant need to go online shopping and the addictive consumerist mentality that our generation is starting to foster. The rapid reward cycle of buying things online is probably what drives this consumerist factor forward. This challenge did teach me how to look for smaller brands that don't thrive off of fast fashion trends. One example is a brand I'm currently obsessed with, called Indya, which re-purposes Indian outfits into more modern fashion trends. I think that I might consider getting items from these smaller brands instead of feeding into fast fashion trends more often. 

References:

1. “Online Shopping Addiction.” Michael's House Treatment Centers, 31 May 2018, www.michaelshouse.com/blog/online-shopping-addiction/.

2. "The True Cost." Morgan, Andrew. The True Cost = Der Wahre Preis Der Mode.

Week 6: Be Green - Shang Her

Shang Her
Be Green
Blog #6

I began collecting my trash as I accumulate them. I started Monday 5/27 through 6/3. The first few things that I notice I was throwing out often was food scraps and wrapping. I began to notice that almost everything that I used was plastic or covered with plastic. I ate ramen noodle and it came in a plastic bag with the seasoning in plastic packaging. I notice my diet as well. I often ate out which means I created more waste such as, plastic food wrapping, paper cup, plastic cup cover, napkins, and paper bags. Each time I collected a piece of trash, I would feel guilty that I created more trash. For each ice cream, I ate through away a plastic wrapping and a popsicle stick. Every night, as I do my skincare routine, I use a cotton pad and cotton swab. Each time that I kept throwing away waste, I wonder how can I reduce my amount as I strive towards sustainability.   

As I was thinking of why to be more sustainable, I came across this video by Refinery 29. In this video, Lexy Lebsack looked into the beauty industry and how plastic keeps getting washed up on beach shores. In the video, Lebsack went to Herbal Essences' factory and interview one of the workers there. The Herbal Essences shampoo bottle claims to be made from reusable plastic and beach friendly but in the interview, the worker said the bottles are only made from 25% reused plastic. Like many other industries out there, plastic is bought by sellers and revolves around money. The most bought and recycles plastic is white or clear so most colored plastic said it can be recycled but most of the time it is not. This video has changed the way I view plastic and how I will continue to shop in the figure. I hope to purchase less plastic and if I do so, I'll be more cautious about only purchasing plastic that is white or clear. 

Week 6: Jacqueline Yee

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Jacqueline Yee

Week 6

ASA 141

The challenge is over. I am surprised I lasted the full six weeks without purchasing clothing, so part of me is glad the challenge is over so I can buy new clothes. This last week was really tough since I had to attend a conference, I wanted to purchase some new blouses and tops. However, I had to do everything in my power to refrain myself. I was able to rummage through my closet and borrow some blouses from my sister, so I went to the conference with some good business casual outfit choices. Doing this challenge made me more aware of how I spend my money on material items because of the process and places that it is made. The brands I buy stand for what I endorse, so it is important to understand the whole supply chain of fashion, not just the part on the sales floor. This picture sums up what I was so ignorant about before this challenge and reading the class material.

This challenge has also made me more aware of the use and excess waste generated by activities other than clothing. For example, food and travel toiletries. The use of plastic accumulates and from here on out, I will try to be more aware of my actions and spending habits. I can buy plastic travel bottles to refill myself, buy bar soaps instead of soap in plastic bottles, and in terms of food, bring my own utensils and straws.

Works cited:

1. https://www.themadeinamericamovement.com/sustainability/6-things-you-didnt-know-about-fast-fashion/

2. U.S. News & World Report. (n.d.). Santa's Sweatshop. Retrieved April 28, 2019, from https://www.saigon.com/nike/news/Us1.html

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Week 6

Isabelle Perlada
ASA141
6/3/19

Going into this last week of the Be Green challenge, I can't say that my habits have really changed too much. Even though I have not purchased clothing and other items on impulse like I usually do, I have turned more towards spending my money on food all the time. A number of factors contributed to this, and it was mostly unavoidable this whole quarter. Even though the purpose of the purchases are different, the spending still felt the same as buying things off of Amazon, as food is a necessity but does not last. I also found myself spending a lot of money on boba out of craving, which is not a necessity. Thus, I really do feel like consumables like food and snacks was the loophole I really exploited in this challenge, which led me to not be able to break my spending habits at all. I did learn to think a little more deeply about where my clothes come from and whose expense they might come at, but I don't know if I can say I would continue to buy solely from sustainable brands because as a student, they are just completely out of my price range. I would hope that one day, there would be a solution that is sustainable and affordable other than second-hand purchases. I found this article that may be a good starting point.

https://www.thehonestconsumer.com/blog/ethical-clothing-brands-college-students-can-afford

Week 6

Mary Qin
Week 6
ASA 141

I am so happy that this challenge is over since summer is coming up. This was difficult for me. However, I feel like I learned a lot from this challenge in terms of being aware of how much I buy things. While this challenge did teach me to think twice about the things that I buy and about where my clothing is coming from/how sustainable it is, I think that the part of the class that impacted me the most was not the challenge in itself, but the films that we watched in class. Watching the protesters struggle for livable pay and seeing how the garments pile up gave me better perspective on what I am contributing to with mindless shopping. I have heard in the past that some of the clothes from shops like Nike, Forever 21, and H&M are unethical, but I honestly did not really care. However, seeing those films and seeing the workers' struggles really put everything into perspective. Sandra Niessen's "Afterword: Re-Orienting Fashion Theory" talks about how Asian designers struggle with designing in the modern world and are only really wanted for exoticness. This reminds me again of how even in this world, Asia is seen as less than the West. The West merely sees it as something to exploit. The Los Angeles Times reported that Forever 21 had to pull out of the Chinese market and is looking to restructure itself. I am curious of how this could be positive or negative in terms of its fast fashion and working conditions.

Work Cited:

“Forever 21, Struggling with Global Expansion, Explores a Debt Restructuring.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2019, www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-forever-21-restructuring-20190603-story.html.

Niessen, Sandra "Afterword: Re-Orienting Fashion Theory." Re-Orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asia Dress'. 2003. 

Week6: Back to Basics (Valverde)

The Begreen Challenge has reminded me the joy of upcycling through crafting. For instance, in the last few weeks, I have been learning the art of mending and stitching sashiko style. I am taking torn jeans from family members and giving them beauty, style, and character. I also resumed my old hobby of beading. In both stitching and beading, I discovered that it's my form of meditation. I also knit/crochet, fly kites, and aquascape. With all these hobbies, they require a fair amount of skill and concentration, as well as constant movement. Combined, these practices calms my active mind. So, even though I cannot meditate the conventional way, I definitely find quiet and peace with my hobbies.

Also, in the all of these hobbies, I'm able to create and share. It forces me to be outside (or indoors) with people and connect on a real human level and let our creative juices flow. Lastly, as it connects to our class, I am able to reuse the things I mend or knit. It's good to enjoy being sustainable.

Week 6: Social and Physical Environments of Fashion

Week 6: Social and Physical Environments of Fashion
Grace Petersen
June 2, 2019

This concludes the last week of our challenge, and despite last week's slip, I feel relatively clean in my habits throughout the second half of the quarter. In reflection, I feel like this challenge has helped me to really conceptualize the message of our course not only through the academic sphere but also to connect it to my own personal habits. In going through this alongside the readings, I have had a greater opportunity to think on how our habits as consumers are intricately linked to issues not only of environmental impact, but class as well.

This class has effectively severed the idea from my mind that fashion is a-political in any way shape or form, and especially in regard to race and nationality. The idea that fashion is a western concept, or even a concept which only exists in western influenced societies is entrenched in politics of class just as much as it is with race and nationality. Sandra Niessen writes that "Fashion is successful only when it has a following," and it is this logic that cites fashion as a western trend, since it is the west that dominates on the international scale. This idea, however, neatly ignores the reality in which many Asian designer from Issey Miyake to Alexander Wang who have enormous influence on fashion





It is reflexive upon reviewing the argument that these designers are 'western' to cite the various ways and forms in which their work deviates from the mold, but this argument itself lacks the critical perspective needed in this conversation. It is not enough to expand the world of designers and executives to include 'non-western' perspective, as Minha-Ha Pham states: "...adding more people of color in high-value sectors like design, marketing, and advertising will do nothing to change the work conditions of people of color in low-value jobs in the cut/make/trim (CMT) sectors." What is truly needed is a thorough examination of the material living conditions and use of resources and how this disproportionately benefits people and nations in power.


Works Cited:
Niessen, Sandra. "Afterword: Re-Orienting Fashion Theory." The Globalization of Asian Dress, 2003. 
Pham, Minh-Ha. "How to Fix the Fashion Industry's Racism." The New Republic, April 18, 2019.
      https://newrepublic.com/article/153596/fix-fashion-industrys-racism