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What’s this about eco-friendly clothing options, now? Clothing has become a landfill concern, like plastic bags and broken electronics? That’s crazy talk.
If clothing is an ecology concern, then the real root of the problem is our old frenemy, the economy. Long ago, someone wove an elegant spell which convinced countless souls to control the world through the demand of money in exchange for goods and services. Before long, people wouldn’t lift a finger without coin in hand. You see traces of that in rebellious children who don’t help their elders unless they are paid to do it; allowances, wages and such rubbish.
But, what puts such thoughts in someone’s head? Are adults to blame for passing it on to their children? Sure, parents tell their children they cannot have something unless/until they get a job and buy it themselves. That happens.
What is more common and suffocating, though, is the omnipresence of influencial media. Whether it’s the “old” way of jabbing your cranium with TV and radio commercials or the “new” mutation of pop-ups and the like on everything Windows-fed or Apple-based. I don’t own one myself, but I would not be surprised if someone had a watch-like device they wore on their wrist that could fire an image, a slogan, a salespitch a motivational message to do something financially-stimulating, simply because the technology we trust is powered by the economical machine.
There was a time when inventors invented things and struggled to make them last. Then, as their talents improved, inventions became durable marvels. But, some dark soul with financial aspirations, some golden-touch entity said, “Make it breakable so they will buy more.” And, if that’s not enough, the sales pitches have been non-stop efforts trying to convince you that new is better than old (even if a place called OLD Navy continues to thrive in its own way), that today is better than yesterday. Rubbish.
Back to the topic at hand.
Ecological concern over clothing? Try less impulse shopping. You might have to turn down the pop-culture, song-of-the-season commercialism and focus on necessity, on sustainable comfort versus temporary pleasure. Try lowering prices on cheaply made crap and charging price for genuine quality that you can guarantee to endure or replace, at least, until your value is proven. Because, these days, the brands that boast reputation have fallen so far from their old standards. I used to count on Jansport backpacks for lasting an eternity. I haven’t owned or bought one, in a while. Do they still hold up to their good name? I wonder.
Renting clothing? Can you believe there is such a thing? I can understand celebrities renting dresses or suits for some award show/party. But, everyday folks renting what they wear more…regularly? No way. No thanks. If I am renting clothes, I might as well consider myself a prisoner working in a laundry room for hundreds of other lost souls. I just can’t do it. I will not wear used clothing, mainly because it is my strange belief that used comes with history. And, I don’t want a stranger’s history attached to my body. It would be like wearing the suit of a man buried just last week. Sick. I can’t and won’t do it. And, I seriously doubt my decision will have any ecological impact worse than 98 percent of the human population.
If you want the honest truth, I wear my clothes until they pretty much bust. As of right now, I am due for a new wardrobe because most of my clothes…at least, the clothes I wear regularly, casually, are showing signs of decay. They’ve become senior attirizens and cannot be kept alive on deceptive drugs and poor caregiving. I am going to miss these clothes when I finally have to dismiss them from active use. I don’t know what will become of them, either. But, I really don’t care to think of some less fortunate soul wearing my rags.
So, really, is this an issue? Clothes in landfills, swallowing up Earth-space that we just cannot spare? Has the world gotten so lazy and careless that we have to be so concerned about every thing we do and use? Water, land, air… Have we gone so far to misuse our precious resources? Are we worse off than the days of excess hairspray and fossil-fuel emissions? Oh, wait, that’s still going on; isn’t it? This is just a new phase of pitching the same cry for help.
And, if clothes in landfills are a concern, then maybe we all need to stop wearing clothes and just start living in the nude in the woods and wherever we feel fit. Clothing has been around a very long time. I have never read of a past stage in human civilization that had a problem with such rubbish. If it is our present-day concern, then I put full blame on the economy and all of the excessive push for impulse shopping. That, dear fellow humans, is the enemy. Not the shirts on your backs.
I’ll give what I heard on TV one point. They said maybe people need to stop looking at shopping (for clothes) as a pasttime. Indeed. Well said.
[But, you want to know what’s a bigger landfill concern than clothing? Try about a million new toys people are trying to put up for sale, toys that often sound and look alike and are made of the smallest plastic parts, which are sure to become a hazard before they get famous. And, the ads just keep coming and vanishing; letting me know the toy didn’t last and is probably being added to a landfill as another takes its place. Yeah; let’s talk about the excessive use of plastic for merchandising. And, let’s knock on Disney’s doors and tell them to keep the noise down, because they’re motivating others to get their 15 seconds of fame and 100 years of landfill space. How can any kid truly love any of these toys that seem lacking in inspiration, lacking in repeat use/fun and lacking in quality to last? These are not beloved characters from historical stories like Archie and Marvel comics. Although, now that Disney has taken the reins of Marvel merchandising, that’s gotten out of hand, too.]
Yet, I know some older folks who seem to have nothing else to fill their days. I dealt with them as customers. I deal with them as family. They are lost for what to do with their less able selves. So, they turn to “bumming” just to “get out of the house for a while.” It’s kinda sick; ya know? It’s a sickness, and it’s sad.
Buy clothes that will endure and satisfy you for a long time, not just one day. Wear those clothes and care for them like children. Get the most out of your clothes, and your dollar, and you won’t likely have to worry about them harming your environment.
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