My name is Richard King and I’m a recovered shopaholic. I would spend hours browsing the racks for my next fix. I always needed that perfect new outfit. I was the male Carrie Bradshaw, with just as many shoes. That was until I realized I was playing a role in killing the environment.
It’s easy to sit back and not realize the impact ones shopping habits have on anyone else besides themselves. I was guilty of this. Shopping bags would begin to pile up in the corner of my guest room, which had become my extended closet. I would make room for new items by donating twice a month to Goodwill or Safe Place. Some of the items went one to new homes unworn. The only victim was my pocketbook right? Well I was clearly mistaken, and I am sure many of you are blissfully unaware of the harm that unworn new Zara shirt hanging in your closet is having. I know I was.
With stores such as Zara, H&M, and Forever 21 consumers for the first time have the ability to buy single use items. These items not only use precious resources, but also end up clogging up landfills and in third world nations polluting drinking water.
In July of 2018 I came across the BBC article Fast fashion: Inside the fight to end the silence on waste https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44968561. It opened my eyes to the growing problem I was contributing in a way I could not justify, like I could with eating meat or driving a gas guzzling vehicle. I did not need the endless racks of clothing that went unworn and then donated. I did not need the closet full of shoes, some that had never been worn. I needed to change my ways.
Which is why over the course of the next few weeks I will be exploring the impact that fast fashion has on the environment, on society and on us. I want to continue to educate myself on how I can help bring about change, and in the process maybe convert just one person to cut back and recover from that next fix that fast fashion stores are so good at providing.
Dying To Wear 