ENVIRONMENTALLY
AWARE
SHOPPING - CLOTHES
(Compiled from 'Taking Charge' - a book now out of print, produced by the Simply Living Collective of the American Society of Friends)
Queries
How do my clothes contribute to my well-being?
- Do I think about what is used in the production
of my clothes?
- What technology produces the
fabrics I wear?
- Who makes the cloth and clothing
and under what labor conditions?
-
How do my clothes reflect my attitudes towards
health, practicality, personal expression, and style?
-
In what ways is style important or unimportant to
me?
- How do my clothes express the uniqueness of
my personality and my creativity?
- Do I need new clothes, or could secondhand garments from garage sales, thrift stores, and 'free'
stores provide me with a wardrobe?
- What is my usual frame of mind when I set out
to buy clothes?
- Do I go clothes shopping because
I am not feeling good about myself and therefore
need an ego boost?
- Do I shop when I am bored
and need something to do?
- What else could I do
to feel better or active, rather than buying clothes
I may not really want?
- What impression do I try to convey about myself
through clothes?
- How do Ijudge others by their
dress?
- Do these attitudes hold up when I actually
get to know someone?
- How important is 'dressing
the part?'
PROJECTS
- Make an Inventory of the clothes you own. Consider how many pants, coats, shoes, socks, shirts,
and suits you have. Which ones have you worn in
the last year?
In the last two years?
Can you determine how they contribute to your well-being?
Might your unused clothing be given, traded, or
sold at low cost to others? -
Try to find out who is getting your money when
you buy jeans at a local department store.
Investigate secondhand stores and garage sales.
What ar the advantages and disadvantages of
ing in this way?
What attitudes do you
notice in yourself as a consumer in a local department store
and in a thrift shop? - Look at the clothes you we wearing.
What took the
least labor to put together?
If you have never made
clothes, perhaps it would be worthwhile to learn
to sew.
If you know how, do you also know how
to minimise waste of fabric?
Can you design clothes
that minimise work?
Have you tried to patch worn clothing?
- Inform yourself about the structure and practices of
the clothing Industry.
Find out what a runaway shop
is. You can start by checking the Reader’s Guide to
Periodical Literature in your local library for
magazine articles on the subject.
CONSCIENCE CLOTHING
Some Questions About lifestyle.......Food.......Buying Instead of Being
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This page is part of the Re-earthing the Cities Website
Contact Margaret RainbowWeb
URL - http://www.users.on.net/~arachne/clothes.html