I’ve shared a favorite adage taught me by my mother before, but here it is again: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.” These are words I live by, especially in an age where we’re destroying the environment with excessive consumption.
There’s a great example of our increasing negative earthly impact in clothing buying habits which support what’s known as “Fast Fashion.” In the Nature Reviews Earth and Environment journal, the article “The Environment Price of Fast Fashion”, reports on many observations. Those include most environmental impacts occur in the textile-manufacturing and garment-manufacturing countries, but textile waste is found globally. The amount of clothing produced by fashion brands has almost doubled since 2000. Current consumption practices lead to large quantities of textile waste. Most of it is either incinerated or disposed of in landfills.
Shopping for second-hand clothing is a way to avoid supporting the fast fashion industry. I’m thrilled to see the younger generation embracing the concept of repurposing clothing and being creative and fashionable in doing so.
Looking for some inspiration. Buy your ticket now for the Summer Solstice Sustainable Fashion Show scheduled at the New Hanover County Arboretum. It will take place on the 21st of June. Gates open at 5:15 p.m., and the show starts at 6:15 p.m. The show will last two hours. You can sit in your lawn chair or blanket and enjoy the fashions of 30 models from local shops including Metro Closet. SatudaySunVintage. Re.Raveled.Apparel. ThriftDrip. Uniquely Yours. and SapphireCreations23.
HP Fangs will be on hand to sell their products, as well as Sokoto House and Queen Esther Herbal Teas. Sapphire Creations is also a vendor, along with Imaginary Cakes. Photographers on hand to capture the event will include Lotus Selene, Ayanna Cotton, and Wrightsville Beach Photo Booth. Louis The Rapper is our DJ/musicologist. Frank Grant provides live music for the intermission.
This event will raise money for Sokoto House – “Youth Empowerment Solutions.” Visit Sokoto House website for the link to purchase your event tickets: https://sokotohouse.org/.
Fast fashion is a huge wasteful industry that seems to be unstoppable. My wise “use it up, wear it out” mother would often remind me that it is small things that we can all do close to home that can make big change, if enough of us do it. A beautiful wool braided rug, made more than 30 years ago by my mother, is on the floor of my bedroom. She had saved all our family’s pure wool clothing once outgrown or damaged. She cut up the worn-out clothing into strips and sewed the tubes together. Then she braided a round rug. There’s no fast fashion here! I think I have an heirloom rug to pass on for generations, don’t you?
Lloyd Singleton is the director of the NC Cooperative Extension – New Hanover County Center and Arboretum. He can be reached at [email protected] or 910-798-7660. Arboretum located on 6206 Oleander Drive, Wilmington. The grounds are free and open daily from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.