English

One in the Same

Sitting on the sofa, you watch the news. Dancing, celebration, joy, and community. The screen radiates an array of colors.

You are 14 years old. It is pride month.

You feel safe

You feel welcomed

You feel at home.

The vibrant colors on the screen faintly light up the dull white walls, in a futile attempt to paint them, even for a second

 

Then

 

The TV has now been turned off.

You readjust to your surroundings

Dimly lit living room

Irritated mother

 

Go to your room.

 

What happened to the safe feeling

Is this really home?

No.

No.

No.

You brush that feeling away.

 

That time of the year rolls around again.

People are coming out.

It seems more

Accepting.

 

So what’s holding you back.

Is it just you?

Is it them?

Why does it seem so easy for everyone else?

 

Oh wait.

Its not.

You do.

You see.

 

It feels like you are trapped in a locked room.

One that shifts with the time.

It was your comfy bedroom: the place you felt ok

Then maybe your closet: a little tight, but still familiar

It’s starting to feel more like a cold, small, metal locker

The ugly ones lined up row by row around the whole school

 

Why did you do this?

You can’t break down the door

You can’t take it back.

You look down at your trembling hands through watery eyes

Who are your friends?

Maybe you don’t even know

 

Maybe

It

Will

Be

Better.

 

Where is the key?

 

Attention whore

That’s what they call you.

 

There’s no such thing as different.

Psycho.

 

Do not give them the satisfaction

Stay quiet.

 

The constant taunting fills your brain and solidifies the walls that keep you captive.

They only see a fraction of you

The rest is locked away

Just the way they want

Every day, it only gets worse.

 

You go home and try to feel again.

Wrapping yourself in bedsheets.

Grasping tightly.

 

Cannot tell your parents.

They won’t understand.

They won’t accept.

They prefer the room to be locked

Just like everyone else

 

They would “lose” their daughter, the one they know.

But do they actually want to lose her?

 

You can wait until next year.

The room stays locked, and with it, a part of you.

Sustainable Fashion

A prominent and ongoing issue of today’s world is the environmental destruction of our planet. As we advance with technology and industry, pollution is at its peak. With climate change on the rise, how are we going to mitigate this issue globally? By being more environmentally aware, it will help solve many of these problems and lead to more economic growth. There are countless ways in which humans are harming the world, but in order to bring forward change, our society needs to begin somewhere. An unconventional way that could pose a solution to the issue is by tapping into the fashion industry. Fashion has been a part of the world dating back to B.C. We have glimpses into the past by preserved statues, paintings, drawings, and other artifacts. Therefore, clothes have always been a part of human lifestyle. It’s been a statement to showcase wealth, luxury, and expression. Clothing is an necessity in day to day society, and is not socially acceptable to go unclothed. However, most importantly, people need clothing to keep themselves warm and protected. Clothing can be expensive for many individuals in impoverished communities, who cannot afford to clothe themselves.  Should clothing factories prioritize the jeopardy of the environment, and find more sustainable ways to produce goods? Currently the fashion industry contributes immensely to the carbon levels released into the atmosphere, and consumes a vast amount of resources to produce goods. So by being mindful of that, we can already begin to solve major issues. Furthermore, another affiliation in which the fashion industry can do to better the world is by acknowledging overpopulation. This is a widespread epidemic leaving many impoverished and homeless. Obviously, this poses difficulty because there are not enough resources to compensate for everyone in the world, and even worse, there are not always funds for basic necessities. The over-use of resources just adds to how we can be further conservering our goods and being more responsible. One last issue is the fact that luxury brands often use animal and reptile skins and furs to create eccentric and pricey pieces for consumers. This harms endangered wildlife at the benefits of the wealthy consumers. This “exclusivity” frenzy makes these brands so controversial, and despite ethical concerns, animal products have become increasingly luxury commodities. Clearly, the fashion industry is facing many concerns, so by moving fashion houses towards sustainable goods, we can solve many issues at once.

So what is sustainable fashion? Sustainable fashion “creates a system which can be supported indefinitely in terms of human impact of the environment and social responsibility”. Sustainable fashion allows to keep the standards of fashion in check, while having basic ethics in mind. The fashion industry employs over forty million people, making it one of the largest industries in the world. The current method of producing clothing is not environmentally efficient. One of the planets biggest polluters is the industry and manufacturing. Following the oil industry, textile production places second in the most polluting industries. According to statistical reports found by Kiran Pandey, from Down to Earth, the fashion industry “may use a quarter of the world’s carbon budget by 2050”. To lower this number, the idea of sustainable fashion has been a ongoing discussion for many producers. With sustainable fashion, as a growing subject of interest, it would appeal to a wide range of people, including environments, fashion students, and conscientious consumers. Not only would it be less expensive and more efficient to make, it would decrease carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

Environmental sources have been introduced to the fashion world. However, it has not shown to be successful in the past several years. Only most recently have been open to incorporating these methods and resources. Mechanization and mass production have escalated into the manufacture of cheap, disposable clothing that has become all too common in the industry. It can also help workers unions formed to promote fair wages and healthy work environments. It is difficult to get brands on board, considering the uncertainty of the situation. Will consumers still purchase the products? That is the main concern, obviously of the companies, because at the end of the day, profit is going to be more important to them than the environment.

By using sustainable methods of producing clothing, there will be various positive impacts on the environment and it will lead the fashion industry understand how important incorporating sustainable resources because it gives them social and civic opportunity, by having a sort of economic and moral incentive by protecting the environment. As stated in Sustainable Fashion: Past Present and Future,  Human impact on the environment has been a source of intense emotion and debate for nearly five decades”. This goes to show that this has been something that has been aware of for a long time now. Fashion industry has received immense criticism for “its environmentally destructive practices.”  The reason why it is difficult to implement because they are seen as inferior textiles. It is repurposed clothing that it is affordable, diverse, and accessible.

Currently, many brands are headed to making sustainable fashion lines. Brands such as H&M and Stella McCartney have launched charters for sustainable fashion. The designer hopes the charter will “ring some alarm bells” while making a business case for sustainable fashion, setting out a path for collective action to enable low-carbon production methods to be scaled up, improving economic viability. McCartney said, “We really don’t have long now, to change things. But I honestly believe it’s doable – I couldn’t do what I do if I didn’t believe that… We know about the rainforest and about the ocean, but we also need to talk about soil and regenerative agriculture”. This provides key insight on how activists such as McCartney have these views on how we should progress as an industry. Other influential individuals, like herself, can definitely impact views on this matter.

If we begin to implement sustainable fashion into the industry, it will truly make a difference. A tactic to do this may begin with swaying designer fashion houses, as most trends begin at the top of the industry, and start trends for essentially the rest of the bulk companies . Due to the prestige and influence these designers hold, it can really start a movement.