Fashion tastes are corrupting environment

It is inspiring to see the next generation of adults focusing the world’s attention on the consequences of pollution and society’s general failure as environmental stewards.

From the use of fossil fuels to food waste to our love affair with plastic, evidence of our lack of regard for Mother Earth and her limited resources abounds.

Recent demonstrations by young people reflect their burgeoning awareness of and interest in the problem. They set an example for their elders.

As we all plot a course more cognizant of human corruption of nature and its bounty, knowledge is power. Knowledge can be fuel for change.

Toward that end, as we slip into our blue jeans and pull on a chic yet inexpensive T-shirt, we should reflect on the environmental impact of achieving the great price of the shirt and the comfy softness of the pants.

There’s been a lot of buzz about the recently released book by fashion journalist Dana Thomas: “Fashionopolis, The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes.” She discloses that the “fast fashion” trend — the mass production of inexpensive, up-tothe-minute clothing — may be great on the pocketbook and the reflection in the mirror, but it’s not so hot for the environment. The clothing isn’t just produced most typically by underpaid workers in unsafe conditions, the production of the clothing requires vast consumption of water and the items often are composed of synthetic fabric fibers derived from fossil fuels such that when they end up in a landfill — and these inexpensive, trendy clothes often do — they will not decay.

And then there are our almost-blue blue jeans, folded in our drawers and hanging in our closets in lavish quantity.

A few decades ago, jeans achieved their worn look by being, well, worn. No more. The “distressed” look is achieved with massive amounts of water and by many people wielding sanding and grinding implements. In China, hundreds of thousands of jeans are produced daily. The local water treatment plant in Xintang (which bills itself as the world’s jean capital) shut down years ago, unable to handle the impact of the jean washhouses. Now factories dump dye waste directly into a tributary of the Pearl River where aquatic life no longer can survive.

Rivers are major pathways for pollution to oceans. In fact, just 10 rivers are the sources of almost all river-borne plastic trash. This plastic trash is nonbiodegradable and it kills millions of seabirds, sea mammals and fish.

Cleaning up our environment — reducing pollution and chemical contamination of our water, our air and our land — will require the best efforts of governments the world over.

Nonetheless, individuals can move the needle.

We can bypass nonreusable plastic straws and eat our sandwiches from washable plates; heat our homes to slightly cooler temperatures and flip the light switch when we leave a room; buy our food from local farmers and adjust our menus to focus on what is in season.

The next step requires a shift in mental paradigm when it comes to the clothes on our backs.

Do we need seven pairs of artificially altered jeans? Do we need even one pair? Can we purchase a pair of blue jeans and wear them until they look worn?

Do we need a rainbow of inexpensive tees or can we make do with one or two that are ethically sourced? Could we rent our clothes or shop at thrifts to get more bang not only for our buck but also for the hit on our environment?

Some of the largest youthled demonstrations in history were staged Sept. 20 around the globe, demanding world leaders do more to combat climate change. Teenagers took to the streets in more than 150 countries in a grassroots movement that pushed the issue into the public consciousness.

Let it be not only for a day or a month.

Let us hope that these forward-thinking young people will show us how to take to heart — and to our closets — a fashion trend that is environmentally sensitive and sustainable. And then we can wear our heart on our sleeves in a literal demonstration of another way to achieve change.

— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Associated Press