1. unconsumption: Despite all our efforts to encourage people to be mindful consumers, buying only what we really need, and buying second-hand at that, and mending/repairing things we already own, Americans still purchase, on average, a new garment every week! And it’s not good quality stuff. Surprisingly little of it gets resold; much of it ends up in landfills or in the hands of textile recyclers.  A new book, “Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion,” written by Brooklyn-based journalist Elizabeth Cline, addresses these issues, exploring the rise of fast fashion/disposable clothing and how our consumption of inexpensive clothes impacts society and the environment. Marketplace reporter Stacey Vanek Smith recently spoke with Cline. An excerpt of that conversation: Vanek Smith: If someone is maybe interested in changing the way that they shop, what’s a good way to start? Elizabeth Cline: Well, there are so many different things. Just a handful would be supporting local designers, designers when they are starting up — honestly, they don’t have the capital to produce overseas, so a lot of them are producing in our communities — so support them, help them thrive. I would say also people should use their tailors and their seamstresses in their community, get your shoes repaired, take care of what you own. And lastly, I would say take that $1,100 a year, that American’s spend on average on clothes, and buy less but just invest your money in things that are a little bit better made. More: The high price of cheap clothing | Marketplace.org Elizabeth’s blog is on Tumblr here.

    unconsumption:

    Despite all our efforts to encourage people to be mindful consumers, buying only what we really need, and buying second-hand at that, and mending/repairing things we already own, Americans still purchase, on average, a new garment every week! And it’s not good quality stuff. Surprisingly little of it gets resold; much of it ends up in landfills or in the hands of textile recyclers. 

    A new book, “Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion,” written by Brooklyn-based journalist Elizabeth Cline, addresses these issues, exploring the rise of fast fashion/disposable clothing and how our consumption of inexpensive clothes impacts society and the environment.

    Marketplace reporter Stacey Vanek Smith recently spoke with Cline. An excerpt of that conversation:

    Vanek Smith: If someone is maybe interested in changing the way that they shop, what’s a good way to start?

    Elizabeth Cline: Well, there are so many different things. Just a handful would be supporting local designers, designers when they are starting up — honestly, they don’t have the capital to produce overseas, so a lot of them are producing in our communities — so support them, help them thrive. I would say also people should use their tailors and their seamstresses in their community, get your shoes repaired, take care of what you own. And lastly, I would say take that $1,100 a year, that American’s spend on average on clothes, and buy less but just invest your money in things that are a little bit better made.

    More: The high price of cheap clothing | Marketplace.org

    Elizabeth’s blog is on Tumblr here.

  2. climateadaptation: Jeez. Surprised it’s not a superfund site. Dead Horse Bay, Brooklyn, NY, by Josephx Dead Horse Bay sits at the western edge of a marshland once dotted by more than two dozen horse-rendering plants, fish oil factories and garbage incinerators. From the 1850’s until the 1930’s, the carcasses of dead horses and other animals from New York City streets were used to manufacture glue, fertilizer and other products at the site. The chopped-up, boiled bones were later dumped into the water. The squalid bay, then accessible only by boat, was reviled for the putrid fumes that hung overhead.” As the car industry grew, horse and buggies — thus horse carcasses — became scarce, and by the 1920s, there was only one rendering plant left. It was during this era, around the turn of the century, that the marsh of Dead Horse Bay’s began to be used as a landfill. Filled with trash by the 1930s, the trash heap was capped, only to have the cap burst in the 1950s and the trash spew forth onto the beach. Since then garbage has been leaking continually onto the beach and into the ocean from Dead Horse Bay. (F.Y.I.)

    climateadaptation:

    Jeez. Surprised it’s not a superfund site.

    Dead Horse Bay, Brooklyn, NY, by Josephx

    Dead Horse Bay sits at the western edge of a marshland once dotted by more than two dozen horse-rendering plants, fish oil factories and garbage incinerators. From the 1850’s until the 1930’s, the carcasses of dead horses and other animals from New York City streets were used to manufacture glue, fertilizer and other products at the site. The chopped-up, boiled bones were later dumped into the water. The squalid bay, then accessible only by boat, was reviled for the putrid fumes that hung overhead.” As the car industry grew, horse and buggies — thus horse carcasses — became scarce, and by the 1920s, there was only one rendering plant left.

    It was during this era, around the turn of the century, that the marsh of Dead Horse Bay’s began to be used as a landfill. Filled with trash by the 1930s, the trash heap was capped, only to have the cap burst in the 1950s and the trash spew forth onto the beach. Since then garbage has been leaking continually onto the beach and into the ocean from Dead Horse Bay. (F.Y.I.)

About me

Name: Kat
Occupation: Student, photographer, intern
Appreciates:
Environmentalism
Photography
Conservation
Sustainability
Renewable Energy
Dance
Democracy
Bats
Madison, WI
Environmental Art
Red Pandas
Libraries
Baby Animals
Wisconsin Badger Football
Local Indie Bookstores
Recycling
Broccoli
Weddings
Red velvet cake
Catholicism
Throw Pillows
Social Networking
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I Blog: Anything from the list above, but mainly a smattering of cute animals, environmental stuff, politics, photography, weddings, interior design, cupcakes, books, and whatever else I feel like depending on current events and the availability of new red panda photos.

Enjoy.

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