This excerpt states insane statistics on how the smallest forms of action can have huge affects on the textile industry’s global impact. I like to think about my level of awareness of the textile industry’s damage currently and much I knew a year ago, which is practically nothing in comparison. I chose this excerpt mainly because of that, and how detrimental that knowledge is as a designer and human being even. I have never been more invested and eager to learn about an environmental issue than I am now because I can see how I directly contribute to it. How myself and my livelihood can take away someone else’s. Learning of this concealed aspect of the industry has made me question so much. How am I only now aware? How ethical is my work? How can I make change? It has shifted my view of the world around me. I can’t look at fashion weeks, or industry parties, or even magazines the same.
In the excerpt, Conrad says, “If we could all extend the life of a garment by 8 months […] we could save $8 billion a year on the cost of resources used to manufacture, launder, and dispose of clothing. The carbon, water, and waste footprints of our clothes would be reduced by 20-30 percent.” Reading this made me question why this was tucked away on a page of a little book, and not on billboards or advertisements or textbooks in schools. Realistically people working in fashion are only a fraction of contributors, making this information that all people should be made aware of.
