Fast-Fashion is one of the biggest influences  of over consumption our society faces today. Websites such as SHEIN started to trend due to their extremely cheap prices, because of this people tend  to overlook reusing & re-purposing because it is “too much work” or they simply believe they aren’t capable of creating something by hand. Instead of encouraging this behavior we should look towards other alternatives such as thrift-stores! Old clothing that no longer fits you can be donated to these organizations or you can use the fabric for a different craft! Any sort of “trash” can be reused and turned into something resourceful.

The craziest part is that some Fast-Fashion isn't even cheep anymore. Our society has started hiking up prices for things that were supposed to be easy and cheep. Now all we are getting is cheaply made clothes for unfair prices. This should be a wake up call for people to start slowing their role on buying the newest fashions from SHEIN, and start going and buying things at goodwill, value village, or just your local thrift store to give old clothes a second life. Doing this doesn't just help our planet, it also saves us the trouble of poorly made clothes breaking and us going to buy a new one, in turn wasting our money.

I think that we should reuse plastic containers instead of throwing them out

We need to make more containers that ARE reusable, most plastic will degrade and leak microplastics into whatever it is containing. I think the solution is to make more biodegradable plastic as apposed to reusing.

I personally think that we need to stop making/creating so much single use plastic in our packaging as its what is mainly sitting in our landfills. Plus, with packaging like the kind you are given from taking food home from restaurants, they use harmful products like Styrofoam which is horrible for environment. Therefore is companies can find more environmentally friendly packaging we can help avoid adding to our already existing waste problem.

We should use either containers that are reusable or compostable inside or outside of your dwelling so it can be repurposed either way.

yeah, I think we should prioritize re-using, and try and keep the number of plastic products we buy to a minimum. As well as reducing the amount of kitchen items like cling wrap and things that won't break down somewhat easily.

Absolutely! I think a lot of people tend to just throw away things that could be used multiple times. Throwing things away will have a bad effect on the environment knowing where they go, I don't exactly where everything goes but i can say for sure a lot of plastic ends in the oceans and definitely effects the wildlife in negative ways. And people can do this by reduce the plastic they throw out.

In our society, lots of new things are being made cheap and quickly every second of the day. They are made out of plastic, being imported into wealthier countries, and they don't tend to last. Instead of participating in fast fashion, people should try going to thrift stores and buying used clothes or items. Thrifting is also typically much cheaper than buying brand new items. You may even find products which are made with higher quality fabrics. If you grow out of your clothes you should donate them to thrift stores, reuse the fabric for something else, or try making a Tshirt no sew reusable bag.

I like your opinion and I completely agree with you. More and more clothes are bought every day and I think too many clothes are thrown away. Some stores recycle used/old clothes but not enough. I think influencers could contribute to solving this problem because they have a great influence on young people. Some of my friends also use the app to sell things at low prices. I think it's good for both people and the environment.

I totally agree with you. Fast fashion has done so much harm to the environment, and the items being produced are cheaply made and often break down after a short period of time. I’ve started thrifting a lot and can honestly say that it is much better than buying fast fashion. Many of the things I find are even vintage and the quality of the clothing is built to last a long time. Additionally, the clothes are being reused instead of being dumped. I am proud to say that a large amount of my wardrobe has been thrifted instead of bought brand new. Also, I crochet accessories for myself instead of buying them, like beanies, bags, and leg warmers. By crocheting, I am paying much less for items than what I would pay for if I bought them brand new from a fast fashion brand. It’s also very rewarding to be able to say that I made an item by hand. I think buying clothes and accessories secondhand or even making them yourself is a great alternative to fast fashion and a great way to reduce waste and pollution.

I agree with you that thrifting and crafting are great ways to be more sustainable. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) states that over 11 million tons of textile waste were thrown away in the U.S. in 2018, which is really concerning. Thrifting can help make a change by giving clothes a second chance rather than tossing them in the landfills. From my own experience, I've been able to find some very nice clothes while thrifting and sometimes the quality is way better than fast fashion. Also Fast fashion is cheap and does not last long. Lastly, I like the idea of reusing old clothes to make things like reusable bags or other crafts. It's a creative way to repurpose old clothes instead of throwing them out.

I completely agree with you. The cycle of fast fashion and constant consumption is not only harmful to the environment but also encourages a throwaway mindset where individuals will waste clothing that someone else could've used. I also agree that thrifting is such a great alternative — it helps reduce waste, supports sustainability, and often leads to finding unique, high-quality items that you can't get in regular stores. I also love your idea about reusing fabric, it’s eco-friendly, and a great way to give old clothes new life. In addition, I wonder if there are any companies that already use old fabric to create new clothes.

I see your point, Nina. Thrifting and upcycling things not only conserve waste but also give us the chance to find high-quality pieces. Thrifting has a big affect in reducing waste. I also like the idea of making reusable bags out of discarded shirts. Have you ever tried making other things from thrift shopping items?

I agree. I am passionate about thrifting all of my crafting materials, especially taking old things and turning them into something new! With the fabric store joanns closing, I am now sourcing even my needles at thrift stores, if you do some digging you can find incredibly cool crafting materials- super sustainable and very affordable!

sabababa I love how you look for clothes that aren't brand new or make the clothes yourself, its really inspiring wish I could be just like you, but I'm just learning more about reusing and I hope that I can be just like you one day. I also agree how people just buy so much clothes and once they don't use it again they just throw it away and it ending up in a dump instead of giving someone else a chance to wear the clothes they had.

I agree, fast fashion is such a big problem in the media right now, same with over consumption. its being normalized and that's not what we need. One of the ways that we can help fight this is thrift and only buy things when we need too, not just because it is trending. You really don't need twenty of the same product jut because it is "limited edition". Crafting is also an amazing way to repropose things, instead of buying something new for a pencil holder, you could make a really cute one out of an old can for soup or tomato sauce and paint it or put construction paper around it. But basically I totally agree with this point and its not even the hardest change to make, that shirt that is trending right now will go out of style in a month so its better not to buy it anyways.

A good way to reuse and repurpose would be to thrift clothing, eat all leftovers before making more food, and use things you think are useless and give them a purpose to lessen your carbon output, so, like cans or bottles, could be repurposed to hold other things like jewelry, hair ties, and other items to help lessen the waste.

Instead of immediately throwing items out, you should take time to reconsider what use to make out of the objects, such as an auto dispenser of water for your plants. If you seriously can’t think of any use for it, at least dispose of the trash in the correct bin. Given the designated category.

Throwing away old clothes is a wasteful problem many people participate in. All those old, used, even new clothes that people throw out, get incinerated and used as fuel that pollutes the environment and hurts the earth. I read an article from NLST and RTS all relating to recycling clothes, and it mentioned how 85% of people toss away old clothes to be burned and to eventually damage the environment, when there are many more simpler and resourceful solutions. Rather than throwing away clothes, people can donate them or sell them to other people. The main solution of recycling clothes is giving them to thrift stores so they can resell it and it can make someone else happy. In the articles I read, 15% of people reuse/recycle their clothes either giving them away to people, stores or reusing them to make new and trendy clothes. My mom and I always donate my old clothes to charity or clothing drives to help other families that need clothes. We used to give them to my cousins but they have outgrown them so we donate them and see other families happy and safer with new clothes. It gives them a chance to be cared for, warm, and stylish.

Throwing away old clothes is a wasteful problem many people participate in. All those old, used, even new clothes that people throw out, get incinerated and used as fuel that pollutes the environment and hurts the earth. I read an article from NLST and RTS all relating to recycling clothes, and it mentioned how 85% of people toss away old clothes to be burned and to eventually damage the environment, when there are many more simpler and resourceful solutions. Rather than throwing away clothes, people can donate them or sell them to other people. The main solution of recycling clothes is giving them to thrift stores so they can resell it and it can make someone else happy. In the articles I read, 15% of people reuse/recycle their clothes either giving them away to people, stores or reusing them to make new and trendy clothes. My mom and I always donate my old clothes to charity or clothing drives to help other families that need clothes. We used to give them to my cousins but they have outgrown them so we donate them and see other families happy and safer with new clothes. It gives them a chance to be cared for, warm, and stylish.

People all over the world don't realize that jeans that you buy take 1000 Gallons of water to make one pair of jeans. As humans, we drink 1/2 a gallon a day. One pair of jeans is the equivalent to 2000 people having enough water to drink for the day. When we throw away jeans, we waste that good denim material that we can use for future use. For example, in the article "Denim Insulation Review: Comparison Guide and Pros and Cons", I learned that if we use jeans that we throw away as insulation, we can save so much material on making the insulation that is commonly used, it's terrible for the environment! It can add up to 26 million Tons of CO2 emissions a year! If we started reusing jeans that we buy, we would help the environment a lot. I used this in my daily life after we remade our garage, we thrifted old jeans and used the denim from the jeans to insulate our walls and keep us warm throughout the winter. Cutting waste in material needs to be focused on more.

One easy and cost effective way to reduce your carbon footprint is by using reusable shopping bags instead of plastic ones. Plastic bags are made from petroleum, and they take hundreds of years to break down in landfills. The Environmental Protection Agency (2021) reports that Americans use around 100 billion plastic bags every year, and less than 10% are recycled. By switching to reusable bags, you can reduce waste and help lower the demand for plastic production. Consumers are the source, when we stop buying there is no demand, which means no market for plastic bags. Me and my family started using reusable bags when we go shopping, and it’s such an easy change, all we do is leave the reusable bags in the trunk so if we need them they are handy and putting them away is easy. Not only does it help the environment, but it also saves money because some stores even charge extra for plastic bags. Once you change to reusable bags, it't something that is just a small change that can make a huge difference in our carbon footprint, something that doing it for a week will feel like an unconcious act

Fast fashion is one of the issues in our society that isn't addressed properly. By buying fast fashion and following micro-trends, we not only further encourage child labor and such, but we also contribute to an extremely large portion of the world's Carbon production. Not only are the clothes from fast fashion stores and brands made of poor quality materials, but they have also been proven to contain lots of extremely harmful chemicals. On top of all that, fast fashion is intended to change quickly to fit the new trends - hence the name - which is why a concerning amount of clothes (probably worn only like 5 times) end up in landfill after they're no longer trendy, only further polluting the planet.

A few ways to stay as far away from fast fashion culture that have worked the best for me are second-hand shopping and DIY (Do It Yourself). Half of my closet consists of my relatives' old clothing items, a lot of them waiting for summer to get customized and repurposed, while my own old clothes have already found their new owners (actual people, not the trash!).
Personally, I adore DIY. The possibilities are endless, regardless of skill or experience - all you need is a vision. I've made band t-shirts, bracelets, necklaces, cuffs and other accessories completely from scratch, and I can guarantee you that there is no better feeling than wearing something you made yourself.

So, I encourage more people to try out more sustainable fashion sources: go to thrift stores, alter and customize your old clothes. Reuse, recycle, repurpose!

I completely agree with your points about fast fashion! It’s a serious issue that often gets overlooked, especially with the rise of trends. I’ve also started shopping second-hand and repurposing old clothes, and it’s been a rewarding shift. In addition, I enjoy giving my used clothing to thrift stores and Goodwill’s because not only is it a relief for me, it has the opportunity to help a lot of people. It feels good to know i’m reducing waste as well. Making or customizing your own clothes adds so much personal value. Like you said, there’s nothing like wearing something you made yourself. I definitely think that more people need to realize that fashion can be both creative and sustainable, and by encouraging creativity, I believe that more people will be captivated to give reusing clothing a try! I have been thinking about this pretty consistently, and it has made me wonder how drastic of a change we can make by incorporating DIY and repurposing fashion into our everyday lives? It would be very interesting to observe, and even more to experiment with.

Reuse and Repurpose is recycling. This is good because instead of adding to the garbage dumps we can re-use junk and keep reusing it. This is good because if we keep just throwing stuff away then our oceans will keep being dirty and the beaches will also be dirty and thats not good because sea creatures die by choking on stuff.

I agree with you absolutely. Clothes that aren't actually wearable are often reused by my family. If the clothing is cotton, we usually use it as a cleaning tool for glass surfaces. It's quite useful and efficient. Additionally, we typically use cotton shopping bags for our grocery shopping.

Recycling isn't hard at all. I think an easy way to start off recycling is to buy a recycling bin and sort out all the trash that you have into groups of whatever can be recycled and that's the basics of recycling. If you really want to be environmentally friendly you could volunteer for recycling programs to help out around your area and around other places as well.

I agree with you.It helps reduce waste. Like, we produce so much trash every day,and recycling means that we’re giving materials a second chance instead of just tossing them in a landfill.That’s way better for the environment! Plus, recycling saves energy. When we recycle things like paper and plastic, it takes way less energy to turn them into new products than it does to create those products from scratch.

In my city, we sort trash (paper, plastic, glass, metal, biowaste and mixed waste). I agree that it is not hard. All the waste then goes for recycling which is very important for the planet. Sometimes I wonder if the products that I buy are made from recycled material? Recycling is very significant for the environment.

I think this is a great way to start recycling. It's not hard, you just need a recycling bin and know what type of waste goes where. We should all at least do that. I also like the idea of volunteering because that way we're not just helping nature, but also the people around us. If we all take at least a small step, together we can do a lot for our planet.

In Scotland a law was passed single so shops and supermarkets could give away single use plastic bags for free, there is a minimum charge of £0.05 for a bag
This has really encouraged people to reuse plastic shopping bags or take their own bags

I agree that charging for plastic bags in supermarkets is a good decision. They started charging for them in Croatia too, and after a while people realized how useful it is in reducing the use of plastic. I would like to point out something even more useful that each of us can do. We can reuse some old clothing material and sew a cloth bag that can also be used multiple times and is more environmentally friendly.

From the article “ Introduction: Reuse, Recycle, and Repurpose: The Afterlives of Japanese Material Culture” by Halle O’Neal the action of reuse and repurpose is focused and explained.
As defined within the article, “To reuse, recycle, or repurpose an object often necessitates repairing that object so that its usefulness can continue.” By completing the action of repurposing an object this will help allow in a decrease of trash buildup. Not only does it help with decreasing waste but the reuse aspect allows for that object to continue to be useful in a variety of ways.

https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/a … e/id/3985/

I really like this idea, not only does it cut down on waste but it could potentially give the item a new home and purpose.

This idea could save countless things used for the materials we need and use the old things and repurpose them to be used in the new ages.

YEAH I AGREE DUDEEEEEEEEEEE!

Fast Fashion. This has become a term everyone has become familiar with. Over the last couple of years, fast fashion has made its presence known. The fashion industry itself is known to be responsible for almost 10% of our global emissions. Fast fashion produces massive amounts of clothing that are more affordable and more efficient to produce. These industries jump on latest trends to draw in large crowds. However, even though this sounds extremely convenient, fast fashion has made numerous detrimental effects on the environment. Clothing requires unimaginable amounts of oil, space, chemicals and water to produce. According to BBC, it is estimated that it takes 2,700 litres of water to produce ONE t-shirt! Unbelievable right?! Over the years, globally, clothing has made a huge impact on our own personal carbon footprints. To combat this issue, we have to make the choice of supporting more sustainable brands. We should also be willing to reuse and repurpose our materials.  Every single action of ours, impacts someone or something else in one way or another. It’s important that we are aware of the results of our actions. By dressing green, we can save green!

I agree. Fast fashion has been a problem. One thing you can do is to stop going to fast fashion places and start thrifting. thrifting is a good way to stop buying fast fashion. When you thrift the clothes are generally cheaper and could be better quality and also decreases your carbon footprint. It's also a good way to reuse and repurpose clothing that were once used.

Did you know that 19 precent of Canadian households drink primarily bottled water. This just shows that there are still so many people that don't use a water bottle. It us very important to use a water bottle because it prevents us from using so much unnecessary plastic. it is also way cheeper to use a water bottle instead of buying bottles water because if you have a water bottle you can just refill it but if you buy bottled water than you have to buy it every time you need water. You can also just refill the bottle of water you buy and keep refilling it instead of getting a new one every time. This is why you should just buy a reusable water bottle because it will save you money, time and help the environment.

Reusing things are really important like going to the grocery store and buying new bags for ur grocery's but instead u can use reusable bags and bring them from home. By doing that your saving urself money and being eco friendly. Ur also cutting down the waste of the extra plastic bags your buying that is goanna end up in the landfill or ocean. Also fixing up t-shirts like sewing ones with holes or rips in them and if ur clothes get smaller donate them.

I know a lot of people now buy new bags whenever they go grocery shopping and always get new plastic boxes when getting takeout for food. Although what happens to all those bags and boxes once you are finished with them? Most are just throw in the trash and forgotten about which causes more carbon and methane into our atmosphere. So start reusing your bags and boxes instead of getting new ones everytime you go out to eat or go shopping.

A lot of people may think that repurposing and recycling is limited to just plastics, however this is not the case. The article https://www.almanac.com/upcycling-ideas … -repurpose gives a variety of ideas in order to repurpose everyday items such as, rubber bands, toilet paper cardboard, and even toothbrushes. I believe that if influencers and people who have a big social media presence advertised this more and made repurposing trendier, then it would lead to an overall positive effect on the environment. Think about thrifting, while it has always been around, apps like TikTok and Instagram made it a trend to buy secondhand clothing. This has led to a positive effect on the amount of clothing that makes it to landfills. If influencers advertised that more over fast fashion, it would create such a huge impact on our waste.

The number of plastic we use is an insane number.In my opinion  we shouldn't throw it away immediately,but use it as much as we can and recycle it.

Thank you so much and I completely agree with everything that you said! There is so much overproduction and overuse of plastic especially with water bottles and then they just end up in landfills or in the oceans. I think that with this issue there are many answers to this problem. One solution could be to buy water bottles that are reusable and are not made out of plastic. This has been a new trend, especially in the United States through Stanley and Hydroflask water bottles where people have these on them at all times. Another solution that I practice at home is by rinsing out all plastic bottles and then use them to propagate plants. I take the bottles and cut them to the desired size and height and then fill them with water and put the plants in them. Not only do I do this but I also went to go have lunch one day and saw a business putting plants and avocado seeds in plastic bottles to propagate them. Plastic and bottles are so multifunctional and if we just stop to think about the different purposes we can come up with great ideas and unique ways to help save our planet. If we can just start reusing little by little we can continue to get plastic out of Mother Nature. Thank you and have a great rest of your day!

It is very important to be aware of Your impact on the Earth, which includes the products you buy and use. However, it is just as important to be aware of how you can reuse those same products so you can reduce your carbon footprint as well. For example, you can reuse plastic containers that came with food when you bought it for future usage. It's also just as important to help bring awareness to others on how they can be more earth friendly like putting up posters on public areas about where and how to properly recycle.

https://www.epa.gov/recycle/reducing-wa … you-can-do

I agree that the usage of plastic in everyday life has reached an extremely high number. In addition to this, the act of using “one time use” plastic items like plastic water bottles or plastic bags at grocery stores feels so normal as so many people do it in their everyday lives without concern of the harm it does to the environment. Overall, I agree that the usage of plastic is not good and instead people should seek an alternative like a metal water bottle or a reusable bag for groceries.

Recycling and reusing are important strategies for reducing waste and conserving resources, which benefits our environment. By recycling materials like paper, plastic, and glass, we reduce the need for new materials, which helps lower energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Reusing items, whether it’s repurposing containers or donating clothes, extends the life cycle of products and minimizes landfill waste. We can help by including these practices into our daily lives—setting up a home recycling system, buying secondhand items, By making small, conscious choices, we can collectively make a positive impact on the planet and promote a more sustainable future. This link will take you to a clothing website that uses used clothes and re purposes them into cute vintage clothing.

https://recycled.clothing/?srsltid=AfmB … hmvgihTmxd

One thing I can do to better help the environment is reducing the use of single use plastic products. This can be plastic water bottles, straws, and even the wrapping of packages that products come in. There is a saying that goes reduce, reuse, and THEN recycle. It is firstly important to reduce the use of single use plastics. I found that having a water bottle that isn't made of single use plastic is a good way to reduce the amount of single use plastic I use. One of the ways I reuse plastic is through takeout containers. We have a Vietnamese restaurant that serves takeout food in plastic containers. Instead of throwing them out, we have started using them to store leftovers when we eat.

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/single-use … -101#avoid

My mom does this a lot and I do too because those containers are good when you have a lunch box and want something to put food in and most of all it's free who would want to miss out on that?

I learned that old makeup packaging makes up 120 million units of thrash and when I found that I wanted to see what I could do to keep that from happening. So, most of my makeup packages I would reuse for other things which is to hold other things and the ones I couldn't reuse I would do the Sephora and they have a bin where you could recycle makeup packaging.

I think people throw away things that can be reused way too often. There are many ways that people can reuse things to rerduce the waste they produce. I found a few ways to reuse some items on This Website.

I completely agree with you. Through recent years people have seemed to care less about how they're harming the environment or they're just oblivious to what they're doing. I think people should really take the time to sit back and think about recent global problems like climate change, water scarcity, marine ecosystem deterioration, the decrease in biodiversity, etc.