Renting = Recycling.

This past semester, the Gods of Schedule Selection bestowed upon me the gift of an 8am. I was up for the challenge, as I’m a morning person through and through. However, my early-rising tendencies were not strong enough to overpower TXMI 4260: Global Sourcing and Logistics of Textile Products and Apparel— geez I need a cup of coffee just after typing the course name.

With one week left in Global Sourcing, I can confidently say that learning about trade laws, sustainability initiatives, social responsibility, incoterms, and HTS classifications at the crack of dawn is still not a passion of mine. But, I recognize its necessity.

TXMI 4260 brings a magnifying glass to the production process, highlighting the importance of factory workers, cargo shippers, distribution centers, and pricing. Global industry is impressive, yes, but it can also be detrimental. Failure to implement sustainable practices can result in irreversible damage, some of which has already occurred. 

We all know I’m a big fan of Rent The Runway. That’s because I’m frugal to a fault with expensive taste. So, RTR essentially allows me to have my cake and eat it too! But, Rent The Runway does more than provide luxury items at a fraction of the cost– it provides an avenue for conscious clothing consumption. 

Renting clothes allows for fewer merchandise in the market. Ok this is obvious. But what isn’t obvious are the countless steps forgone in the production process: textile creation, manufacturing, transportation, consumption, and then disposal. No longer is a product’s life linear, it’s limitless. 

A consumer tosses 83 pounds of clothing each year (the weight of 42 laptops), with each item of clothing usually worn only 5 times before it’s tossed. Responsibility isn’t required when renting an item, because the piece of clothing is returned once it’s served its purpose. It’s a guilt-free way to ensure environmental and economic success. Long term, this could mean lower production quotas and/or higher quality items produced to withstand increased use, which would ultimately result in less fast fashion (so, bye bye sweat shops and worker mistreatment). 

Whether it’s renting clothes, repurposing old ones, or donating your least favorite pieces, we all can easily be more environmentally friendly when it comes to apparel. Here’s to being kind to Mother Earth and looking good while doing it.

PS, like my top? Rent it here!

April 22, 2019April 22, 2019 by Wells Categories: FashionTags: crop top, culottes, earth day, Fashion, global sourcing, mother earth, neutrals, ootd, Photography, sustainability 2 Comments