1 – The Power of the Media vs. the Environment
As humans, we have the mindset that we are the centre of everything and whatever we do can’t make much of a difference as we are such a small part of the larger population. Most Americans see 4000-10000 adverts a day whilst living their day-to-day lives, so how come a large chunk of the population still seem to be so unsure of how their actions throughout the day have shocking consequences for the planet? We are advertising the wrong ideas.
It can be argued geographically that Climate Change is a lesser problem in comparison to the rate of change due to the natural glacial period cycles where Earth will always reach the ‘greenhouse state’ (where there are no glaciers on Earth) before heading back towards the glacial period. The rate in which it is happening however is terrifying. This cycle should take thousands of years, so how has so much changed in only the last hundred? We have the power to reduce this rate. 75% of the 100 billion garments made annually currently end up incinerated or in landfill, but why isn’t this exacerbation of the rate of Climate Change advertised everywhere? Instead, the power of social media has led humans into a devastating mindset that the same garment of clothing cannot be worn more than once. If this type of mindset was advertised less by those ‘influencers’ taking up unsustainable endorsement deals in exchange for money and self-empowerment, then maybe people wouldn’t feel such a pressure to rely on fast-fashion. After all, fast fashion is just making the rich richer and more powerful, and aiding the Earth’s race to the bottom, so who is it helping really?
In the Better Lives Power lecture by Julia Crew at London College of Fashion I was made aware of the ‘Love not Landfill’ campaign towards young Londoners. This campaign encourages people to buy clothes second hand, which is the way we should be advertising. By beginning with changing the mindset of the consumer, companies would soon have to follow due to the threat of losing wealth and power in the market when the demand for their brand decreases.
Understandably, fast fashion is the most convenient option where we can order clothes one day and have them to wear the next, so how can we make this more sustainable? Urban Outfitters have created their ‘Urban Renewal’ line which is full of clothes that have been curated and recycled into new items. This therefore brings sustainability into the world of fast fashion. The items in this collection are still made in large quantities to supply the demand, however by using recycled materials it can ease people into eco-friendly shopping without drastically changing their shopping habits. By using the power of the media and changing the way we advertise, more online fast fashion companies may take the initiative to do the same, thus changing the impact fast fashion has on the environment, and leading people to live Better Lives.
References:
Fletcher, K. (2020) ‘Nature’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 12 February.
Crew, J. (2020) ‘Power’ [Lecture]. Better Lives, London College of Fasion, 10 February.
21st April 2020 @ 6:48 am
I agree with what you wrote for the essay. I especially like the introduction part in which you raise a question about social responsibility and how people are unaware of social issues. By the strong introduction, you set the tone of the overall essay. Every sentence was nicely done.
In the second paragraph, you made your argument stronger by providing statistics and valid information. I agree with how environmental problems seem lesser important than other issues in the world but it is devastating that how social media is making us buy more clothes than ever. It is not only extremely bad for world pollution, but also a detrimental mindset for everyone. People buy more clothes and won’t be satisfied by looking at all the ‘hip’ influencers. I reckon it’s the backfire of capitalism. You also mentioned about fast fashion is getting richer and richer. It is a huge problem as well since these days, people only wear clothes once so to decrease financial burden, they tend to prefer cheaper clothes with up-to-date designs. ‘Love not Landfill’ is a terrific example. I agree with the fact that we need to change the mindset of consumers, not buyers because if there’s no demand, there would be no supply. A boycott would be a crucial part of this since there are predecessors who already had done it and made an influence on brands.
The last paragraph was also done brilliantly. It summarizes your opinion and proposed a solution to the situation. I also liked the example: Urban Renewal. It showed how fast fashion brands are beginning to respond to some claims that worry about the environmental effects of fast fashion and also relevant to your essay. I admit that fact that people’s shopping habits won’t be easily changed so it might be companies and brands’ responsibility to make changes. The last sentence was powerful as well; it not only showed hopes in both the fashion industry and environments.
Overall, I would say it is an outstanding essay about sustainability and social responsibility. You did not include the diversity part but two themes you covered were done very well. It was both arguments and informational essays that raised questions about the present state of the fashion industry of consumers and suggested a solution to problems that we are facing.
26th April 2020 @ 4:27 pm
The reason why I chose your blog to peer review is because of the fascinating connection that you make between social media and the environment. As you take a different approach from the others and focus on how social media should change the way we act and think towards the environment.
On the first paragraph you mentioned that americans watch over 400-1000 adverts per day and still it does not affect the population’s actions towards their consequences for the planet. I totally agree with you when you state that we are advertising the wrong ideas. In fact, in a world that is tearing apart as the days go by, the adverts shown on the television should be focused on the environment, or even just encourage us to change our habits.
I also agree with the way you state on the second paragraph about the way social media has led us into a mindset of that we can only wear something once. Since mostly this values are implemented by influencers on social media, it also shows their own social responsability while approaching fast fashion. These influencers should not be moved by the money but by their own social responsabilities as they are influencing thousands of people and as a consequence of that, the environment. With that being said, I found your statement: ‘’ fast fashion is just making the rich richer and more powerful, and aiding the Earth’s race to the bottom, so who is it helping really? ‘’ so inspiring and powerful.
On the last paragraph you mentioned that Urban Outfitters have created a new line called ‘’Urban Renewal’’ and that the clothes are made by curated and recycled materials. I found that information really useful and it is one of the examples that we can witness of brands going more sustainable. Another example, on the online fashion field is the ASOS sustainable line, made my plastic, sustainable fibers and fabrics and exerting less water and less waste on the making of these clothes. Even so, as you mentioned, these collections are still made in large quantities, so they turn out not being 100% sustainable, but it is a good start as it can inspire people to change their habits.
Overall, I think you made very good arguments, by not only touching on the theme of the lecture, but by approaching sustainablity while connecting it to one of the biggest platforms, the social media. I really apprecciated reading this blog, well done!
10th May 2020 @ 8:55 pm
After reading diverse blogs, only one has caught my attention the most, thus, I have decided to review “The Power of the Media vs the Environment” blog written by Phoebe Nickolls where she comments the lecture about Power made by Julia Crew.
I have chosen to comment Phoebe’s blog because of the interesting observation she made about social media and how these have an impact on human actions and consequently on the planet.
In the introduction, she raises an issue regarding the human’s habits of not considering the consequences of their actions, which without realizing it they are destroying our planet. I definitely agree with her point of view, as people should be more aware about their social responsibility in everyday actions.
Thought her blog, she focused her attention on the power of social media, as she said that although most Americans see 4000-10000 adverts a day, these adverts do not seem to influence people’s action to support a more sustainable world. Instead it seems that through media people are contributing destroying it, in fact, social media have been a tool to promote fast fashion where influencers are making us think that is not cool to wear clothing more than once.
Furthermore, I completely agree with her idea of a wrong way of advertising which has led us to an increase of overconsumption. Instead media should be a way to make people aware of the issues of fashion such as sustainability and should help reducing the waste of clothing which is affecting our world.
Moreover, I’ve found really inspiring her statement when she says: “Fast fashion is just making the rich richer and more powerful, and aiding the Earth’s race to the bottom, so who is it helping really? “
Surely fast fashion is contributing creating a gap between rich and poor people, is making people work underpaid in bad condition and subject of continuous harassment.
As she underlines Fast fashion seems to be the most power system because it’s convenient for the consumer and for his continuous desire of having something new. Furthermore, I have noticed that there are several people, without considering their purchasing possibilities would still buy expensive clothes, even though it might result difficult to afford it, and they would do that just to show off on social media, making them not feeling at a lower level towards the society.
I also agree with her point of view when she says that one way to change the mindset of consumers could be advertising vintage shop rather than buying something new, and I think we should stimulate this if we want to see changes in the foreseeable future. The blog shows another important solution, and this is given by the introduction of sustainability in the fast fashion system, as Urban Outfitters is doing for its collection.