I feel like Greenzo
I feel like Greenzo
Greenzo is a character in one episode of 30 Rock, played by David Schwimmer. He starts as an actor hired to play the Greenzo character, created by NBC and GE to make their companies seem environmental while the real goal is to sell more products. As Schwimmer’s character progresses he becomes angry and pushy. He’s no longer the actor, he is now Greenzo, pushing everyone to see how their daily actions are contributing to climate change.
I feel like Greenzo. The angry, pushy person who thinks that if we all just followed a set of rules then we can fix this climate disaster. Every time I’ve tried to write this newsletter it comes off preachy and doomsdayish. Totally hopeless, just doom. That’s how I have felt working in the fashion industry for the last 8 years. The seasons have increased from fall, winter, spring, and summer to every two weeks a micro trend is available for purchase on Shien and Temu and Boohoo and whatever else online instagram business has popped up this week. Companies come out with eco collections, they recycle plastic bottles, they shred jeans to make insulation. That all feels good for a moment until we are back at the store buying another pair of jeans because the ones from last year are stretched out, or they are the wrong shape now. I don’t trust a company whose motivation for environmentalism is profit.
Here I am putting on my big green shorts and backwards green hat to say “ What are we doing here?!?!” The fashion industry is pushing us further and further into debt by pushing more and more styles and trends and opportunities for photos ops. This week in Vogue I read an article titled “ I need celebrities to stop changing every five seconds” . I was surprised by the tone of the article coming from a publication propped up on elitist style. The final paragraph spoke to my feelings so well, the arthur Hannah Jackson wrote
“It’s not a problem contained to the fashion industry. We as a culture have a voracious appetite for newness, constant stimulation. But this ecosystem of nonstop changing is wildly unsustainable in terms of the environment, labor, and time. Going forward, celebrities and their stylists would be better served curating fashion moments that promote quality over quantity. After all, we only have so many hours in the day: why waste it changing every hour when one great look is all it takes?”
Quality over Quantity. It’s what we must remember as we move forward with our fashion purchases this year, next year and this quarter century. I had declared Fast Fashion is dead. What I really mean is we must kill it! Take a stand with me, boycott major companies that are over producing : Shien, Boohoo, Temu, Zara, H&M. There are MANY more that I will not list at this time. As a community we must unionize our efforts, stop buying from them so they won’t have reason to over produce.
If you need to buy something new , I suggest using the app Good on You. It is a company created to check apparel companies sustainable practices and give a clear rating. I’ve been using it for many years and really appreciate the full spectrum that is considered.
Good on You gives ratings for worker’s safety, living wages, animal welfare and greenhouse gas emissions. They gather information from publicly reported information and help the consumer see past greenwashing.
It is difficult to make sustainable decisions in this late stage capitalistic economy we are currently living under. Stay strong my fashion fellows, we are in charge. Stay angry at the companies who are using climate change as a marketing tool. We are capable of enacting the change we want to see. Say no to fast fashion, consistently. Buy only when you must. Repair what you already have.
Fast Fashion is dead because we killed it!
Xoxo
Greenzo Jo.
