How to Prevent Waste Despite Being a Fashion Lover

Fashion is an important aspect of our lives. Whether we want to seek validation, portray our most confident selves or find joy by looking stylish and pleasantly appealing – fashion is at the center of all these things. It plays a fundamental role, one that can not be duly possible if we take fashion out of the picture of society. From bridging gaps to mending the differences – fashion has acted as a means through which it has been made possible to reach the other side of the spectrum. While with its many aspects, fashion has served as a means through which so much has been made possible. When it comes to weighing the positives, the list is endless, but like everything, it has a downside as well. Currently, the fashion industry is one of the leading industries of all time. Operating at the scale of billions of dollars and having its reach worldwide, fashion merchandise that is made accessible to us go through a process. From a huge labor force to raw materials, minerals and natural resources – all these factors are put together to undertake the production of goods, which leads to a lot of waste – of resources – human and otherwise, which, as a result, also leads to pollution and causes the environmental damage, which is proving to be catastrophic in more serious, and permanent sort of way. Hence, as we give a lot of importance to fashion and its many aspects that have proven to be rudimentary, for the overall growth of society, becoming mindful, and preventing waste becomes equally important and crucial. Here is how you can curb the waste and prevent its gnawing downside from creating lasting and eternal damage. Read on to know more and contribute your share of mindfulness.

We are in an age of the internet, where the world is at our fingertips. Whether it is fashion or a famous worldview – we all have the tendency to be driven by the narrative where the majority is. With the number of shares, likes and views, an opinion spreads like wildfire, and with its growing reach comes the consequences – which might not always be so savory or pleasant. Because a powerful narrative can change and shake the world, and if it is being given in the form of a human voice, then nothing could stop it from becoming something huge. Similarly, the internet is the most popular and widely used means through which trends are promoted, advertised and brought to people. It is natural to see something and be intrigued, enthralled and then compelled to buy and wear something that everyone possesses seemingly. It is natural for us human beings to feel left out and become a subject of FOMO (fear of missing out), especially when the internet portrays a picture, making it seem like a world phenomenon. But these are the times when we are supposed to act with caution, use our senses and ditch impulsive behavior that makes us take decisions that do not even serve a purpose in the long run. In order to curb the downside of fashion and waste, consumerism needs to come at a slower pace. The more you consume, the greater would be the waste. A lot of times the things that we buy do not even serve a purpose, which often results in eventual waste. So in order to put an end to this cycle, shopping less and being mindful is the first step that you must make sure to incorporate into your lifestyle. When you shop less, naturally, you are preventing the onslaught of waste that has its roots deep within the core of society. Changing more is more mentality into less is more is not only prevents waste but also empowers you in ways that are going to transform your lifestyle. Once you become habitual to living a more mindful life, full of conscious consumption, you will become your own person, driven by your individualism. The more you shop, the greater would be your urge to keep up with the self-created competition.

Choose minimalism, yes. When you are a minimalist, it would naturally mean buying less, being more mindful, and leading life with a “less is more” mentality. Minimalism is not only a lifestyle, but it is a mindset that you must embrace with an open heart and give the acceptance to be able to reap its benefits truly. While from the surface, minimalism might seem suffocating and restrictions with its seemingly many limitations, in reality, minimalism is more focused on the things that you need versus the things that you often end up buying on impulse due to the competition. Choosing minimalism means choosing your options wisely. Minimalism also means preferring quality over quantity and utility and usefulness over the fickle and blind trend following. While minimalism is not just limited to fashion, its need has been graver in the fashion landscape due to the amount of destabilizing impact it has been creating. To make the most out of minimalism, you can opt for a capsule wardrobe; it would give you a sense of the things that you need and stay more organized. This second step naturally means you would be mindful of the second one.

One of the major reasons that lead to a lot of waste is the availability of cheap clothes and fashion merchandise, which lacks sustainability, and often you have to throw it away and go for a replacement – which leads to environmental damage and a lot of waste. Waste is created when you are producing more, but if you curb it with sustainable clothes and merchandise that are going to last for a longer time, then you are naturally hindering the staggering waste, which is directly resulted due to the production of more goods because things that are produced lack the lasting quality. From the raw materials to the way things are made – the quality of things is ascertained through all the aspects that are directly or indirectly related to the products because they serve the result of the end products. Sustainable fashion also refers to the way things are produced, distributed and made available in society, to the consumers. By sustainability, we do not only mean things that last longer ( like a leather jacket) but also the way it is creating an impact on the overall landscape of the society and if it is proving to be friendly for the environment.

While trends surely have a captivating power, they have proven to be one of the most twisted aspects of fashion, one that has impacted not only the environment and created waste but has also impacted the landscape of fashion which is irreversible. Trends are spoiling the slow and gradual growth and progress that fashion is usually supposed to take. Trends have a fickle nature. Every day new trends come, and what was there yesterday becomes outdated, leading to a lot of waste and unnecessary waste. Trends are created to maximize profits without considering the growth and the overall well-being of society. This is why it is essential to ditch trends because first, they force you to keep buying new things in order to remain in the race, and secondly, they promote throwaway culture. When you are only focused on buying, when will you wear the stuff that you buy? This means you would have to throw away the already existing one in order to make space.

Like fast food, fashion has been the norm in society these days. With the advent of machines, the internet and courier services – the production, advertisement and distribution of goods undertakes at a faster pace, fuelling the urge to buy even more because neither the value of money remains the same, nor the things that you possess, overall creating a disbalance in the society. Fast fashion promotes the endless creation of waste. From raw materials to natural resources and even the final products – if anything that stands for waste in the truest sense, it is fast fashion. So if you have been an avid follower of fast fashion, you have to let go of it in order to prevent waste. Go for its counterpart, the slow fashion, which focuses on slow and gradual production. It promotes sustainable trends and expensive clothes that are created in a more conscious and environmentally responsible way. Minimalism and slow fashion are interlinked to an extent – if you are adopting a minimalist lifestyle, you would be naturally going against fast fashion.

Adore wishlists, and love creating one for everything? Great, do the same when it comes to fashion. If you are one of those people who take wishlists pretty seriously, this is going to benefit you greatly. When you have your own fashion wishlist, it will save you from getting distracted, and despite the fast-changing trends, you will be focused on the ones that are on your wishlist. Note: you only have to include things that are of high importance to you. Secondly, you should stick to your wishlist – if you are changing it accordingly to the changing trends, then it would not serve the purpose. Apart from that, you must not go for an endless wishlist, but rather opt for a more balanced one with a limited number of items mentioned upon it. Lastly, you should always be clear whether a certain thing is going to serve a purpose or not, or you are just going for it on a whim? If you are unclear about this aspect, you should reconsider you choices, because if it going to be something pointless eventually, then you should drop it from your wishlist, and instead opt for something else, if you really want to. Otherwise, the shorter your wishlist, the better it would be.

Do not buy things that won’t serve a purpose, but rather prioritize essential things. Another reason behind the endless waste is due to our lack of vision and mindfulness when it comes to buying stuff. We all often get distracted. Especially, when it comes to shopping, the wide variety of things available at our disposal means you are deemed get caught in a whirlpool, and end up shopping for something random, something that you might not even need. This either leads to more rounds of shopping or neglecting the things that you need and going for the things that won’t be serving a purpose, leading to more waste. So when you are prioritizing things that you need, you are naturally striving toward a lifestyle that does not promote waste.

When you strive to please others, you are putting yourself in for a never-ending frenzy of dissatisfaction because no matter what you do and how you present yourself out in the world, it is never possible to seek validation from everyone. From one person or another, you are going to be subjected to discontent, always. Hence, it is important for you to always wear everything to please your own self. When you are only seeking your own validation, you are freeing yourself from the constant pressure too, which would be a total win-win.

Most of the waste is directly resulted due to the fickle nature of trends and the lack of satisfaction that things produced these days provide. In today’s world of fast changes, everything comes with a sort of uncertainty and incompleteness that same could be said even about fashion merchandise and clothes. But some fashion trends are timeless that neither go out of fashion nor become outdated. Despite their ancientness, they remain part of every fashion realm, with the same sort of desirability and credibility, rendering them eternal prestige and importance. To go with these sorts of trends, opt for vintage clothes, timeless colors, and leather jackets (Daniela Women's Dark Brown Biker Leather Jacket) to give you a more sustainable, more timeless style.

Never throw away anything, or render it useless before analyzing it from different angles and trying to put it to alternative use before throwing it away. You can recycle it to create something new which can serve a useful purpose, or as we said, repurpose it for different use. Apart from that, if it is useable, you can give it to someone else who might be able to use it in some way. Recycling is a powerful tool, which can save us from the ultimate climate hazards and also prevent waste.

The worth of something does not decline after you have worn it or used it once; this is something that most people fail to understand. If you genuinely want to lead a more mindful lifestyle, understand that repeating clothes or any other fashion merchandise is totally normal. Just because you have worn it once does not mean that it’s worth declines. The main aim is to strive for a good style, one which leaves you looking great, and at the same time you are satisfied too. After all, fashion is never about possessing more clothes in order to do more, but doing more, even with the limited number of things at your disposal. It does not matter if you have worn it two times or five times; as long as you feel comfortable into it and look great as well, it would be totally okay to wear it as many times as you want.

A lot of time, we are seeking inspiration from others, doing what everyone is doing and following the style that belongs to other people, which might or might not be mindful. If you are bound to what others do, your actions are always going to be dominated and inspired by the things others do, which would result in often the wrong decisions, which can often look like mindless shopping and splurging things to satisfy your urge to keep with what everyone else is doing. To become savvier and consume consciously, you should always be focused on what you want to do. Hence, another way to go with it is to opt for a personal style. Yes, when you have your personal style to focus on, you won’t feel distracted with the endless trends coming in and accommodating them too, but instead, you can channel your creativity and be more focused on evolving your personal – that would not be a part of any rat race aimless trends.

Conclusion: we all have been guilty of not abiding by environmental ethics and giving the needful heed to bettering the burgeoning effects. But if you have realized your part and also want to get started with it, here is a complete guide that would help figure it all out. You can choose to be a fashionista and still prevent waste. Cheers!