![\"Whitney](\"/files/green_news/columnist/columnist-whitney-kessler.jpg\")
Whitney is a New York-based writer. She currently volunteers for The Uniform Project, a sustainable clothing meets educational philanthropy non-profit. She also was a freelance fact-checker for BYLINE Magazine; a writer and desk editor at The Red & Black newspaper in Athens, GA for four years; and worked at the national women's monthly, skirt! Magazine, in Atlanta, Ga. Her interest in eco-friendly fashion began at an early age when \"Forrest Gump\" opened her eyes to vintage style: she couldn’t get that great fur coat Jenny wears in D.C. out of her mind. From there she has explored several styles, but has always stuck to her convictions about responsible consumption. She feels strongly about being aware of and providing information on the fashion industry's emerging sustainable options.
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As I have been researching the fashion industry’s strides in green production, I started to wonder whether it was important to draw a line between eco-friendly options and ethical options. Is one more important than another? Must or should the two go hand and hand?
Emma Inns is a 29 year-old entrepreneur and fashion-lover. She lives in Ottawa, Canada and owns Adorit, her own boutique, but that’s only part of her story. Because of her passion for ethically-produced, fair trade fashion, she has created a niche in the Ottawa market where sellers and buyers come together for a great green cause.
London Fashion Week has just ended. Alongside some hot names like Antoni & Alison, Christopher Rauburn and Lola Rose, the Estethica exhibition is showing some of the newest and best designs from long-standing green brands to the latest sustainable designers.
With over 20 locations mostly located along the East Coast, resale store Second Time Around began as a venture that encourages consumers to recycle designer and high-end clothing. Each store buys and sells clothes, bags, shoes and accessories. I met with Sophie Newman of the New York location in SoHo.
“Globalization has made it possible to produce clothing at increasingly lower prices, prices so low that many consumers consider this clothing to be disposable. Some call it ‘fast fashion,’ the clothing equivalent of fast food.”
It makes sense to start our journey of green fashion at the core of daily clothing — underwear.
All too often, consumers assume that green clothing is harder to find and will be more expensive. What consumers need to remember is that when we argue against the way clothing is made, the fashion industry will be forced to answer with a more agreeable product.
Sometimes it is hard to see how our choices affect our world. This statement is especially true of our addiction to fashion. How can we justify overflowing landfills and polluted air? How do we disregard sweatshops and child labor? Clothing has been produced for ages in ways that we would rather not mention, but we claim to know no better.
