ISSUE 003
DECOLONIZING OUR ASPIRATIONS
ON INTERSECTIONAL SUSTAINABILITY & CONSCIOUS CONSUMPTION
originally released 14 October 2020
Sustainability in fashion and beauty is a major area of discussion and development, and an important issue for many of you who took the survey (thank you!). It's a topic that I love exploring, and there are so many exciting ideas out there - from recycled fibers to zero-waste packaging to circular production and more. But I often feel that conversations around sustainable shopping are problematic in their lack of intersectional perspective.
Before we dive into these complex issues, I'd like to highlight an exciting, limited-edition collaboration between one of my favorite sustainable BIPOC-owned brands and one of my favorite organizations championing intersectional environmentalism.
Brightland x Slow Factory
Brightland has partnered with Slow Factory to offer uniquely designed bottles of its incredible olive oils with 100% of proceeds donated to the Slow Factory Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization working at the intersection of social and environmental justice since 2013. You can either purchase the set of ALIVE olive oil and ARDOR chili oil for $80, or choose a single bottle of ALIVE at $40.
I did receive a notification saying that there are only a few bottles left from this limited-edition collaboration - so if the ones above are sold out, you can always explore our curated picks from Brightland's standard range of oils and vinegars. They're just as beautiful, and you can still feel great about supporting a WOC-owned brand that prioritizes ethical and sustainable production.
Alright, now diving in -
The concept of environmental racism is something that I learned about fairly recently, but it immediately helped me work through many of the frustrations I was having with the mainstream discourse around sustainability and ethics. To summarize one of the central aspects that resonated with me - most environmental destruction has been perpetrated by those with power and privilege (typically white men) yet disproportionally impacts those who are already affected by systemic racism and poverty (and especially Indigenous populations).
Considering this perspective brings an additional layer of critique to the already problematic nature of sustainable fashion and beauty, which is typically priced highly and positioned as a luxury offering. If we're passionate about sustainability, it can be easy to judge people for buying from Amazon or Zara. But it's important to check our privilege, to consider the impacts of environmental racism, and to recognize the systemic barriers in action. Meanwhile, if we are coming from a place of holding privilege, perhaps we should reconsider our attraction to fast fashion trends and explore how we can consume more slowly (buying less) and otherwise more consciously, even if that means spending more money on a product from a small BIPOC-owned brand vs. a similar item from a large retailer.
Image Credits: Slow Factory Instagram
There is so much more to discuss here, and I expect this issue of the newsletter to serve as simply an introduction and point of reference for many more to come. If there are specific questions that you have, or aspects of this topic you'd like me to consider, please let me know! In the meantime, I thought it would be most useful to share some of the best BIPOC-led resources on sustainability that I've found so far - I'd encourage you to check these out:
Slow Factory | a non-profit organization and open-education platform, led by Celine Semaan, with a focus on using design thinking to explore the intersections of social and environmental justice - highly recommend following on Instagram for insightful posts like this recent one on Environmental Colonialism or this graphic breakdown of Environmental Racism, and to stay updated on free events and talks.
Intersectional Environmentalism | a centralized platform and Instagram page founded by Leah Thomas, with informative posts about the issues surrounding environmental racism, like this recent one about Dr. Robert Bullard, the father of the Environmental Justice movement.
Sustainable BK | a media platform and Instagram page founded by Dominique Drakeford and Whitney McGuire, with a focus on fashion as it intersects with sustainability and BIPOC communities. Follow them to stay updated on interesting events and talks.
The Root: Decolonizing the Sustainable Fashion Agenda | a podcast series produced by Dominique Drakeford in collaboration with Conscious Chatter.
Resource List - Intersectional Sustainability | compiled by Adriana Hill, the research assistant for The Fashion & Race Database, a platform run by Professor Kimberly Jenkins
Resource List - Read Up on the Links Between Racism and the Environment | compiled by Somini Sengupta, the international climate reporter for the The New York Times
Happy exploring!
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