Each day, our home faces peril. The Earth is undergoing negative changes caused by our overuse of its resources, the waste we throw into its waters and land, and the mistreatment and downright exploitation of its creatures to the point (or sometimes past the point) of their extinction. We as individuals have to change our ways before it’s too late and we don’t have a home to take care of anymore. That’s why My Sister’s Closet’s Staff believes that Earth Day should be every day.
Did you know that globally the world produces 270 million tons of plastic per year? Of that plastic, 275 million tons of it is wasted. That’s correct, because in previous years, 5 million tons of plastic waste existed outside of plastic production per year. Why is this so bad? Plastic cups are being found inside whales, and recent discoveries have shown that plastic toxins can drastically change the metabolism and growth of sea creatures. Not to mention that humans are breathing in the toxins given off by plastic production every day.
The fashion industry is just as bad as the plastic industry. Clothing waste is one of the biggest contributors to pollution on our Earth. 85% of textiles end up at the dump every year, and some clothes contain plastics that when washed and end up in our oceans. Fast fashion, which is when large corporations make catwalk fashion for cheap, contributes to this waste. The women and children exploited to make this fashion in countries outside America are often underpaid and overworked , leading to questions of human rights as well.
So what can you do to fight back? Learn who you’re buying with. In the words of our CEO Ann Siner herself, “We’ve been [recycling fashion] for 31 years while others are hopping on the bandwagon. We recycle men’s and women’s clothing, as well as home furnishings and furniture. AND what our stores don’t sell goes to My Sisters’ Charities thrift store where they are given another chance at recycled life.”
By taking in well-made fashion and selling it at a cheaper price, we encourage our customers to give our merchandise a second life, instead of sending perfectly good items to the dump. This combats fast fashion because we’re still taking the higher quality items - we’re just putting them into a price range that’s a bit more accessible to more buyers.
Furthermore, My Sister’s Closet banned plastics in 2017 in their stores. Employees drink from reusable water bottles and every store has a water filter system to refill their containers. Customers are offered paper bags instead of plastic bags. Oftentimes, our sales people will say that our customers will forgo the bag and just carry their stuff out, saving even more on waste! We use compostable plastic trash bags in our stores and office. We have eliminated plastic from our company!
For the last 31 years, everyday has been Earth Day for My Sister’s Closet. We want to be role models for our customers and other businesses to show how it should be done. Ann Siner and team have taken care of our Earth and its creatures from day one since opening the doors to these stores, and there’s no plan to stop climbing the path to a better future for our planet anytime soon.