With the world thrown into the chaos of climate change and human consumption, conservation should be on the forefront of everyone’s mind. Yet sustainability appears to be an unattainable goal held above our heads with large corporations taking little care in sustainable living. This is when the power, your power, as the individual comes into play. It’s our job as individuals to come together to educate ourselves and support organizations that covet sustainability as one of their most important facets.

My Sister’s Closet takes the issue of sustainability very seriously. In fact, the business is based around the idea of giving high end clothing, accessories, and footwear a “second life”. Shopping at My Sister’s Closet and Well Suited combats the acts of fast fashion, which is when businesses take successful catwalk fashion and mass produce it at a cheap cost. Why is fast fashion so bad? It leaves a huge environmental footprint, and the workers who are making fast fashion are sometimes women and children doing so in abhorrent conditions for little pay.

That’s why buying a more durable item you’ll wear for a long time at a bargain price is considered more sustainable. However, this isn’t the only way that My Sister’s Closet has lessened their ecological footprint. Ann Siner, Owner and CEO of My Sister’s Closet, has gotten rid of plastic use throughout the company. This includes the banning of plastic bags at check out counters. Instead, recyclable paper bags can be bought for twenty five cents.

As an individual, you vote with your dollar what businesses stay and what goes. That’s the kind of power that you have. Sustainability isn’t going to just happen on its own, there has to be the kind of people there to nurture its success. You start the nurturing with a decision as simple as shopping at My Sister’s Closet.