To start off, I wanted to make everyone aware of a great sustainable project Akron is participating in that will start October 12. The city of Akron, and other communities, are engaging in recycling textiles and other household goods. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term textiles it basically means fabric- which usually means clothes. What’s happening is that the company, Simply Recycling, gives bags to families to fill clothes, shoes, blankets, towels etc. and they break it down to make carpet padding, car seat stuffing and rags. In doing so, less items will be taking up space in ever-growing landfills and the city will receive a penny for every pound collected. The company also goes through the items and donates clothes and shoes to Third World countries. Yes, it is always good to donate your own clothes but just so you’re aware these other countries are becoming our landfill. I watched a documentary in my class- it’s also on Netflix- called The True Cost. The movie is basically about the impact the fashion industry has on the environment and people. A good amount of textiles end up in Haiti and there’s actually so much of it that there are literally just mounds of clothes. In the documentary there’s more information about workers, farming, and clothes that is unknown to a good majority of the world. For example, I bet most of you were unaware that the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry behind oil companies. 😥  When we throw things away because it’s out of our lives we think it’s gone, when actually that trash has it’s own life cycle- and the type of material will determine the length of it’s life. Due to the fact that almost all of our clothes come from other countries, we aren’t physically seeing the pollution and harmful impacts this industry creates. Like they say, “out of sight out of mind”, but we, as consumers, need to think more about what goes on behind the scenes. I could go on and on because I’m so passionate about this, but The True Cost is defiantly a film I’d recommend everyone watch because every single one of us participates in this industry. Being honest, I cried watching this. The way these workers are treated as slaves in unethical and inhumane ways needs to end. These workers are humans just like us and need to be treated the same. I’m not 100% positive on what I want my career path to be- there’s so many options it’s hard to know this early in life- but I know I want to be a catalyst in improving the environment and the lives of third world workers in the fashion industry This may not mean much to some of you but this is a global issue that is being hidden by our materialistic obsession of cheap clothes. So please take a little bit of time and look into textile recycling projects the next time you need to empty your closet because you’ll be helping the environment. 🙂

If you’re interested in helping make this change you can visit truecostmovie.com and fashionrevolution.org

I found my information for this program from this article and other information was from the documentary The True Cost.

**This movie has changed the way I will shop so I’ll be suggesting some items from different retailers. 

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But- on a brighter note ….  THE RESULTS ARE IN 😀

The category that won for Dolce was Halloween costume! Here are a few costumes I’ve selected for you guys to vote on!! You can vote as many times as you would like and it ends next Monday! The choices are ….

#1 Headless Horseman 

#2 Wonder Woman 

#3 Loofa

#4 Butterfly

#5 Alien Rider

#6 (kind of a joke but a little serious) 

I mean look at this dog 😆 😆 😆 😆

 

Make sure you VOTE BELOW for which costume Dolce should be for Halloween!!!

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Anyway…. This weekend was the track team’s annual celebration banquet where we recognize and commend accomplishments from the previous year. Dress code is basically business casual/ formal so here’s what my teammates and I wore. (Kevin also got to tag along) 🙂

If you noticed Kevin and I matched and it wasn’t just a coincidence… I asked him to. 😉

DRESS: Charlotte Russe (I think $28) but similar here, this one is more expensive but I just had to add it because I LOVE the ivory/petal color 

SHOES: Target ($29.99)

CLUTCH: discussed this in my previous blog (https://nicolewaibel.com/2015/09/06/falling-for-fall-fashion/)

WATCH: Sears ($118.86)

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“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” -Albert Einstein

Thanks for checking out this weeks post! Looking forward to Dolce’s Halloween costume! 😀

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