#i mean obviously they wash it but maybe thats what also impacts me

[thebigqueer]

ive recently had the biggest realization of my life and that is that my issue is not coffee its caffeine. as in i dont think its coffee that makes me shit its CAFFEINE!!! which is actually so evil

[gluestickcherrybum]

Happy Earth Day peeps! ヾ(@°▽°@)ノ

I haven’t written in a while but I wanted to write something for this occasion, and more posts about environmentalism since its something i’m quite passionate about. Coronavirus is pretty much all anyone’s talking about lately. And as a result , our entire way of living has been adjusted due to the outbreak: Staying indoors, washing our hands, and social distancing has become the new normal.

But just because we’re experiencing difficult times doesn’t mean we should lose sight of the bigger picture which is caring for the earth. 

Thinking about sustainability is even more important now because it connects us to the world at a time we’re told to quarantine ourselves. We’re told now more than ever to purchase single-use hand sanitizers, face masks, gloves, and other products. 

Unfortunately, these items will likely end up in landfills, or worse - the environment. Already, face masks are polluting the shores of Hong Kong. Also, people fear reusable items like never before - some businesses flat out refusing reusable mugs, containers and produce bags. While I understand we want to stay healthy, and prevent the spread of the virus, we should still make a conscious effort to think about how our decisions effect the Earth too. So, with this in mind, here’s how to stay zero waste during the coronavirus outbreak.

Why should we care about zero waste right now?

Sustainability probably isn’t on the forefront of anyone’s mind right now, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still care or talk about it. As I mentioned earlier, thinking about sustainability helps us connect to the world in a time we’re told to bunker down and stay inside. It helps us appreciate things and maybe view the world a little differently. And, as scary and disheartening as all of this is - there is some good news too.

For example, there have been several reports of clearer waters in Venice where fish are now visible. Air pollution has dropped significantly in Italy due to the fact that fewer fossil fuels are being burned from people staying indoors. Even New York, Los Angels, Chicago, Seattle and Atlanta have reported significant drops in air pollution.

I’m well aware these positive changes come at a cost - so they’re bittersweet, at most. However, they can’t be ignored. It would be fantastic if, after the emergency is over, we could remember the beauty we’ve seen reappear in the world and do our best to preserve it.

There’s of course negative news as well, single-use items are being disposed on the daily and ending up littering up our community. Worst part is, these gloves and masks are not biodegradable or good for the environment - they’re made with petroleum. They’re also a health hazard because you can’t exactly pick these items up without worrying you’ll catch something.

That’s why it’s so important to think about sustainability right now. And zero waste does figure into all of that. By remaining zero waste during this time, we’re acting on our commitment to bettering the planet as a whole. 

How can I stay zero waste during the coronavirus outbreak?

Thankfully, there are several ways to make an impact during this time. All hope is far from lost.

Make the most of your food by reducing food waste

In this hard time, the food we eat should be cherished. With so many people struggling to put meals on the table due to job loss, we need to make our food last us. One way we can do this is by cooking with leftovers. For example, if you have some leftover rice and vegetables - make fried rice. Or turn boiled potatoes into mash.You can also get creative and make vegetable stock out of food scraps, turn mushy berries into jam, pickle some fruit. Or getting into some good old composting.

Invest in reusable masks and gloves

During this time, you’ll likely see a ton of people walking around with face masks and gloves on. Most of them are single use too. As I mentioned earlier, lots of face masks and gloves are being littered right now. 

It’s bad enough these items are single use only, they should be disposed of properly. Face masks have already started to wash up on the shores of Hong Kong in addition to other ocean polluters. Yikes.

Cloth masks havent been proven to be as efficient as clinical face masks in filtering the air, but for those who are sick and would like to prevent infection to others, the cotton does aid in catching water droplets from coughing and such. Just make sure to wash them regularly.

Instead of plastic gloves, consider using those reusable rubber gloves that people use to wash dishes sometimes. You can wash them with soap or even boil them to disinfect.

Decluttering

If you haven’t yet read Marie Kondo’s book “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up”, now’s a good time to get inspired. Time to go through all of your items and find the items that truly “spark joy” and be rid of the rest. Unfortunately during this time, you can’t exactly donate items to thrift shops. More than likely, thrift shops will be closed. However, you can at least set items aside to be donated once all of this is over. If you’re not comfortable waiting that long, you can always try selling it online like on Depop or Carousel.

That said, don’t be afraid to throw certain things out. I know that may seem kind of counterproductive, as I’m advising you to stay zero waste during this crisis.However, I’m fully aware there are some items we hold onto as zero wasters because we hope to keep them out of the landfill as long as possible. Items that are hard to recycle, or we don’t know how to recycle; items we believe we can fix but never get around to fixing; items simply destined for landfill one way or the other.

I know it hurts to let these items go, but you have to. It’s good for your mental health, and for the sake of your home. Remember: There is no such thing as being fully zero waste. We can get very close, but the truth is, our economy is a linear one. And every living creature creates waste of some sort. Now, this doesn’t mean I want you throwing out perfectly good items. Try to find items homes first! See if your friends or family want items you don’t first. Then, if not, seek to donate or sell. But obviously things like clothing tags and junk mail must go.

Invest in reusable period products

At this moment of crisis, with everyone panic buying basic necessities, menstrual pads and tampons are starting to get scarce so much so, you might have a hard time finding those items these days . This might be a good time to try out some sustainable alternatives. Women spend an enormous price in period products throughout their lifetime, so investing in reusables not only keeps a phenomenal amount of waste from landfills, but also saves the time going to the store and a whole lot of money.

Personally i use a menstrual cup (which i might write a whole post about it later), but for the less adventurous there are a good few other choices like reusable cloth pads and period panties (which sounded like a miracle when i first heard about them, but i haven’t seemed to be able to find any sold locally for now)

Heck, invest in reusable anything…

Its not just pads and tampons with reusable counterparts, if you want to get a little advanced in zero waste, try swapping out any disposable items possible, like stainless steel safety razors for plastic ones (ask your granddad), the infamous metal straw for plastic straws, or even things as simple as bar soap for bottled body soap.

Shop for food without the waste

During this time, please only stock up on what you need. You don’t have to hoard food - there’s plenty to go around. There’s more than enough food for everyone. Just take what you need and leave some for others.

To continue shopping sustainably, you can bring your own reusable shopping bags or produce bags (or you can diy some from old pillow cases)

I understand not everyone will be able to shop in bulk during this time for dry goods. So, you should shop as if you have no bulk food options. This means opting for items packaged in paper, cardboard, glass and aluminum.

If you must get something packaged in plastic, get the biggest container you can afford. Smaller plastics especially cling film are harder to or even impossible to recycle. Less than 9% of plastic is actually recycled so the less we consume, the less will likely end up in the landfill or oceans.

And thats all for today’s post, im sorry if its posted a bit later on Earth day than expected. I hope everyone is safe and healthy during these hard times. And if youre a student, i hope the online classes arent as bad as people say (im conveniently on a special leave of absence this semester (see my last post) so i have no idea how its going down) and if youre interested in more tips and tricks in being zero waste, feel free to hit me up and maybe ill write more posts like these. Thanks for reading ヽ(*・ω・)ﾉ

[whumperwriter]

Prompt: I was wondering if you can do one where one of Conrad’s patients gets violent and he gets hurt but doesn’t think much of it and he doesn’t tell anyone and ends up collapsing...

Fandom: The Resident

Main Whumpee: Conrad Hawkins

Whumps: broken nose, collapsing and references to intubation, surgery, internal bleeding

For: @spacesquidfandoms (we did a fic exchange because I was in some dire need for Conrad whump, of which they have plenty! Go check out their blog if thats what you’re looking for. 

Story Links : Ao3, FFN,

Nic threw a sarcastic ‘ha ha’ over her shoulder, so that Conrad knew exactly how she felt about the joke he had told. It was an old joke, one that she had heard hundreds of times before. Deep down she knew though, that she would never grow tired of hearing him say it. “Don’t you have something you should be doing?”

“What, you mean besides giving you my stand up routine?” Conrad joked, tongue in cheek as he made his way in front of her, walking backwards to be able to see the small smile on her face.

She stops as his pager goes off, and he stops a few footsteps later as he rolls his eyes and drags the small electronic from his pocket, “Turns out the answer is yes, the ER is swamped so I’ll go help them out.” Conrad ran a hand through his hair before looking back up at Nic with a serious expression, “Are we still on for dinner tonight?”

Nic smiles, giving him a small peck on the cheek, “Absolutely.”

Nic can almost hear the way his heartbeat begins to thump just a little bit faster at the affection, and she can feel her own flutter in her chest. She would ‘never get over that stubborn man but she would never grow tired of watching him leave’, she thought, unable to keep her gaze from the way his scrubs handled his assets, as Conrad took his leave.

Conrad walks into the ER, and is able to lose himself in the flurry of activity. He works with the kid with an appendix that’s ready to burst in cubicle one, and an old man with his AFIB in cubicle three. It’s an hour later, and in cubicle six that Conrad’s day begins to go downhill.

The patient is a little younger than he is,late twenties, and has been thrashing around since before he was brought in. The paramedics diagnosis had the team of doctors believing he was going through some form of drug withdrawal. But as soon as Conrad spent a few moments with him, he could tell something wasn’t right. Conrad ordered bloodworks to see if the man had anything floating in his bloodstream that shouldn’t be there. Otherwise, the young man was silently writhing on the table.

It was in a moment of clarity from the young man that helped Conrad realize that whatever was going on with this man, it wasn’t something Conrad had seen before. The youngs mans eyes had shot open, and he had looked Conrad right in the eye as he was doing a physical examination to try and rule out any of the lists of causes that Conrad had come up with it. “It hurts, man, it hurts so bad,” the young man had whispered.

Conrad leaned forwards to make sure he could hear what the man had said, “What hurts man?”

“It hurts!” Then, with a strength that Conrad didn’t realize the patient had, he jumped, smashing his forehead into Conrad’s nose, before sending them both tumbling to the ground. Conrad felt a piercing pain in his nose and back as they both hit the floor. Things fell to the floor around them, and Conrad turned onto his side to try and avoid anything raining down while he gained his bearings.

The patient was howling in his ear beside him as he began to kick at Conrad from his place on the floor. Conrad snapped from his own reverie as a kick landed against his kidney and sent flames of pain throughout his body. Conrad rolled the other way and got to his feet as quickly as he could. He wiped at his nose, tasting the blood in the back of his throat as he began the process of trying to restrain the guy that was still kicking and lashing out before him.

At this point, personnel came to Conrad’s assistance, and within three minutes, the young man was sedated and silent on the gurney again.

Conrad stepped back from beside the patient's bedside and brought a shaky hand to his nose, wiping away blood as it continued to leak from it. “Doctor Hawkins, we should get you cleaned up?” Jessica suggested beside him as she waved over Irving.

Irving took one look at Conrad before dashing to his side, gauze in hand. “What happened to you?” Irving asked, passing the gauze.

“You mi’thed all that? Th’eriously?” Conrad grimaced at the nasly tone his voice procured as he held the gauze to his nose delicately.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it's a little busy in here right now?” Irving asked, staring at his friend with concern. “Let me look at -”

“No, ‘m fine. But this guy i’th yours.’’ Conrad swallowed more blood that leaked down his throat from his nose and grimaced at the pain and the taste.

“You sure?” Irving asked.

“Yea. Page Devon to help you while I can’t.” Conrad muttered, before turning his back to Jessica and Irving, and walking away. He makes it all the way to the elevator before the pain in his back begins to throb again. The elevator door opens and he stumbles in, receiving a few sideways glances from the people that he pushes past. He continues to hold the gauze to his nose, but he can feel it getting wetter, and he knows that he has blood dripping down his hands and arms. He presses the button that will lead him to the floor where he keeps his stuff in the doctors lounge.

He reaches it slower than he cares to admit, but once he makes it there, he steps into the bathroom where he spits out another glob of blood. He winces at the way the motion jostles his nose, before pulling the red gauze away. Conrad curses as he looks at the way his nose and eyelids are swollen, and the way his nose sits slightly crooked. He chooses not to change, and takes a moment to figure out who he can get to straighten his nose back out when another flare of agony wash through his back. He clutches the sink, allowing the wave to mostly wash over him before carefully lifting his shirt and turning to see his back in the mirror.

It takes Conrad a few moments to realize that where he had been kicked earlier, was now an ugly shade of bruising and discoloration. Conrad places a light fingertip against it and pain floods his system. His eyes slam shut and he can feel himself hit the ground before the pain from the impact jostles him straight into unconsciousness.

Nic glances around the ER, hoping to catch a glimpse of the curly haired mess of man that she spends her nights with. Her initial sweep doesn’t turn up anything, despite how seemingly quiet the ER is. She does however spot Devon and Irving conversing across the room.

She paces up to them, a light smile on her face. She waits for them to finish talking about the diagnosis of the patient in cubicle six, and how he had an infection different than anything either one of them had seen before. Finally Irving turns to her, “Have you seen Conrad?”

The question almost startles Nic, considering she was about to ask the same thing. “No, I thought he was down here?”

“He was, until he got his nose broken by the guy we just admitted. He went upstairs almost an hour ago to clean up, and we haven’t seen him since.” Devon responds.

The response definitely shocks Nic, as she looked to Irving to make sure Devon wasn’t kidding around. “Wait, what?”

“The patient had a psychotic episode and must have got a good shot at Conrad’s face. I haven’t seen him since he went to clean up.” Irving reassured.

“Maybe he’s in the lounge?” Devon suggested, and Nic nodded her head in agreement.

“If he knows what’s best for him, he’s probably resting.” She responded, “You free?”

Devon nodded, “Yea, I can help.”

Nic didn’t bother responding before heading towards the elevator. They didn’t spot Conrad once they reached the lounge, but the bathroom door was shut across the room. Nic knocks on the door, before another doctor in the room tosses a retort over his shoulder, “That doors been locked for a while now.”

A sinking feeling settles in Nics stomach as she begins to pound on the door. “Conrad? Conrad, if you’re in there you need to open the door, now!”

There’s no response, and Nic’s hearts racing in her chest as she debates her options. She stops thinking once Devon shoves her back and begins beating at the door handle with a fire extinguisher. Within five hits, the door handles falls off, and Devons messes with what's left before carefully pushing the door open.

The door only opens halfway before it stops against something. Devon calls for the doctor in the lounge to get some help and a gurney before Nic is able to get a glance of Conrad and the streaks of blood that are running down the lower half of his face.

He’s lying mostly under the sink, curled up on his side. His legs were what the door was catching on. Devon’s finally able to push the door open all the way so that he can set to work, and Nic jumps in to help, knowing her alternative to watch in horror won’t help anyone.

It’s a slow rise from slumber. His mouth is fuzzy, and his brain is too. It’s like waking up from a nap that didn’t last long enough, but was also too long. His eyes feel crusty, as they flutter open.

It takes him a few moments to realize that the dimly lit room he’s in, isn’t his own. The beeping of the monitors that surround help him figure out he’s in a hospital room, but he can’t remember why.

He looks down at the rest of his body, and is surprised to not see the scrubs he’s so used to, and instead his top is covered with the standard issue hospital gown. His legs are covered with a blanket, and his arm is covered by the still, sleeping form of his girlfriend.

He takes a couple more minutes to try and take stock of his surroundings before he reaches over to run a hand through Nics hair.

“Nic?” The croak that escapes his mouth is startling, and trying again doesn’t make it sound any better. But Nic obviously hears him as her head shoots up to look at him.

Her blonde hair is matted against her head where she was resting it, and her makeup looks like it had been running at some point or another. Her eyes are bright, and when they meet his, her face erupts with a smile. “You’re awake,” she coos, clutching his hand in her own and then reaching up to touch his cheek. “Do you need some water?”

He nods, and when she pushes the straw between his lips, he sucks greedily until she pulls it away again. “Hey, you gotta cool it with the water or you’ll make yourself sick. I know your throats raw, they only took out the ventilator this morning.”

“What?” Conrad asks incredulously. He knows he’s missing something, but for some reason he just doesn’t have all the pieces.

“You had surgery last night to fix your kidney that had a tear in it. You also had a broken nose, and you had stopped breathing before Devon broke the door down to eat to you.” Memories and moments start to come back to him, and Conrad winces as he starts to vaguely remember what happened.

“Why’d I stop breathing?”

“You lost a lot of blood, and you might have choked on some of the blood from your nose, but it was close.” Nics face seems solemn and serious for a second, but Conrad’s having difficulty following the conversation as well as he wants too, and figures it’s probably because of the painkillers in his system. So he smiles up at her, with what he hopes is the mopiest grin he can manage.

“I love you too, get some rest. We can talk more when you have some of your strength back.”

Conrad barely hears the end of her sentence before he drifts off again.

fin

[fairycosmos]

My fuckinggg crush (who looked like he was into me also but without being greasy and disgusting which is rare for men) is giving this other girl attention and has been online forever and is ignoring my texts and I'm so upset and this is so stupid and something a 12 year old would say but I have no friends and wanted to tell someone and I chose u bc ily and your blog and u take your time to give ppl good and well thought replies and ur amazing.

hey man it’s not stupid!! at all!!! it’s natural to crave affection from the person you want and it’s natural to feel jealous to some extent. what matters more is how you cope with those emotions, you know? don’t let them drown you, don’t let them force you into doing/saying something you’ll regret. crucifying yourself for this wont solve anything. take a breath, let it all wash over you. you’re alright. i know it’s super difficult, and it’s a lot easier said than done, but try not to let his actions impact how you see yourself. it’s not your fault he’s not replying to you, and it doesn’t mean you’re not worthy. if he doesn’t like you for who you are then he doesn’t deserve your time, you know? if he can’t appreciate you for who you are then he’s simply not ready for someone like you, and that’s entirely his loss. the worst thing you can do is let your low self esteem use this situation to turn your mindset into one of paranoia and self hatred. like, your existence doesn’t depend on him and what he thinks of you. in addition to that, just cause he’s talking to another girl doesn’t mean he doesn’t think you’re a cool, interesting person (assuming you guys aren’t like, exclusive of course.) it’s possible for him to see both of you in a super positive light. look, obviously cause you have feelings for him, you’re going to care about his opinion a lot, but always keep in mind that the world doesn’t begin and end with him. even if your infatuation is making it seem like it does. this sort of thing is always upsetting and painful, cause you can know all of this logically and still feel sad about it, but that’s okay. process whatever you need to process. every emotion is temporary, though your mind will do its best to convince you that it’s permanent. truly all you can do is message him, ask him what his deal is and then leave it. after that, the ball is in his court. and you don’t deserve to have to grovel for attention or love or validation, you can find all of that within yourself and through other sources. i 1000% get that all of this sounds like bullshit, especially cause you care about him so much, but i hope you can allow some of it to sink in. at the end of the day you can’t control him or how he feels, but you can control how you allow yourself to be treated, and how you deal with the pain/anger/sadness of the situation. 

i really hope you’re able to have a productive conversation with him to see if you can figure out where you stand. catching feelings for someone is always going to be annoying and complicated and weird, but as long as you have your own back you’re going to be just fine. i’m like hyper aware of the fact that none of this is helpful to you in the current moment but maybe you can come back to this in like a month or smth to look at your progress. you’re literally an ABSOLUTE sweetheart by the way like thank you so much!! i’m so fkn glad you enjoy my blog and i luv you to the moon and back. i’m lending you all of the strength you need to get through this. whatever the outcome is, you have the tools to handle it, so you will. you’re a lot more capable than you’ll ever fully realize, okay? you’ve got this. talk to him when you can, be kind to yourself and let the rest figure itself out. 💖💖

[elizabetheaton-fashion]

ETHICAL FASHION

Ethical fashion is a topic which is always discussed and quickly swept under the rug. Whether that be because a majority of consumers don't want to think that their weekly pastime can be massively effecting other people on the other side of the world. Or just because people don't fully understand the consequences and appreciate how much they could make a positive difference to one of the most harmful industries in the world.

So to fully understand how dire this situation is we will take it back to the basics by asking: “Why do we even wear clothes?” this sounds like a silly question to ask because you might just think “so we are not naked, duh”, but it goes much deeper than that without you even realising. They can be categorised into 6 main titles: 

• Utility - we wear clothes to protect ourselves, from the environment keeping our body a safe temperature, or for our professions to keep us safe, if a fireman doesn't wear his Kevlar suit he will definitely be no help saving anyone else’s life. Pretty self explanatory but not very important anymore - how many times has it been freezing cold outside but someone is wearing stupidly short shorts they will probably get hypothermia in, but its okay because they look ‘super fashionable’.

• Modesty - to cover our nakedness (duh)

• Adornment - to assert our creativity and individuality, make us stand out from the crowd, an obvious reason also. 

• Symbolic Differentiation - to differentiate profession, religion, social standing or lifestyle, those girls wearing those Louboutin’s know you know how expensive they are thus assuming they are super wealthy and high class.

• Social Affiliation - to show they belong to a group for example Punks or Sports teams. You might do this without realising but the people you hang around with probably all wear similar things, like the same theme, people can tell you are friends... you know?

These are rather ‘traditional’ reasons we dress not really thought about that much anymore, leading onto the final reason:

• Modernism - I believe this reason to be the most apparent in why we wear clothes nowadays, we want to show people we are ‘hip and trendy’ we know whats in and what isn't, or thats what we want people to think. The fashion industry has had to adapt to this fast changing consumerism, thus the birth of fast fashion. 

Fast fashion, a industry where clothes are cheaper than anything else we consume, and due to this they are treated like food or disposables. Need a top for a night out? Why don't you just buy one for a fiver then you can throw it out straight after to avoid the embarrassment of being shunned an outfit repeater. 

I once was one of these people but after hearing about these facts I completely changed the way I shop, now you will find me in club probably wearing the same outfit I have worn for the past month but its cool I own a washing machine.

Have you ever noticed that all of your clothes have a care label? Well it is a legal requirement for this to be put on all garments so people know exactly what they are putting on their bodies, however it is not a requirement to put where the garment has been manufactured. Why is this such an issue you may ask? Because now you don't know who have made your clothes, how they might be treated, whether they are likely to be paid fairly or not! A majority of the fast fashion you purchase on the high street have been manufactured in developing countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, India etc. 

From this map you can see that a HUGE majority of apparel exporters are in the Far East (the whole section is blocked in dark red, the most serious of colours, to show how massive this issue is), why is this? 

BECAUSE IT IS DIRT CHEAP.

By choosing to manufacture in developing countries the big shots of corporate companies can pay nothing for something, that is how you can buy your £10 Primark jeans you care about so dearly...not. You know why it is so cheap? Workers have no rights, no minimum wage, no free education or healthcare, and its mainly women and children working.

More than 40 MILLION women and children work in the fashion and textiles industry, this is because they have less rights as men, they don't have to be paid as much. Men get paid around £1.00 an hour (terrible right?), women and children... £0.50 per hour. 50p PER HOUR!! Thats way below living wage for the Far East let alone anywhere in the world. How can anyone survive on that? But they can't do anything else, they haven't got the opportunity to so they are forced to work in this corrupt industry. Fast fashion is an industry based on greed and profit, nothing more... okay maybe that is generalising but these decisions are made by the CEOS and Chairmen, they probably know nothing about fashion anyway!! 

Now when you step into a store like Primark for example you may think differently about their clothes, yes they have made it clear that they are trying to be more ethical and whatever but how true can that be if they are still being able to sell tops for like £2 and coats for £15? That top you bought from there has been made by someone who has to go home with little food for them and their families to survive after a long day at work, making a top that you are probably going to throw away after about 3 wears because ‘it was soooo last season’. 

Don't forget about those people who have risked their life for your fast fashion, the most well known event being Rana Plaza where 1,134 people died due to unsafe working conditions

SO on a more positive note... How can YOU make a change?

You may think as one person you can't make a difference, but you are wrong, if everyone helped like you hopefully will, think what we can achieve!! 

Firstly ask yourself ‘Who made my clothes?” look at the country of manufacture, why was it made there and not somewhere closer to home? How do you think the workers were treated there?

If there is no country of manufacture shown... well why isn't it? Ask the store, this will make them feel uncomfortable and they will probably do something about it. Take to Twitter, mention them directly, all of their customers will see you questioning them and they might think “wait, yeah why aren't they telling me this, what are they hiding? Do I really want to support a company that are keeping secrets from me, their loyal customer?”

Try and buy things made closer to home, the workers have probably been treated much better and you will be helping the environment too! 

REMEMBER: you have a voice, people listen to you, whether that be your large Instagram following, or just your friends and family, if you think that this is wrong, show them its wrong, then they will tell their friends about it and so on, then before you know it YOU have made a change, by making people think differently about the way they shop and what they buy you have changed the bigger picture!! 

ECO FASHION

Fun Fact: Fashion is the 2nd biggest pollutant in the world closely following the oil industry... okay, this is not a fun fact at all, this is disgraceful! 

70 MILLION barrels of oil are used to make 1 years worth of polyester, as well as other synthetic materials such as nylon and acrylic. Funny enough a majority of the fast fashion pieces we buy are made of polyester or are a poly mix, so there is another reason to look at the care label folks... There are so many more desirable fibres your clothes could be made from!

Imagine: waking up in the morning, having a shower and slipping on your soft, luxurious Bamboo socks and your organic cotton T-Shirt... doesn't that sound better than your poly blend socks and scratchy Polyester t-shirt? Bamboo is fastest growing fibre in the world, it doesn't need extra watering, no pesticides, no man power and grows on damaged soil, how eco can you get? Whereas cotton farming uses 20% of the insecticides used in the farming industry equating to billions of pounds worth of chemicals a year, needs constant attention (like your clingy ex) and drinks water like its nothing! If we used bamboo more we will be able to sort out the bee extinction crisis and the deaths of millions of other insects, and think about all the chemicals that go into waterways and kill sea life, this include the chemical dyes we use to colour said fibres!

Here is some vital info about Bamboo in regards to cotton explained in a very cringe way... sorry... but it is interesting!!

Here is another fun fact for you: The average woman keeps a piece of clothing in her wardrobe for 5 weeks. 5 WEEKS... when I first heard this I could not believe it, thinking obviously they are over exaggerating come on! But taking it back to that Primark party top discussed earlier it makes a lot of sense, people buy for occasion or trends, and trends are quick they can change in a blink of the eye one minute people are wearing pom noms on EVERYTHING next PVC tops and trousers (?) No wonder in the UK alone we chuck 2 million tonnes of textiles out a year, textiles are the fastest growing waste products in the world and we only have fast fashion to blame really. Surely this must make you want to make a change come on... 50% of the stuff we throw out for landfill are recyclable, meaning that could save barrels of oil being used but we just throw it away thinking “whatever, how the hell is someone going to recycle that?” alas there is a way. 

Ensuring you recycle clothing can make a drastic environmental impact for the fashion industry, potentially pulling us off that second prize position. H&M have a recycling scheme where if you recycle your clothes in one of their stores they will shred them down and use the fibres again for more clothes and the cycle can just keep on going!! Doesn't that sound great? Or what about giving them to charity? If you don't want them someone else probably will, I must said I am an avid charity shop goer and I get the best deals, you can find some treasures!! One example being a wool Karen Millen tweed coat for £15 hardly worn and a staple in my wardrobe for years. One man’s crap is another man’s treasure, and it is so true!! We should all care about the environment as the world is finite, don't just think well humans will probably go extinct in the next 100 years so whatever, NO. If we can make changes in our fashion we can make a HUGE impact on the world, check your care labels and buy natural, preferably organic fibres, avoid synthetics like the plague!! Recycle your unwanted clothes or give them to a charity shop. As I said previously: Together we can make a difference!!

For more information:

Fashion Revolution http://fashionrevolution.org

Clean Clothes Campaign (Twitter) https://twitter.com/cleanclothes

35 Fair Trade & Ethical Clothing Brands Betting Against Fast Fashion http://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/fair-trade-clothing

How to Engage with Ethical Fashion | Clara Vuletich | TEDxSydney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXOd4qh3JKk 

The True Cost of Fashion  -  Documentary (find on Netflix)

Blood, Sweat & T-Shirts: Dispatches  -  Documentary 

Death of A Thousand Dreams http://www.taslimaakhter.com/rana_plaza_collapse/