#if i can get like 20 notes I’ll post the extended edition lol

[portraitofalonelydyke]

The Bookshop a Good Omens Spotify Playlist

Going back to my roots as a fandom playlist maker with my first Good Omens playlist! Quiet, gentle and romantic songs to play in the A.Z. Fell and Co. bookshop. Please listen in order! The order tells the story of our angel and demon, and the acts are pockets of songs that belong together. Song narratives are from both Aziraphale and Crowley's pov. Listen Here

[angst-in-space]

december ‘20 writing progress (and yearly wrap-up)

december progress:

words written: 15.2k

yearly total: 248.8k 

projects worked on:

- sylvix dreamscape fic - edited/posted the sylvix xmas fic, “where the love light gleams” - finished writing the altea rising recap - worked on a couple secret projects

december goals: - reach my yearly goal of writing 250k words....*sweats* (ok i didn’t quite get there but i’ll give myself credit cuz i was only like 200 words off) - finish/submit final draft of piece for long live zine - finish editing and publish the sylvix xmas fic! - finish/publish [redacted] and [redacted] - work some more on the sylvix dreamscape fic  - finish the altea rising recap summary (and....maybe work a little on chapter 19 if i have time)

notes:

well, december was....a very busy month. had kind of a hellish start to the month what with a health-related thing (not covid, don’t worry i’m fine dkfjdl) so that kinda sapped my energy for about a week. then ofc there was the holidays and everything. aaand on top of that i had like four writing deadlines (although like....two of them were postponed so that was good haha). 

but anyway! i did at least manage to finish a couple of things––mainly my sylvix christmas fic (“where the love light gleams”), finishing/submitting my “long live” zine piece, FINALLY finishing the altea rising recap summary ... and also finishing one secret thing that is not published yet, but it’s for a fandom i’ve never written before and i’ll be very excited to publish it once i can!

other than that, i mostly worked on the sylvix dreamscape fic and on a secret santa exchange fic that i still have not finished (we extended the deadline to end of january bc like...no one in the group had finished by end of december lol). 

i didn’t quite reach my goal of 250k words for the year, but i mean my initial goal was 150k and i only ended up being about 200 words shy of 250k SO i still think that’s a big win lol. 

as for what i’ll be working on next: top priority is finishing the secret santa fic. but i also hope to keep working on the sylvix dreamscape fic. aaand hoping to edit/publish the klance hotel au by the end of january maybe, since uh i finished a draft of it in november and STILL have not finished editing that so OOPS. and mayyybe will finally delve into finishing the last few chapters of altea rising, and maybe at least start editing chapter 15 but that’s pretty optimistic of me lmao.

2020 wrap up:

total words written: 248.8k most words written in a month: 50.1k (november) least words written in a month: 14.1k (march)

works completed:

- want your fire on me - i know a place we can run - illumination - cover my skin with your sunkissed light - where the love light gleams - klance hotel au (not published yet) - [secret project] (not published yet) - miles to go (my zine piece for “long live”, not published yet) other wips:  - sylvix dreamscape fic - altea rising - secret santa fic - planning my wlw YA sci-fi novel 

2020 goals:

- write every day - write at least 150k words - focus more on my multichaps  - finish altea rising - finish a couple of my kl standalone fics?? not sure which ones yet, but yeah! - finish galolio fic - write burning hearts piece - work on wangxian fic w jessie! - maybe start writing something original??

notes: 

all in all, a very productive year! there were some yearly goals i did not reach (i.e. finishing my old klance multichaps.....rip) but i mean, i also ended up getting involved in (and writing fic for) several other fandoms, so i couldn’t really have anticipated that at the beginning of the year. i’m really happy with the two sylvix fics i’ve published so far, and i hope to write a lot more for them this year! 

so yeah... i have a few big projects i want to tackle in 2021. firstly the sylvix dreamscape fic is...already over 30k and i’m estimating it’ll probably end up being a total of somewhere around 50k-60k so uh yeah that’s gonna be a big commitment lol. but i think i’m gonna do the same thing i did with “cover my skin...” and make it a chaptered fic. not sure when i will start posting it but i’m hoping ideally sometime in like late february or early march, depending on a few things. 

i have a few other sylvix fics i also hope to at least start writing sometime this year. one in particular i have had fully planned out for months but ironically have not started it yet even though it was the first sylvix fic idea i came up with... but yeah i might start that one after the dreamscape fic is done. i also have a couple aus that i might tackle, but they both need a lot more fleshing out before i even begin writing them so hmm we shall see. 

besides that... i do really honestly want to finish my klance multichaps even tho it’s been...over a year since i updated either of them and idk if anyone even gives a shit anymore but i’m a completionist at heart and just wanna see them through sooo yEAH. i have at least finished writing up a (very long) summary of everything i’ve written of altea rising so far, mostly to recap myself to make sure i tie up all the loose ends in the last few chapters. i did work a bit on actually writing it in 2020 although tbh i like kinda fell off the rails once i fell into fe3h/sylvix hell BUT i still intend to get back to it because i do still have a soft spot for it and want to finish it. and long story short, i’ve decided to divide up what i’ve written of the last part into like...5-ish chapters so yeah, hopefully i can start posting those at some point in the near future. ....and uhh i don’t think i worked on red skies at all in 2020 which makes me sad bc i still love that fic dearly and want to complete it as well, it just may take me a few months to get back to it but hey if i’m able to update it at all in 2021 that would be great haha.  another thing i’m hoping is to possibly open commissions in 2021, something i said i would do in 2020 and never did but....kinda wanna give it a try, especially because i am funemployed once again. :’) AND LASTLY...i’ve been planning an original wlw YA sci-fi novel for like two years and i would really love to start at least the first draft of it this year....that would be neat. 

so yeah this post is starting to get insanely long but i’ll just wrap up with my 2021 goals and january goals, and...yeah. 2020 sure was a weird year, here’s hoping 2021 is (at least..slightly...??) better. 

2021 goals: - write every day - write at least 150k words - finish the sylvix dreamscape fic - start on like 1 or 2 other sylvix multichaps...? - finish altea rising - work on red skies again - do some fic commissions - continue planning my novel and maybe start the first draft january goals:  - finish secret santa fic - publish [redacted] - work on sylvix dreamscape fic - edit klance hotel au (hopefully send to betas by end of month at least?) - maybe work on altea rising ch. 19

[pastpassages]

This isn’t particularly a “me and natsuki” song so much as a “this seems to capture some of the way I experience love and also the world” song but. I wanted to put it here and some thinky thoughts bc it’s late and I feel like pontificating I guess. Properties/fandoms/people I mention but do not want to draw the attention of have been censored, if you can’t figure out what they are and really want to know feel free to message me.  

Cw: exploration of like. The inevitability of death, and change, and facing the vast universe. Tl;dr this song is macabre and its speaker knows that wishing for things to stay as they are is in vain, but does it anyway. That fuckin gets me bro.

Ideally the read more will work. I apologize if it doesn’t. I’m on mobile and not sure that tumblr will let me edit posts on desktop that I started on mobile. I literally copy and pasted this freaking post onto desktop so it would have a read more bc no one fucking deserves to scroll through my late night mile long thoroughly existential ramblings. At least I’m posting this fuck off late at night so hopefully it won’t bother anyone

The simple instrumentation, first off. It’s p much the same…one? Two? Maybe three measures? Repeated throughout the song, but I think it works very well with the themes and meaning and doesn’t annoy me like other acoustic-style music with so much repetition (*cough* M*mf*rd and S*ns *cough*). This is partially I think bc there’s changes in the notes etc between different parts of the song; the measure of silence between the intro and the first main stanza of the song, the change in. I think it’s key? Over the course of repeating the chorus. (It’s been so long since I’ve done music, stanza isn’t the right word and key probably isn’t either hELP)

But the main thing that seems to get me: the lyrics.

“How lucky / I ever was to see / The way that / You smiled at me / Your little moon face / Shining bright at me / One day soon, there’ll be nothing left of you and me / Two coffins for sleep” (I may have put too many line breaks in there lol but that’s how it Feels so I’m keeping it)

There’s this constant awareness of the inevitability of loss (specifically death in this case), and how. Mm, how to put it. The randomness of the universe can so often work against us, and being aware of that makes you incredibly thankful for the times when things do go in your favor. Very similar vibes to TWRP’s Life Party, though definitely more macabre in tone.

Going back to the first stanza in the song:

“Two coffins for sleep / One for you, one for me / We’ll get there eventually / In the dark of our graves, our bodies will decay / I wish you’d never change”

Something I find interesting about this portion is that, despite ending with “I wish you’d never change,” acknowledging that this change, death, is inevitable, there’s still this. Hope? I guess might be the right word? Or maybe faith. That the speaker and the person addressed in the song will be together in death. They will be in separate coffins, but “we’ll” get there; “in the dark of our graves, our bodies will decay. Plural. They may be separated physically but they are undergoing the same process, and perhaps there is some measure of togetherness in that. It may just be economical phrasing to fit the rhythm of the song, but it still implies a togetherness to me. It could have been phrased "I’ll get there and you’ll get there,” “in the dark of the graves, our bodies,” or similar. Again, that probably wouldn’t work with the rhythm and there is probably not an inherent meaning to it, but still! I was an English major, reading more into things that aren’t necessarily there is like My Job lol.

Anyway, before I got sidetracked by that thought I was going to say that the main point of this portion of the song is this sort of impossible wish for the speaker and the person addressed to not be separated. Yes, this is inevitable, yes, there is no fighting it, but…wouldn’t it be nice? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a small kindness from the universe like that, to not be separated in the end. It won’t happen, but let’s take a moment to imagine it anyway.

Another side note, this is kind of a similar thought process to why I like the way st*vens *niverses handles its villains. Yes, talking and emotional connection with those you’re in conflict with doesn’t always work. But isn’t it nice to imagine a world where it does? And if we do imagine that, maybe we can find a few ways to be more compassionate in our world, to extend grace and kindness where we might not have thought to otherwise. And perhaps that will make the world just a tiny bit better.

Anyway. Moving forward:

“All the things that I have yet to lose will someday be gone too / Back into annihilation / All things will fade, maybe it’s better off that way / I wish you’d stay with me”

First off, the phrasing “back into annihilation.” We come from nothingness, we will return to nothingness. This is not a religious song. There is not an afterlife waiting for us, nothing that created us. There is the life we have, here and now, and then it’s gone.

Otherwise, this stanza continues the overall theme: we inevitably march on towards death, and separation. We will lose all that we have. Perhaps that is good, ultimately; would it truly make you happy in the long run to never experience pain or loss? This is a sentiment that I’m sure has been expressed many times by many people, but that I remember first hearing from st*r tr*k, though I cannot currently find a clip of the moment I’m thinking of. Not that human life is inherently bad or painful, but that pain is a necessary part of life to balance the good. If there was not pain of some kind in your life, you would not appreciate your happiness so much. Obviously, this line of thinking only goes so far; it is not, for example, a good thing that marginalized people tend to experience outsized pain in comparison with the nice things they receive from society. Happiness for marginalized people is more often forged and seized, stolen from life rather than given freely by it. No, poverty does not “make you appreciate the virtues of life” more, it makes you hungry and tired and frustrated, can you please just take some action against it. Conversely, j*ff b*z*s could probably use a bit more pain in his life! ….I got sidetracked again. Wish tumblr had a footnotes feature. Anyway. The speaker acknowledges the inevitability of death/loss, but once again expresses that vain wish to not lose the person addressed in the song, to keep what they have in this moment. Once again, this will never happen. Let’s imagine it anyway. Perhaps it will be a comfort, despite its improbability.

After this, the chorus is repeated, eventually shifting into a repetition of the phrase “Two coffins for sleep,” finishing the song. To return to the instrumentation, the guitar and drums follow a consistent, simple rhythm, mimicking that of walking. Constantly moving forward, even when we don’t want to. We will die, eventually, “one day soon,” far off and yet much closer than we hope or want. Change is inevitable. Death is inevitable.

And yet. That small, vain hope remains. “I wish you’d stay with me.” “I wish you’d never change.” Maybe, in a kinder world, we could keep this moment as more than a memory. “How lucky / I ever was to see / The way that / You smiled at me.” In all the cold randomness of the universe, against all improbability, we did meet. We brought each other joy. “Your little moon face / Shining bright at me.” We reflect the good, the kindness in each other. “One day soon, there’ll be nothing left of you and me.” And yet. And yet. “Two coffins for sleep / Two coffins for sleep.” Separated, and yet together, even if it’s just an illusion.

To explain why this means so much to me….I’m not sure I can do it succinctly lol. But hey, this post is a mile long already, so why not. No one’s obligated to read this lol.

When I was younger I was more religious. (This is not a “religion/spirituality is a childish thing and I have put that behind me” point, don’t worry.) When I was a teenager I was an atheist for like. Edgy points, idk. I was starting to see some of the worse parts of the world, starting to wonder what gods who truly cared about the world would let it get so horrid for so many. I’m still fairly young (mid-20s is not old, I must keep reminding myself), but now my view is…somewhere in the middle of those two points. Or maybe it’s more that I took a left turn?

The point is, now I kind of don’t care whether there is a god/are gods, whatever. You know how when you’re a kid (barring abusive circumstances that break this illusion much earlier etc) you believe that your parents know everything? They can fix anything, they’re your parents! They’re your whole world! And then you get older, and you realize that no. They don’t know everything. They were your whole world, perhaps, but there’s literally billions more people in the world. People that you can connect to, learn from, build things together with. The world is so much more than you and your parents. That’s the stage I’m at with my belief in a higher power. Sure, they might be out there. But they’re just one being, how could they possibly understand and control everything in this fuck off complicated world of ours? Or, if you’re going the polytheistic route, they’re just as complicated as the rest of the world. Chances are, appeasing one would anger another. One step forward, two steps back. (I should make it explicit if it wasn’t already clear, I come from a Xtian background. I default to thinking of god in the singular. Not sure how well this point holds up from a polytheistic perspective tbh!)

Anyway. It does not matter whether there is a higher power. There is more to the world than that. We are here. We have each other.

There’s a moment in night in the woods that hit me like a truck. Angus says, “so I believe in a universe that doesn’t care, and people who do.” I have essentially taken four times as many words to express that same sentiment! But like. That’s it. It doesn’t matter whether there’s a higher power. If they can fix the world, they haven’t, and if they can’t, then they can’t. We can, piece by piece. Moment by moment.

The thing about this. Is that humans. Are not, by nature, necessarily good. “People are fundamentally people,” as TPratchett and NGaiman put it. The world is infinitely complicated, and on top of that we as individual humans are infinitely complex. We do not, by default, seek out and work towards the good of others. (We do not inherently seek out hurting others either! Get that original sin shit out of here!) But like. If there isn’t a higher power that’s going to just fix our shit for us? If we’re all we’ve got?

And thus. Finally. The reason this song speaks to me. Oh my lord is it existentially horrifying to think that it comes down to silly, insignificant, flawed humans to change the world. You have to find something to give you joy. Or at least a moment of less pain. The world is so vast, and we can do so little.

But we have each other. In this vast, empty universe, I have you, and you have me. And perhaps, to soothe our fears and make things just a little easier on ourselves, we can pretend that the world will be kind. Wouldn’t it be nice? If things were kinder. Let’s take a moment to imagine it. There, that’s a nice thought, isn’t it? The world will not be kind. But for a moment, we can pretend it will.

Perhaps, if we are very lucky, we can even take a small step towards that kinder world.

Wouldn’t that be nice?

[beeos]

6/14/20: Bootloader days are over?

WOO! LOOK AT THIS!

Trying to roll my own bootloader was not the best idea. I got grub2 set up relatively quickly (read: in a freaking day!). Today I edited Bran’s template code to output as elf32 rather than a.out.

From here, getting the GDT loaded in and putting the BIOS functions together was *so* easy. I already had a GDT descriptor table set up from before, which could be included and easily called (via the lgdt instruction). And, my screen I/O code from before also worked just fine. So, voila! I got my code to compile and boot successfully, and my kernel can print messages to the screen!

Well, there was a bit of trouble with the linker. I spent a while reading the documentation, which helped me fix up the Bran’s template linker. However, I accidentally created an issue with the “.” location counter, which ended up taking me most of the day to debug... But I got it fixed, and ultimately everything booted up properly, so I’m happy :)

Next steps:

1: Look into SMP. I want to design with multiprocessor support in mind from the beginning, because that would be REALLY cool and would allow me to explore some of the implementation complications we discussed in class. So, I’ll need to figure out how to actually... use? multiprocessors?... This will probably be a small headache, especially since I am expecting that it will require some deeper hardware knowledge and assembler.

2: I guess my first big project from here, if I’m following the trajectory used for Weenix, would be processes. How does this relate to threads? I’ll have to look into this more.

In the back of my mind: Ah jeez, eventually I should figure out how to make the Makefile more useful. For the time being, and while the project is still small, I will just manually update the commands for each file :P

Also, after glancing at some other hobby OS projects, I think I should eventually look into VESA graphics to get a pretty user-land. That is still a ways off, though.

On a related note, I think I should probably take a moment to think about what my goals for this project are. Primarily, I just want to keep learning this summer, since I don’t really have any other obligations. I think I’m drawn to operating systems because 1) it’s the most recent topic I learned in class and 2) I’ve been really enjoying the process of “understanding” computers over the past year, starting with intro systems, and then extending into the x86 security class and networks, and then operating systems and my little IT job at the computer lab. So, taking some time to hammer out my understanding of the details that I didn’t entirely grasp in my os class last semester would be nice.

But, on the level of, “what are the goals for this operating system?”, insofar as it motivates my design decisions: I am aware that whatever I make will always be a hobby operating system. So, to that extent, I think it’s safe to say that this project is primarily a learning tool for me to try my hand at implementing not only a functioning OS, but one with some of the more complicated advancements we covered in class (”advancements” relative to very early systems, lol).

I think POSIX compliance should not be a concern, since porting is not really that important here. After all, who’s gonna be using this, and how much? Nevertheless, just because of my familiarity with Unix-like systems, I will probably be following major POSIX conventions pretty closely.

This means I’m not really following any particular specifications, which then means I actually have quite a bit of freedom with my design decisions. For the time being, I’ll just try my best to model around the solutions we discussed in class. I think something else I should do is start writing out a general design plan for the system so I know how the pieces will fit together. Then, as I start coding and testing, maybe I’ll come up with my own ideas for neat solutions or features to experiment with!

Anyway, that closes it for today. I’ve been pretty active posting lately, and hopefully that continues. However, I suspect that progress will begin slowing down now that I’m past the bootloader stuff and now really need to be thinking about the “grand design”. But, writing these posts has been a lot of fun, so maybe I’ll keep it up!

[howellrichard]

What the Fashion Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know

Hiya Gorgeous,

I love this transitional period between spring and summer. For those of us who live in areas of the world with seasonal shifts like this, it’s time to pack up winter clothes and bust out the warm weather gear. T-shirts replace sweaters, sunglasses sub in for scarves, flip flops take over for boots…

It can be a lot of fun to rediscover the stuff that’s been packed away for months and even add a few new things to our closets. But there’s a dark side to these seasonal wardrobe shifts—the pressure to buy, buy, buy.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think that fashion can be a fun way to express ourselves. But when you combine insatiable demand for trends with the fast-paced nature of today’s world and ruthless competition to create the cheapest products possible, fast fashion is born.

Today we’re going to cover what fast fashion is, why it’s a problem (especially for the environment) and what you can do to help. I’ll provide you with some specific, simple tips—it’s not complicated or hard, I promise!

What is fast fashion, anyway?

The term “fast fashion” is used to describe trendy clothing that’s mass-produced to meet consumer demands (note: I use the word “clothing” throughout this article for simplicity’s sake, but I’m talking about all fashion, which means shoes, bags, accessories, etc.). These items are usually made inexpensively and rapidly in an effort to cut costs and deliver products to the market as fast as possible.

Many people associate fast fashion with cheap, throw-away crap that lasts about as long in your closet as an avocado does on your counter. This kind of clothing often falls apart after a couple of washes or wears due to low quality standards. It also tends to go out of style quickly because it’s made to meet society’s hunger for passing trends, not to stand the test of time.

Wondering how to figure out what’s fast fashion and what’s not? It’s not always cut and dry, and it’s important to research your favorite brands. But keep an eye out for clothing that’s priced really low—there’s usually a reason it’s so cheap, and someone somewhere might be paying the price. Also tread carefully when shopping from the stores you’d typically find in malls or those owned by big corporations. I’m not saying they’re all bad, but I encourage you to look into their environmental and labor standards. I’ll share some resources later on in this post to help you learn what to look out for and how to research your go-to brands.

Why is fast fashion a problem?

As with many mass-produced consumer goods (everything from your couch to the utensils you use in your kitchen), the problems with fast fashion are far-reaching and incredibly complex. I know it can be hard to wrap your head around these issues, so I’ve broken down some of the key themes and impacts below. While we can’t cover all of the nuances and details surrounding this issue in one article, understanding these aspects is a good place to start.

The Environment

Society’s hunger for fast, cheap, trendy fashion hurts our planet in a number of serious ways. Here are some of the biggest environmental impacts:

Water consumption: It takes about 2,700 liters of water to make just one cotton shirt (source). And those shirts (and jeans and dresses and purses and so on!) add up quickly. According to the World Resources Institute, that’s enough water for one person to drink for 2 ½ years. Another study estimated that the global fashion industry consumes enough water every year to fill 32 million Olympic-size swimming pools (source).

Pollution: The fashion industry is responsible for about 20% of water pollution around the globe. It’s also to blame for about 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions (source). That’s right… for the entire world. Plus, one study found that approximately 30% of the substances used to make clothing pose a risk to human health (source).

Waste and landfills: Because fast fashion products either wear or go out of style quickly, we’re throwing a whole lot away. A 2016 article from McKinsey states that within a year of being produced, almost three-fifths of all clothing ends up in incinerators or landfills. That means those potentially harmful, non-biodegradable materials we discussed just sit there slowly seeping toxins into the air, ground and water.

People

While consumer pressure has caused some fast fashion brands to improve conditions in their factories, many workers are still subject to unsafe work environments. In 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor reported evidence of forced and child labor in the fashion industry in several countries (source).

Young women between the ages of 18 and 24 make about 80% of the apparel on the market. And they’re often not paid a living wage because fast fashion companies hoard most of the profits for themselves. They’re forced to live in poverty, often unable to afford the bare minimum necessities for their families (source).

Animals

People aren’t the only living beings impacted by fast fashion. Our furry and feathered friends are vulnerable, too. For example, most of the world’s leather comes from India and China, where animal welfare legislation doesn’t exist. And in the countries where those laws do exist, the legal protections are geared toward pets and often don’t extend to animals raised for leather. Make no mistake, leather is not simply a by-product of the meat industry (which is deeply problematic in and of itself!).

And as for that wool sweater—well, we’re not talking about happy sheep who get to live stress-free lives running free and playing with their friends. Many of the sheep exploited for their wool undergo painful procedures and live in otherwise inhumane conditions. More responsibly sourced wool does exist, but it’s more expensive and hard to come by from the big fashion retailers (source).

The bottom line when it comes to animal products used for clothing: If it doesn’t say it’s ethically produced, it’s probably not. And many people (myself included!) believe that regardless of the process, owning and using living creatures like commodities is exploitation, plain and simple.

Our Mindset

The fast fashion industry isn’t just polluting our planet, it’s also polluting our minds. We’re constantly flooded with ads designed to make us think that buying = happiness. There’s unbelievable pressure to follow the latest trends and never wear the same thing twice. And while fashion can be a fun and beautiful way to express our individuality, it can also make us feel inadequate or bad about ourselves.

The messages are pretty clear: We’ll be more attractive/successful/desirable/satisfied/etc. when we buy. But the more we buy, the more we end up throwing away (that shirt is so last year, am I right?!). That kind of mindset is really at the root of the fast fashion problem: The industry has to cut corners to keep up with voracious demand. The more we demand, the more they produce. And the more they get away with producing and selling, the harder they push us to consume even more.

7 Simple Ways to Stop Supporting Fast Fashion

This may be a complicated issue, but together we can influence big change. Even one small shift in the way you approach your wardrobe has the power to make a difference. Start by trying one of these tips on for size.

1. Remember that less is more.

I remember when my cousin (a well-known photo director in the fashion industry) saw my closet for the first time. I had a good chuckle when she praised me for doing a great job on my “spring closet edit.” My response: That’s no edit, that’s everything I own! LOL. Now, I haven’t mastered this, but I’m working on cultivating a mindful, minimal approach to my wardrobe—something I’m hoping you’ll be inspired to do, too.

Contrary to what the big fast fashion retailers want you to think, true style is not about having a closet that’s overflowing with all of the latest passing fads. Rather than jumping on every trend train (because they never stop coming—so why stress yourself out trying to keep up?!), choose fewer high-quality, classic, versatile pieces. They’ll last longer and you can say buh-bye to that whole “I can’t see my floor because it’s covered in a mountain of clothes but I still have nothing to wear” feeling.

2. Focus on the stuff you love.

Style is about expressing your individuality and being comfortable. It’s about feeling your best and dressing in a way that allows your gorgeous light to shine through. When you focus on wearing what you love rather than what the ads/models/media tell you to wear, you’ll find that you naturally start buying less. You’ll gravitate toward the stuff that really sparks joy (thanks Marie Kondo!) and stop filling your space with stuff you only wear once… or never.

3. Get educated.

There are tons of incredible resources out there to help you learn more about the problems with fast fashion and what you can do to influence change. Here are just a few:

Eco Warrior Princess publishes tons of helpful articles on all things sustainability. They’ve dedicated a whole section of the site to fashion, where you’ll find practical, well-researched articles to help you understand these issues. The Good Trade is another fantastic website in this same vein that I recommend checking out!

Good On You’s mission statement says it all: “Wear the change you want to see.” This website and app is run by a group of campaigners, fashion pros, scientists, writers and developers who aim to help create a world where fashion is sustainable and fair. They rate fashion brands based on criteria such as environmental impact, labor conditions and animal welfare. DoneGood is another app that’s designed to help you find environmentally and socially responsible brands.

The Minimalists Podcast is what it sounds like… a podcast about minimalism! You don’t have to go full-blown minimalist to pick up some great ideas from these guys. Listening is a great way to get into that “less is more” mindset we discussed above. Plus, they have a whole episode (#56) on clothing.

On my watch/read list: The True Cost (this documentary is available on Netflix!) and The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to share the love! When you learn something interesting—especially something that inspires you to take action—get your peeps in on it, too. Saving the planet is more fun together, after all. Just remember to lead with compassion, patience and understanding. People tend not to respond to negativity, preachiness, etc., so opt for positivity and your unique brand of amazingness (the world needs it, toots!). We can influence so much more change that way.

4. Practice conscious consumption.

Let me be perfectly clear—our conversation today is not about buying more! Reducing overall demand is a big part of stopping fast fashion. As we’ve discussed, that means adopting a more minimalist approach to your wardrobe.

If you do feel compelled to buy something new, think carefully about whether or not you really need it. And if you don’t really need it—do just want it? That’s ok, too! There’s nothing wrong with treating yourself or filling the gaps in your closet. Just choose wisely. Again, it all comes down to being mindful about when and how we buy.

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5. Support more sustainable clothing brands.

So if you’re gonna buy stuff, what should you buy? There are lots of great ethical, sustainable clothing brands out there doing incredible work to put an end to fast fashion. They’re changing the types of materials we use and how we source them. They’re treating workers with the respect they deserve, paying them fairly, and elevating minorities, women and people of color. Some companies are even rethinking the entire fashion process from conception to closet.

So whaddya say we celebrate those brands, eh? There’s something sustainable for everyone—luxurious high-end pieces, comfy basics and everything in between. Here are just a few of the brands I love:

Everlane

Reformation

PACT

Angela Roi

Mara Hoffman

Girlfriend Collective

Eileen Fisher

Patagonia

Stella McCartney

And some of the bigger brands are making efforts to reduce their environmental footprint through sustainability initiatives (like Levi’s WaterLess collection, for example). I try to support smaller brands when possible, but sometimes they’re expensive or hard to find. Let’s acknowledge the efforts of these more established companies so they keep it up!

6. Embrace second-hand.

You know how the old saying goes: Your trash is someone else’s treasure! And that piece of clothing that someone else is sick of could be your new favorite thing to wear. There are so many ways to shop/give second-hand. Do clothing swaps with your friends. Go to thrift stores or thrift online—sites like ThredUp, The Real Real and Poshmark are changing the second-hand game. Yes, these sites will have clothing from fast fashion retailers, but giving that stuff a second life does reduce its impact.

Have an event coming up and need something fancy to wear? Try renting your outfit rather than buying something you’ll only use once! Using a service like Rent the Runway is a great way to do that. And don’t forget to donate the stuff that’s no longer serving you so it doesn’t take up space in your closer. Bottom line: Think before you (throw) away. The more use we can get out of clothes, the better.

7. Acknowledge your privilege.

This one isn’t easy, but it’s important. It is a privilege to have the time/money/resources/headspace/etc. to carefully consider an issue like fast fashion and how we can make change. Many people all over the world do not have that same privilege.

Sustainable fashion is often prohibitively expensive (though some of the brands I mentioned above do provide more affordable options). Folks who are worried about putting food on the table or being able to pay off their medical bills can’t necessarily afford a pair of sustainably sourced, ethically made jeans. And those surrounded by conflict, upheaval, prejudice, etc. might not have the headspace or energy to consider these issues.

This isn’t a problem we can solve today. But we can acknowledge it and be aware of how it might impact our perspective. And we can take on some extra responsibility on behalf of the folks who can’t right now. Remember what I said about us being in this together?

Here’s what the fashion industry doesn’t want you to know—the truth about fast fashion and 6 simple ways to stop supporting it.

As we think about the small changes we can make to help protect our environment from threats like fast fashion, I want to encourage you to be gentle with yourself. Living a more sustainable life is not an end goal, it’s an ever-evolving process.

Choose to focus on what you can do, not what you can’t. Honor your efforts and appreciate what you learn from your missteps. For example, I’m doing my best to also apply this info to the photo and video shoots we do for KrisCarr.com. While I’m conscious of upping my game in my personal life, I’ve been lax professionally. You know what I say… progress, not perfection!

Our planet, animals and other human beings desperately need us to shift our priorities. I believe that we can make change together when we lead with positivity. We’re not perfect creatures, but we have each other. And that’s pretty darn powerful.

Last but not least, I need to give a huge thank you and shout-out to our amazing Content Editor, Beckie Moses. Beckie is super-passionate about this topic and she did the heavy lifting research for this blog. As a result, my entire team is stepping up and making changes!

Your turn: I’m committed to doing what I can to stop fast fashion, how about you? If you’re with me, say “I’m with you!” in the comments below. And as always, let us know if you have any questions!

Peace & conscious consumption,

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