Aragon’s Green Team organized a thrift store that was open to all students on campus from Nov. 22 to Nov. 23.
Recycling clothing is an approach to combating the environmental harms that fast fashion and the clothing industry have on the planet. Clothing production emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. Many places that produce clothes are heavily reliant on coal as an energy source and this is a resource that has a great carbon emission. The United Nations Environment Programme estimated that 8% of global carbon emissions come from the clothing industry.
The apparel industry presents a second issue: hundreds of tons of water go into making dyes for clothes. The water used becomes toxic waste and pollutes water systems.
When clothes are thrown out rather than recycled, these dyes from clothing seep into the ground and their chemicals contaminate the earth.
“The goal for the event was to encourage students to donate clothes instead of throwing them out and have people get new clothes for free instead of buying them,” said freshman Chloe Cheng, a member of Green Team.
The Green Team is a commission of students that are members of the Aragon Renaissance Leadership class and are devoted to helping the Aragon community reduce its carbon footprint. Throughout the month of October, the Green Team collected donations of clothing around campus to distribute them for free at its pop-up thrift store.
“We make our best effort and plan events to keep Aragon green,” said sophomore Pia Cho, a commision head of Green Team. “[We] make the community more eco-friendly and unite students on campus at the same time.”
A donation bin was placed outside the leadership classroom and was filled dozens of times. In addition, the participation of Aragon students has made a spring and winter line of clothes for the thrift store possible.
“It’s really important these days with global warming and climate change to do everything we can to keep our community green,” Cho said. “I think this is a really fun way [to] get a lot of engagement.”
“It’s really important these days with global warming and climate change to do everything we can to keep our community green”
The information for the thrift store was advertised in posters, bulletins on the Canvas Dashboard and video announcements.
“[We put] out racks and tables and people just [came] by [to] shop for a little bit and go pick up anything they [wanted] for free,” said freshman Lola Lewis, a member of Green Team.
Students took the majority of the clothes put out at the thrift store. Ultimately, the thrift store was able to provide many students with new wardrobe pieces and positively impacted Aragon’s carbon footprint.
“I think this is pretty cool [because] it’s giving a lot of opportunities for people who normally can’t shop all the time to get some used clothes that are good and in good condition,” said freshman Ella Margolin.
As global warming and climate change grow imminent, it is becoming increasingly important to be mindful of one’s carbon footprint.
