The Green Standard: Why Recycling and “Slow Fashion” Matter

Cora Garrette-Dardzinski
Podcast Manager
  Recycling does not appear to be a priority at Bonneville High School. There is nothing stating recycling is necessary but, it can be extremely helpful to the environment along with slow fashion, which involves making clothes from scratch and thrifting, and roadside cleanup.
  Several students are not worried about recycling or finding alternatives to fast fashion. One student however, Brooklyn Keller, has been recycling for around six years and has even picked up making her own clothes. She often recycles simply because her family has for a long time. However, she also understands how helpful it is to do so. Keller explains that, “recycling keeps waste out of the water,” along with keeping waste from being sent to landfills, saving energy, and conserving natural resources. Her family is willing to pay for the recycling can to be picked up every week, and they take the time to make sure they recycle everything they can in their household. Along with this, Keller is very fond of taking scraps from her own clothes or clothes from thrift stores to tailor her own outfits with the fabric and her sewing machine. She enjoys making new clothes as a way to pass time and also because “all of the wasted material from websites like Shein, gets sent to landfills and it is all wasted.” With how harmful it is to the environment, she further shares that she “would convince students to stop using fast fashion but for some people it is not an option.” Keller expresses her strong opposition for fast fashion without making anyone adopt her beliefs. However, she encourages anyone to try thrifting since it is typically cheaper, and it would help to keep waste from ending up in landfills. It is brought up within the interview that sometimes finding the motivation to do these things is hard, but it is worth it to her, and she hopes it can be for other students as well.
  If a student is unable or does not have the time for any of these options, there are other ways of helping the environment without needing special materials. Students can always just pick up trash when they see it to reduce littering or even just refrain from littering themselves. While systemic change at the high school level may take time, individual efforts, from using a recycling bin to choosing secondhand clothing, collectively contribute to a more sustainable campus environment. Ultimately, protecting the environment starts with the small, daily choices made by the student body.

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