Ethical Pledge Anniversary

So our textile reform soul-sister in Tasmania is celebrating the six month anniversary of her Ethical Clothing Pledge. The pledge is this:

I pledge to only wear clothing that is one or more of the following:

Pre-loved

Handmade

Reconstructed (upcycled)

Made with ethical/environmentally friendly materials

Made by a company with strong ethical policy & workers rights

Happy anniversary and dig in because we have a long way to go. In our lives, as a family in the Seattle area, this pledge has been an "easy" affirmation of our conviction. It also, in a sense, offers something to "hang our hat on." As we pursue what fair and ethical clothing reform looks like, it is driven by a question of how to break a cycle. The cycle, at least here in the Wild West of the US of A, is buy, buy, buy/consume, consume, consume, and then dump it as easily and nonchalantly and (dare I say) ignorantly as you acquired it. That statement is not intended to simply judge, but to motivate toward change. I can find myself in it, in a past ignorance of the impact of my habits and appetites. So in having posted The Pledge almost six months ago, and having become an integrated part of our conviction, I would like to add a statement of intent at the end of it for me and my family.

I will be a mouth piece and an active agent of change

to break the cycle of consumption and misery

Moving forward towards the one year anniversary I will invite others to not only take the pledge, but to find themselves in the processes and habits that have brought us to where we live today in this globalized world. Those processes and habits have taken decades, if not even centuries to solidify, and so the change is not an overnight or snap of the fingers effort. However, I can pledge today to not be a part of what I was yesterday. I can buy something today in a different way than I did yesterday. I can begin forming an awareness and conviction that I didn't have yesterday. We can start marching today toward a Critical Mass that will someday impact the way things are. I am willing to keep marching and invite others to join. So to quote another past post "Small Actions X Lots of People = Big Change."