When You Are Planning Your Christmas Shopping List This Year, Pause And Think!

It is that time of the year again Black Friday, Thanksgiving, and the impending promise of end-of-year festivities with Christmas and New Year around the corner. Desires seem to suddenly become needs and excuses for us to shop the holidays away.

Holidays are a galore of marketing, sales, shiny new promotions, and discounts. The end of the year festivities is yet another excuse for unfettered capitalism in our societies. The fast fashion industry for one remains responsible for the increased levels of consumption during the holidays and the debilitating cycle of throwaway culture. 

According to the World Economic Forum, Americans spend up to $1 trillion on online shopping, with a massive $150 billion going to various online retailers on average. Meanwhile, in the UK, around 350,000 tonnes of clothing are sent to landfills annually and there is even greater accumulation during the festive season. 

The commercialization of end of the year holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas continue to offer a true cornucopia of opportunities for brands to fill our brains with new winter boots and coats we never knew we even needed. Many retailers are even extending the holiday shopping season as they expect consumer spending to depreciate and social distancing measures to continue at various store locations nationwide. They also face the added pressure on their supply chains, particularly when it comes to meeting consumer expectations and navigating tougher logistics around mailing and shipping deliveries. 

Even though holiday shopping might look a little different this year with more innovative online marketing tools, it is important to remember that there are equally convenient fast fashion alternatives. 

At a time like this, it is important that we shop our values and take the time and attention to be ethical consumers. 

The need of the hour: how to shop your values! 

Currently, B2B marketplaces such as B-Stock are on the rise along with resale and consignment stores. Brands such as Ethycally encourage more ethical consumption and spending. Ethycally makes it easy for their customers to shop their values by doing the verification process for them and ensuring that all of Ethycally’s brands are ethical and sustainable.

Ethycally functions as an online marketplace where fashion brands can join forces in exhibiting and selling their products while keeping in mind ethical values and fair trade labels. Ethycally brings us one step closer towards re-thinking the way we shop fashion, especially during this time of year. Ethycally is the brainchild of a group of entrepreneurs who joined forces to tackle some of the injustices they witnessed in the fast fashion industry. From brands like Cambodia’s Good Karma, Ghanian brand Kiara Afrik, to American bands like Symbology, Moore Customs Goods, and Ocean SF, Ethycally features a variety of options for sustainable shopping during the holidays.

Ethycally features eco friendly clothing brands such as Woven Threads which uses handmade, natural, and sustainable fabrics. The brand aspires to go beyond the constraints of fast fashion by experimenting with the authenticity of craftsmanship as well as quality and sustainable fabric. 

As an ethical fashion marketplace, Ethycally works with up and coming designers and brands from under-represented backgrounds that engage in ethical and sustainable fair trade practices. This remains crucial given the precarious financial climate of the current pandemic. Environmental justice remains a focal point of Ethycally’s effort, especially reducing the use of toxic chemicals, using sustainable and recycled materials as well as eliminating the use of animal products in the fashion industry. 

It begins with you! 

As consumers, you can take this time to reflect and even redirect your spending patterns this holiday season. Make changes and try checking out more online vintage, thrift, and second-hand stores. Invest in reliable and solid articles of clothing and pieces that will last you longer. Rather than spending obscene amounts of money on clothing and shoes this year, why not change it up and have a clothes swap as part of your gift exchange this year? 

Even with a global pandemic in full swing, you still have the power to wear your values and do better. 

By Shivani Ekkanath