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Toxic Fashion

Toxic Fashion

Packaged food items (obviously) have ingredients lists. Our favorite beauty products have ingredients lists. And those cleaning products under the kitchen sink? Yup, they’ve got ingredients lists, too.

Ever wonder why our clothes don’t have ingredients lists? While we’d *like* to think our favorite garments are made of woven fibers and nothing more, the sad truth is there are countless unregulated toxic chemicals in our closet go-tos (and these chemicals are likely harming our health).

On today’s show investigative journalist Alden Wicker explains why synthetic fashion and dyes made from fossil fuels are so deeply intertwined with the rise of autoimmune disease, infertility, asthma, eczema, and more; she also suggests concrete action steps for curating a clean(er) closet.

* The book we’re discussing today is our June Book Club selection. If you want in, please join us via Substack! https://sustainableminimalists.substack.com/

 

Here’s a preview:

[7:00] Uncovering the chemicals in our clothes and what they’re doing to our health

[10:30] Taking a special look at the especially problematic petrochemical-based azo dyes (often used on petrochemical-based fibers)

[17:00] If all this stuff is in our clothing, why don’t garments have ingredients lists?

[19:00] Carter’s, Victoria’s Secret, and victim body blaming

[31:00] Why ‘organic’ doesn’t mean much when it comes to clothing

[36:00] For subscribers! Action steps for curating a clean(er) closet

 

 

Resources mentioned:

 

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The Shopping Conspiracy

Women have been targeted for decades with the message that shopping is recreation. It’s a way to relax and unwind, sure, but recreational shopping also contributes to the climate crisis, supports the worst of shareholder capitalism, and creates an awful lot of unnecessary waste.

Enter Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy, a hard-hitting new Netflix documentary that forces viewers to look at our waste-related woes. On today’s show producer Flora Bagenal offers a behind-the-scenes look at the documentary’s creation; she also answers your pressing, post-viewing questions.

A note from Stephanie: This episode was recorded before the Los Angeles wildfires. If you're able, please consider donating to one of these organizations. 

 

Here’s a preview:

[7:00] People find it hard to look at waste, and yet the film makes us look. A behind-the-scenes examination all those hard-hitting images

[16:30] Adidas, Amazon, Unilever, and Apple: Here's why the film featured former employees-turned-whistleblowers

[26:00] Corporate execs must show growth, and corporations are on a treadmill of extracting more and more $$ by pushing unnecessary and redundant products. Is not buying an effective act of resistance?

[30:00] Mindset shifts! Quality is a climate issue, and once you press ‘Buy Now’ you become responsible for the item’s end of life

[36:00] Exactly how to Use. Your. Rage!

 

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Hello there, I’m Stephanie. I live a crazy, beautiful life as a full-time wife, blogger + mother to two spirited daughters. I’m on a mission to simplify eco-friendly living so as to greater enjoy life’s sweeter moments.

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