Cocktail Dresses And Consumerism

I don't believe in new year resolutions but I do believe in seizing the opportunity of a new year to start good habits. One of my 2017 goals is to be kinder to the Earth and to create less waste!

Consumerism is a social and economic order and ideology that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts.

Marketing, peer influence and subliminal messaging is all around us, pushing us to give in to consumerism and buy things we do NOT need. A new lip gloss, a trendy cocktail dress or a new hair product promising to make you look more beautiful and feel better about yourself. We buy the new dress and feel pretty amazing the fist time we wear it and then it goes to the back of our cupboard where it is quickly replaced with an even prettier dress... and so it goes. Not only are we wasting our hard earned income but we're also putting even more strain on our poor planet.

Today, the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry on earth. And the primary culprit is fast fashion—well, that and the culture of throwaway clothing that it has inspired. - www.esquire.com

So, this year my goal is not to buy any new items of clothing. I have enough underwear, shoes, jerseys etc and whilst there are things I want to add to my wardrobe - I don't NEED to! I know that if wearing a pretty dress is what I need to do to feel good about myself then there are other underlying issues that I need to deal with.

Mantra: I don't need need beautiful things to feel beautiful. 

I recently watched the following video about a girl who tries to make zero trash for 30 days. Whilst this is extremely difficult, it's a great wake up call to how much rubbish each of us actually makes...

“Whenever I hear about where the environment is going, I get really scared and it makes me feel very powerless.”

Doing our bit to help conserve this beautiful world we live in gives us power! This video has also inspired me to start making my own compost as well as trying to be a bit better with recycling!

Let's all do our part to make the world a better place!