Consumed: The need for collective change; colonialism, climate change & consumerism

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Firstly, not a single source throughout the whole book? The only time a source is referenced, it’s jus the occasional in line citation to a recent internet article. It’s a pretty poor effort and I have no idea how this got published WITHOUT A SINGLE REFERENCE? The book vividly details waste: “Only 10-20 per cent of the clothing donated to charity shops is sold. Very often clothing which doesn’t make the cut gets shipped overseas.” One destination is Kantamanto Market in Accra, Ghana, which is “probably the world’s largest second-hand market, receiving 15 million garments a week; 40 per cent of which end up in landfill.” As a charity shop volunteer herself, Barber witnessed the “non-stop flow of clothing bags,” which triggered feelings of unease and started her journey into environmentalism.

Attwood, Naomi (23 September 2021). "How Consumerism, Climate Crisis and Colonialism Are Linked". AnOther Magazine.If you ever wanted to express to someone how capitalism and the false belief in endless growth is completely destroying the environment, the world and people but have never had the articulate language or the handy statistics to prove your point, this is the book that you buy that someone. Aja Barber has written an eloquent manifesto with a focus on fast fashion on how corporations see the public as consumers and their enormous greed. Aja Barber is a writer, stylist and consultant focusing on the intersections of sustainability, fashion, and the textile industry. Her work explores the traditions of privilege, wealth inequality, racism, feminism, colonialism, and how these systems of power affect our buying habits. Economist Impact: What women-led initiatives are making waves in circular/slow fashion (or the circular economy in general)? We need to stop thinking that new clothing is needed to have a better life. There are countless examples in the cult-classic films that we love— Clueless, Pretty Woman, The Devil Wears Prada, Funny Face—they all have a makeover scene where suddenly the person who is not accepted and not cool enough does a bunch of shopping, and now everybody’s looking at them differently and treating them differently. But in real life that’s not how it works. Moreover the “need” to get a new outfit for every single occasion, something that is very normalized in our society, is only adding to the problems of fast fashion. A hugely compelling exploration of a culture of exploitation and how, together, we can end it.' - Gina Martin

Economist Impact: Do you think that girls and women are disproportionately targeted by (and then end up enabling) fast-fashion brands and trends? Economist Impact: What advice would you give to girls and women trying to break cycles of production/consumption/waste so they can embrace more circular, regenerative habits? A call to action for consumers everywhere, Consumedasks us to look at how and why we buy what we buy, how it's created, who it benefits, and how we can solve the problems created by a wasteful system.If you enjoy shopping and care about the environment, I think this book will change how you think about shopping--both why we do it and how it impacts the world. Even if you're not a huge shopper, this book will probably make you rethink where you shop and how you rewear and reuse stuff.

After dismantling the corrupt, destructive system that the fashion industry perpetuates, Barber empowers the reader through practical, accessible advice on how we as consumers can make a real difference. She targets the systems and shows that this problem is fundamentally caused by fast-fashion brands, not individuals. But that doesn’t mean that individuals can’t help to solve the problem. From templates for writing to CEOs and politicians, to tips on how to break consumerist habits, Barber compassionately helps us to confront our own consumerism, empowering us to break the supply chain and use our voice for change. This was my favourite part of the book, particularly the final chapter titled “I believe In You”- rather than despairing about the state of the world, I left this book with a real sense of hope and purpose. I really appreciated the candid nature of the book and how often you share your own failings and flawed shopping habits. You hold yourself accountable, and it adds a beautiful humility to the book. I wasn’t poor, but I was made to feel poor because my parents could never help me buy a house in northern Virginia in my twenties, while so many of my peers had help from generational wealth. I wasn’t poor, but I was made to feel poor because my dad brought me to TV sets as a teenager, and I soon found myself working every summer on them as a production assistant and camera assistant, instead of sitting at the pool with my peers. My dad knew that getting us in the door was important for our future survival. It just so happened that those TV jobs enabled us to travel outside of the country, which infinitely broadened my horizons and is arguably the reason I’m sitting here typing to you from my dining-room table in London.

Anyway, I grew up in a very affluent area, where test scores were high and taking grade-level math in high school was something I hid from my peers (as many of them were taking math courses above their grade level). The idea of going to vocational school instead of university, senior year, was frowned upon... of course in a silent and very insidious way. Our high school had a wall where all the graduates put their names up, along with the school they would be attending, on a cut-out profile of a graduation head and bust. I remember only seeing one vocational school. There’s absolutely zero wrong with vocational school. Our society wouldn’t function without people doing all sorts of jobs (plumbers, mechanics, carpenters), but vocational school signified something shameful about your socioeconomic status that went unspoken yet held us all in its system. If you buy one book about sustainable fashion, make it this one. Consumed is an urgent call to action to demand a fashion system that is actually fair for both people and planet, not just Big Fashion billionaires. I adore Aja and I love this brilliant book.' - Venetia La Manna The book, in my opinion, gets much better towards the end of this chapter and then into the following ones - however I still have one remaining critique, and that is simply that the book is really repetitive in this part. I think an editor could have chopped this remaining section down a tonne simply by removing expressions or paragraphs which had already been said in a slightly different way earlier on. It still would have been as impactful and thought-provoking for the reader.