This morning, my eldest daughter arrived at the breakfast table in a shirt I'd never seen before. "It's Julie's," she told me. Julie is a girlfriend who lives down the back alley. Julie and Christina are forever swapping clothing, the beauty of which is that each girl passes along familiar items she's grown tired of and receives "new-to-her" clothes that satisfy her need for novelty.
It's a rather brilliant idea, if you ask me. Who among us doesn't get tired of the same old same old? The odd "new" thing in our lives brings a welcome change, but does it have to be brand new? Changing our wardrobes with every season is quite a bit too much, though the fashion industry loves and demands constant shoppers. Our closets, even if they're walk-in (which they shouldn't be, if we're living in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the developing world) can only hold so much, and it's not terribly responsible to own more than we can use. So sharing or exchanging clothing items rather than indulging in materialism is a wise choice, not only for our wallets, but for a world that has to work harder and harder to provide our life's needs. If the fashion industry slows down because we are satisfied with sharing, that's a good thing for the planet.
So if you have any friends of a similar size, why not organize a clothing swap? And if that's not an option, why not check out second hand stores? Reusing and recycling clothing reduces waste -- and can be a lot of fun. Just ask Christina and Julie.
P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Try here.
Simple Moodlings \'sim-pѳl 'mϋd-ѳl-ings\ n: 1. modest meanderings of the mind about living simply and with less ecological impact; 2. "long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering" (Brenda Ueland) of the written kind; 3. spiritual odds and ends inspired by life, scripture, and the thoughts of others
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