Buy Local and Social

When you’re looking to make a difference, there are a variety of ways you can use your power, your dollar, and your voice. At the moment, our society is driven by consumerism.  An excellent way to benefit your own budget, contribute to healthier environment, and get your shopping done is to support the local economy and social enterprise.  We’re approaching a huge shopping time of the year, this holiday season, while we critically examine our consumer habits, let this season be the year that you shop local and social.   As proud members of Social Enterprise Canada we’re pleased to encourage local action for big results by urging our community to #BuyItFwd

Fashion is cyclical, which means trends become back.  At My Sister’s Closet, you get a curated experience with access to thrift, new, up-cycled and artisan-made clothing, footwear, accessories, jewellery and curios for women and men.  My Sister’s Closet is located at 1092 Seymour Street, in the Yaletown District of Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories.

Buying from My Sister’s Closet, social enterprise of Battered Women’s Support Services deepens the gifting experience. Your purchase makes it possible for us:

  • to provide counselling and support groups for women healing from violence
  • to deliver dating violence prevention workshops for high school students across Metro Vancouver
  • to operate a crisis line, often the first point of contact for women experience violence by a partner

 

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Do fashionistas have to give up their passion for following current trends to protect the environment?

The Fashion Industry is Implicated

Manufacturing a piece of clothing has a tremendous impact on the environment—for example, beyond the carbon emissions caused by energy consumption, the typical pair of jeans eats up 1,664 gallons of water in its lifetime. Regardless of this ecological toll, the average Canadian still throws 70 pounds of clothing and textiles into the trash every year.

The facts and figures are in and including the relevant segments of agriculture and manufacturing, 1 in 6 humans on Earth are somehow involved in the global fashion industry. In the mid-1960s, 95 percent of Canadian’s clothes were made domestically; today, 97 percent are made abroad. Eighty million pieces of clothing are sold annually. And an especially disconcerting one: Fashion—a $2.5 trillion sector—is the second most polluting industry on Earth, right behind oil.

Globalization and Exploitation

We’re disconnected from the people who make our clothing as 97% of items are now made overseas. There are roughly 40 million garment workers in the world today; many of whom do not share the same rights or protections that many people in the West do. They are some of the lowest paid workers in the world and roughly 85% of all garment workers are women. The human factor of the garment industry is too big to ignore; as we consistently see the exploitation of cheap labor and the violation of workers’, women’s, and human rights through globalization and as direct result of unchecked consumerism.

Buying local is a way to resist globalization

The Good News

On average, each Canadian grants a second life to 76 products each year across 22 product categories, through buying, selling, trading and donating via peer-to-peer channels such as classifieds, donations, local thrift shops, and more. The average family of four in Canada apparently saves approximately $1,150 per year by buying second-hand goods.

When you #BuyItFwd you’re helping the environment,  you’re simulating the local economy, and you’re helping end violence against women.  My Sister’s Closet 1092 Seymour Street, Yaletown District, Vancouver, Coast Salish Territory

Here’s Nine Reasons to Buy Thrift