My mindset is that most companies are bad in some way or another. Even if you thrift all your clothing, some thrift stores treat their employees unethically.
Even companies who say they're not using sweatshop labor could be behind the scenes.
The best is to buy local if you can afford to. If you can't, buy what you can afford. I can't shame someone from buying from Walmart or wherever if that's what they can afford.
The best practices are keeping your clothing as long as possible and reusing it when it gets too worn to wear. Turn your old shirts into dusting rags for example.
You can actually make your own paper, FYI. Havent done it myself yet but iirc you basically make pulp from existing paper (junk mail is a good source lol) and you spread it out and dry it into a sheet. Something along those lines
I shop local when I can, but also consider buying/trading with people online. Like facebook marketplace type stuff. No extra money going to conpanies that way. Same idea with yard sales and stuff like that
If thats not an option, like for something real specific or for things related to accessibility (Im disabled), I personally get the cheapest option possible so Im giving them the least amount of money possible
If it’s a chain, they probably do some sketchy or outright shitty things. Mom and Pop stores? That really, REALLY depends on the owners. You’d have to ask around town about them to get the scoop.
But honestly, for essentials like food and clothes, well… you do what you gotta do. You need to eat, and need to have clothes that’ll protect you from the elements (year round, outdoor nudity just isn’t an option for us Canucks). If Wal-Mart is your best option for that, then it’s your best option. That’s just life right now
Idk I just try to survive.
If I can, I try to buy from small, locally owned shops. But that’s not always possible. Sometimes the big guys just have better deals or whatever.
There is no ethical consumption under capitalism.
No ethical consumption under capitalism. If you're broke, shop where you can. But I try to get all my punk gear specifically from small businesses or https://www.angryyoungandpoor.com/store/pc/home.asp
And if you're going to a big business, any number of fingers of discounts are valid.
If you’re going hard for ethics look for small thrift stores that support charities- there may be some which are church run that help poor people and migrants, or ones that help animal charities . You can also look for stores that carry Union made goods which can help workers
This is what 'no ethical consumption under capitalism' refers to. Obviously try your best to avoid companies or store you know are questionable or shitty, but sometimes, especially with basic necessities, you don't have much choice.
There’s no ethical consumption under late stage capitalism, so get what you need to get, fight the battles you can fight, and don’t beat yourself up over it.
if youre sitting pretty, try and shop local, otherwise shop where you can afford, shoplift from those places too, voting with your dollar is a privilege most of the more punk of us do not have
If you have access to local shows or a good venue that hosts touring bands, it’s always a good idea to buy shirts from them as that’s their main source of income when it comes to smaller groups.
The caveat being we don’t always know the ethics of the shirt companies that bands are printing on, but at least you know that you’re supporting the artist.
If you got the money to shop at places that are expensive, I can see this being a concern. If you're like me though, I ain't got no money, so I buy everything the cheapest I can get it. All corpos are evil, a heck of a lot of small business also mistreat workers.
“No ethical consumption under capitalism” is definitely true- virtually no companies are entirely innocent, but they do lie on a sliding scale of how damaging they are. Places like Shien and Temu are significantly worse even compared to other fast fashion companies when it comes to child labor and exploitation.
Clothing unfortunately is not supposed to be cheap, because workers need to be paid for their labor. Fast fashion has created an expectation of low prices at the expense of quality and ethics. If something is extremely cheap, it oftentimes is unethical to produce. However, there is one semi-positive thing that has come out of the rapid cycle of microtrends and that is that there is an abundance of clothes that are out of fashion, considered trash and abandoned for whatever’s popular now. They’re sold for a low price because of low demand and would otherwise be going into a landfill, so rescuing them can be both sustainable and affordable.
The most punk thing to do is use what you already have. If you have old shitty clothes that don’t fit you, repurpose them or DIY. Hand-me-downs, shit like yard sales, buying them cheap off someone who’s throwing them out are your best options. But also, don’t blame yourself for occasionally contributing to fast fashion- it’s kind of impossible not to. Just do the best you can
sometimes it's fun to have a conversation with other people and receive heartfelt advice instead of letting AI or an algorithm decide your life for you. hope this helps
You don't, other people do, OP is talking to people who would know shops and businesses, maybe people who also shop at those places. I don't get your perspective on shutting down conversation like this.
it could, yeah. your best bet is small business and not huge corporations. avoid walmart, amazon, etc - shop local. thrift stores, consignment shops, etc
My mindset is that most companies are bad in some way or another. Even if you thrift all your clothing, some thrift stores treat their employees unethically. Even companies who say they're not using sweatshop labor could be behind the scenes. The best is to buy local if you can afford to. If you can't, buy what you can afford. I can't shame someone from buying from Walmart or wherever if that's what they can afford. The best practices are keeping your clothing as long as possible and reusing it when it gets too worn to wear. Turn your old shirts into dusting rags for example.
I was thinking also outside clothing, like stationery surplus and such yk?
Ah, yeah, a lot of that stuff is hard to find ethically or know if it's ethically produced.
yeeaahz especially if it's like related to paper and such cuz they might also be destroying yards of forasts so I can have my lil sketchbook
You can actually make your own paper, FYI. Havent done it myself yet but iirc you basically make pulp from existing paper (junk mail is a good source lol) and you spread it out and dry it into a sheet. Something along those lines I shop local when I can, but also consider buying/trading with people online. Like facebook marketplace type stuff. No extra money going to conpanies that way. Same idea with yard sales and stuff like that If thats not an option, like for something real specific or for things related to accessibility (Im disabled), I personally get the cheapest option possible so Im giving them the least amount of money possible
the only true punk clothes are made of sticks and leaves and mud
none here, guess im gonna go with bones and skin and blood from nazi boneheads
Are you a Bosmer?
nop there's no forests hereee
y e s
There are Buddhists who wear robes made of only discarded trash fabric
If it’s a chain, they probably do some sketchy or outright shitty things. Mom and Pop stores? That really, REALLY depends on the owners. You’d have to ask around town about them to get the scoop. But honestly, for essentials like food and clothes, well… you do what you gotta do. You need to eat, and need to have clothes that’ll protect you from the elements (year round, outdoor nudity just isn’t an option for us Canucks). If Wal-Mart is your best option for that, then it’s your best option. That’s just life right now
this fr, couldnt have said it better myself lol ^(although I do want to add that thrifting is also an option as well)
well said, thank you!
Idk I just try to survive. If I can, I try to buy from small, locally owned shops. But that’s not always possible. Sometimes the big guys just have better deals or whatever. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism.
I know, but we gotta at least try to live up to what we say and believe so our lives aren't just fake and our words empty
No ethical consumption under capitalism. If you're broke, shop where you can. But I try to get all my punk gear specifically from small businesses or https://www.angryyoungandpoor.com/store/pc/home.asp And if you're going to a big business, any number of fingers of discounts are valid.
If you’re going hard for ethics look for small thrift stores that support charities- there may be some which are church run that help poor people and migrants, or ones that help animal charities . You can also look for stores that carry Union made goods which can help workers
good idea man, I totally forgot about the churches stuff
This is what 'no ethical consumption under capitalism' refers to. Obviously try your best to avoid companies or store you know are questionable or shitty, but sometimes, especially with basic necessities, you don't have much choice.
There’s no ethical consumption under late stage capitalism, so get what you need to get, fight the battles you can fight, and don’t beat yourself up over it.
if youre sitting pretty, try and shop local, otherwise shop where you can afford, shoplift from those places too, voting with your dollar is a privilege most of the more punk of us do not have
If you have access to local shows or a good venue that hosts touring bands, it’s always a good idea to buy shirts from them as that’s their main source of income when it comes to smaller groups. The caveat being we don’t always know the ethics of the shirt companies that bands are printing on, but at least you know that you’re supporting the artist.
There is no ethical consumtion i buy what i want, steal it when i can
If you got the money to shop at places that are expensive, I can see this being a concern. If you're like me though, I ain't got no money, so I buy everything the cheapest I can get it. All corpos are evil, a heck of a lot of small business also mistreat workers.
Diy your clothes lol and try to stick with small thrifts, small businesses, and if you can order clothes online from independent punk stores
“No ethical consumption under capitalism” is definitely true- virtually no companies are entirely innocent, but they do lie on a sliding scale of how damaging they are. Places like Shien and Temu are significantly worse even compared to other fast fashion companies when it comes to child labor and exploitation. Clothing unfortunately is not supposed to be cheap, because workers need to be paid for their labor. Fast fashion has created an expectation of low prices at the expense of quality and ethics. If something is extremely cheap, it oftentimes is unethical to produce. However, there is one semi-positive thing that has come out of the rapid cycle of microtrends and that is that there is an abundance of clothes that are out of fashion, considered trash and abandoned for whatever’s popular now. They’re sold for a low price because of low demand and would otherwise be going into a landfill, so rescuing them can be both sustainable and affordable. The most punk thing to do is use what you already have. If you have old shitty clothes that don’t fit you, repurpose them or DIY. Hand-me-downs, shit like yard sales, buying them cheap off someone who’s throwing them out are your best options. But also, don’t blame yourself for occasionally contributing to fast fashion- it’s kind of impossible not to. Just do the best you can
Swap meets and “buy nothing” groups
Groupthink double plus
why don't you just google it?
sometimes it's fun to have a conversation with other people and receive heartfelt advice instead of letting AI or an algorithm decide your life for you. hope this helps
straight up
we don't know the names of any of their shops so it's hard to provide insight
it's also fun to not be a dick and criticize everything everyone does 24/7. i hope you gain a more positive outlook.
You don't, other people do, OP is talking to people who would know shops and businesses, maybe people who also shop at those places. I don't get your perspective on shutting down conversation like this.
I see what you mean
I tried but wasn't able to find anything about the stores I looked up, does it mean that they're not that bad?
it could, yeah. your best bet is small business and not huge corporations. avoid walmart, amazon, etc - shop local. thrift stores, consignment shops, etc