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

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Investigating “what happens to our unwanted clothes, and especially Kantamanto,” Barber found that “our waste is getting dumped in the global south like Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda,” and concludes that “the system really craps on non-white people at the beginning and end of the process,” crediting the organisation Slow Factory for its work educating on this topic. 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. Now she’s collected her considerable knowledge into her first book, Consumed: The need for collective change; colonialism, climate change & consumerism – a blistering polemic against our collective shopping addiction and its consequences. Rather than judging her readers, Barber begins the book by saying, “It isn’t your fault that over-consumption has become a part of our culture. The likelihood is that you do it, just like I did, because you’ve been taught to.” the second half of the book focuses on action, which i was hype for. it’s easy (& true!!!) to say that the onus should be on corporations & the government to fix the problem of overconsumption & climate change, but that’s not an excuse to be finding small actions we can all take individually too. as someone who’s been plant-based for nearly 6 years for sustainability reasons, i am a strong believer in the combination of individual choices + collective action!! there are a ton of super accessible actions shared (& some that seem a little out-of-touch to anyone who’s not an influencer). for me, the main takeaway (& the one i have been prioritizing for the last 2-3 years) is that to be more sustainable, we just need to buy less shit. it’s easier said than done, but honestly, it’s really not that hard!! a little impulse control & some hobbies to turn your attention away from online shopping, voila. i swear i have felt so much happier with more free time (& money!!) & fewer clothing items that will ultimately end up in a landfill. 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.

This powerful, speaking-truth-to-power book is an essential read for everybody who wants to stop feeling clueless and helpless about the impacts of cosumerism, and start doing their part to help create a more sustainable world' - Layla Saad Hands down the best nonfiction book I've read since Wordslut!! (Wordslut is my nonfiction gold standard FYI.) Stop buying so much. That is the one thing that we can do to disrupt the system, because as long as we say, “There’s nothing I could do about it, might as well go and buy 20 new dresses,” nothing’s going to change. So even if you take it all in and you find it very overwhelming, decreasing your consumption is a very conscious decision you can make in a system that feels like it has run amok. Barber skilfully links this consumption to racism, colonialism and exploitation of non-white populations. The book explains colonialism as “when a country with power and resources dominates another country and extracts resources (both material and labour) while imposing new cultural norms,” while sharing a mindset with racism and the slave trade. She posits that, although officially colonialism like the British Empire ended before most consumers of fast fashion were born – the current global set-up of design and marketing in the rich countries of the north, and production in the global south at cut-throat prices – mirrors that of the historical definition and is just as harmful. Zhou, Maggie (21 September 2021). "Colonialism & Fast Fashion Are Inextricably Linked — Aja Barber Explains How". Refinery 29.Barber's isn't just a voice we should listen to - it is a voice we MUST listen to.' - Clementine Ford Overall, this is essential reading for those looking to learn a little bit more about such important issues as colonialism, climate change and consumerism. We are all part of this system, and we can all play a part in changing it. So read this book, feel your anger, direct it to those with power, and get inspired to make an impact. As Barber says: “You are so powerful. Every decision you make on this planet has an effect.” Consumed: On Colonialism, Climate Change, Consumerism, and the Need for Collective Change is a mouthful and a must-read for the current political and ecological crisis. If you’re reading this article, then you can benefit from reading this book. Essentially these big companies want to come to Kantamanto, take the waste which is polluting neighbourhoods for next to nothing, put it into a blender to melt the materials down into new materials (this is a very simplified definition....no one @ me.)”

On the other hand, for those with the financial means to over-consume clothing, how do we begin to undo that impulse to shop? That dopamine hit, that craving to feel better by owning something new?ELLE UK unveils new sections, a design refresh and new contributors in the September issue". Hearst. 28 July 2022. I think this is a great book for people like me — those who have used consumption to fill a void, who used to pride themselves in not wearing the same thing twice, who was led to believe that the more you have, the better you are. As someone who works in the social media / fashion world, it definitely was a wake up call to the ways I perpetuate consumerism. 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.